Thursday 8 August 2019
Slept well, and woke around 7:30 well-rested. Katie had another night of difficulty sleeping, and finally took things and got to sleep about 3; she slept in til a bit past 9. I the meantime, I made breakfast, read the paper on the porch, and then got a call from CD for our Pleasant Chat, the time for which had come sooner than I’d anticipated
Pleasant Chat with CD
The Pleasant Chat was engaging, as always, and filled the hour.
CD is struggling with ‘Mom project.’ Has realized she can never know what her Mom was feeling about things…
CD thinks her IBM project is winding down, and that she will be ready to let go in a bit; but also realizes she likes seeing people and wants to figure out how to continue that after she’s done being emeritus. She mentioned that she saw Justin Weisz recently and really enjoyed that.
She and J are on the glidepath to selling their house. Trying to de-clutter, and also look for places. I gave my opinion on the wisdom of buying in Florida.
I talked about classes I am going to sign up for, and the upcoming field trips, and my trepidation about the latter. And she commented that this seems like the next step in realizing the vision I described earlier. I commented that we will see the extent of overlap between vision and reality, and if needed I will adjust in favor of reality.
I talked about CS’s wedding and Milwaukee and the North Shore trip, and how nice it was to see her as part of a large, supportive extended family.
CD talked about making a booklet/multi-media summary of the trip they did with their niece. That led to a discussion on the role of writing in solidifying and enriching experiences, even after the fact. There was also a thread about historical novels., and I also mentioned the novel Replay, where someone repeats a segment of life several times.
Health / Activity
I went to my doctor’s to get his reading on the sun-burn-like patches on my skin. On the positive side, he says it’s not Shingles, because that tends to affect only one ‘nerve field’ at a time, and would not manifest in multiple patches like this has; he also said it doesn’t sound like a tick-bourne problem. On the negative si de, he has no idea what it is, and said to come back if it gets worse or continues for a long time. He confirmed that the jock itch is jock itch. At least I was able to get the Shingrix vaccine.
Around noon I went over to Minihaha Creek and did a ~5-mile run. I’ll be interested to see if my legs ‘feel it’ (as they did after Monday’s run), or not (as was the case throughout the North Shore vacation that we just returned from).
Afternoon and Evening
Following this I came home, rehydrated, and moved between the piano and the porch swing, as I was feeling a combination of an achey shoulder from the Shingrix vaccination, ‘sun-burned’ patches from whatever is causing that, and the discomfort from the jock itch. Hopefully, I will not have further issues from the vaccination. The time on the swing was spent starting “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” which is the next book club book; I am really enjoying it, and both recognizing things that struck me at the time, as well as (I believe) noticing new things — including the artistry of the writing — that I did not notice when I first read it.
Oh, and at some point I also spent some time in the office, where I finished reading HA’s article for American Bee Journal, and did a draft of my comments to her. I hope to finish those up tomorrow. I also got a note back from Kathy Klink, saying it would be fine to skip the “Weather and Climate” lab, and that she’s looked at my web site and was looking forward to meeting me.
Katie and I made tacos for dinner, thawing out some achiote chicken, and enlisting avocados, cheese and yams to fill them out, as well as salad to round out the meal. Afterwards I did a little more piano, and finished writing this.