Alex - the first hurricane of this season

Alex is about to reach landfall this time in northeast Mexico and maybe a touch of southern Texas. We expect to get some rain and wind here since this is a big hurricane that will cover hundreds of miles. Fortunately, the hurricane did not travel into the Louisiana area and interfere with the oil spill clean-up. Here we need the rain and so will happily be in some part of the path of this storm. Since this is to be an especially active hurricane season, I wonder exactly what will transpire over the next few months.

Years ago in the 1950's, we lived through Hazel, a hurricane that traveled up the east coast of the country and then veered inland and went up through the center of New York State. Hazel did much damage, flooding, and knocking down trees. At our farmhouse we had newly installed picture windows in the kitchen that were large for those times. Dad held a yardstick against a north window for seemingly hours as the storm seemed to pop the window in and out. I am sure that his efforts enabled our windows not to break and flood the kitchen. After the eye of the storm passed, he moved his efforts across the room and worked with the south window in the same way. He must have been exhausted at the end of it all.

Will such a storm come our way this summer? I hope not, as motor homes might be quite vulnerable in such a storm. I guess we will find out in due time. Happy travels and stay safe.

Our winter buddies are having a get together.

Tonight we got a call, and it was Jan on the phone. She and Vince live in Wisconsin and are hosting our winter buddies. Dick and Linda drove their motorcycles from their home in Michigan all the way to see Julie and Ron, who live in Minnesota. Then the four of them got on their bikes and went to see Jan and Vince in Wisconsin to spend the weekend. We have all been keeping in touch by e-mail ever since they left this resort to return home after spending several months here in the winter.

They love to ride their motorcycles. Jan and Vince have a three wheeler, as well. The day trips out of here always ended in a great place to eat, preferably barbeque. Even though we do not have a motorcycle, they included us in many happy evenings with drinks and, later, dinner. Ron has a tri-pod which he uses to grill over wood coals, and he is a great cook, too. We had many memorable evenings and got to be such good friends.

Some of them have had their medical challenges this year, too, and it was so nice of them to think of us and include us by calling. Thanks, Jan for starting the call, as it made our day to talk with each of you. Safe travels as each of you returns home. Happy travels.

Walking

I am trying to walk a bit more each day. Today I made it around two of the three sections of this park. I walk slowly but this gives me time to look about and try not to fall. The cane helps and Max does not. We are a bit overcast this morning and I am hoping for rain. It is dry right now and we could use some. As I walk about I wonder what could make me more steady and to go a bit faster. I believe the answer is time, time, time.

It is such a good thing that we stayed put this summer and did not go to Colorado as planned. Our support system is surely in place here. On Sunday several friends inquired about progress and the head usher wanted to know if we could usher next Sunday. We shall certainly try to do so. John, our head pastor, was kind enough to inquire about progress as well. Between church members, friends in the community and friends in the park, who could ask for more. I thank my lucky stars for all the support and for the continuing progress back to health.

On the 'warm feeling' front, things are improving unless one sneezes, coughs, laughs, stands too quickly, and items like that. I know, TMI. I just had to let you know. In time, this too will get better. In the meantime, thank goodness for pull-ups. Happy travels.

Max or The Colonel

Recently Max met some of the new work campers, Clyde and Dorrie. Now whenever Clyde drives by, he says hi to Max, but doesn't call him that. He calls him "The Colonel." Tonight after I took max out for his constitutional, Gordon waved at us, and so we slowly walked over to Gordon's place to see that he and Diana were welcoming Clyde and Dorrie with hors d'oeuvres and drinks. What a nice thing to do. Dorrie then called to Max, and he appreciated all the attention, since he thinks that everyone in the park is here to see him anyway. Then Diana gave Max a taste of her beer. Max loved it. He hated to leave the party, but we needed to stagger home.

I did inform Clyde that Max was named for Foxy's dad, Max, who was, indeed, a Colonel in the Air Force. So Clyde's new nickname is very fitting for our Max. Happy travels.

Bubba's pizza

Tonight we bought two of Bubba J's all meat pizzas, and Foxy cooked them in the pavilion kitchen, and we shared them with several work camper friends. I haven't had pizza in a long time, so it was a real treat, even though I could only eat a piece and a half. Bubba's is a local place that makes pizza to order that you then take home and bake when you want to enjoy it. It is very much like a chain that makes the same offer, and yet this is a local guy trying to make his mark in a very competitive business. We like to support the locals where possible and have sampled his pizza in the past. We recommend his pizza to one and all. Happy travels.

Gordon's walking sticks and canes

I have solved my unsteadiness on my feet which comes and goes. First of all, I have to concentrate when I am walking. Today Foxy and I went to our storage unit to get rid of some stuff and bring other stuff back to the coach when she saw a cane I had bought from fellow work camper, Gordon.

Gordon is a very talented woodworker and makes canes and walking sticks that are just beautiful. Last year I bought a cane from him that had been, in a former life, a stick that had a vine growing around it and that gave a lovely spiral knotted look to the stick. He put a piece of cholla cactus skeleton on it for a handle and sealed the ends of this handle with a fifty cent coin and a silver dollar. It made a perfectly lovely cane, and now it is coming in very handy. I feel that when I am walking that I have just enough support to not feel quite so wobbly. Each day I try to walk a bit further to help get my strength back and tighten up abdomen muscles where the surgeon did his work. This is taking time, but I can gradually see improvement. As niece Joan commented, it all takes time and patience. Happy travels.

It is hard to be 71 and feel like a toddler

It really is hard to be 71 and yet feel like a toddler. I walk quite slowly and am not as steady on my feet as I would like. I manage but actually have to pay attention to my walking. This will take time, and if I work at it each day, it will get better I am sure.

Now you know about toddlers. They frequently have a warm feeling, and when you get a bit too close or decide to hug them, they can share their warm feeling with you. I was never very happy with the toddler stage in my kids and glad when they finally grew out of it. Maybe this is advice I give to you about me at the moment. Don't get too close, and for heavens sake don't hug. I would hate to share my warm feeling with any of you. This may well prove to be the most trying part of recuperation. I have to get my friends who have had similar problems to share how long this takes. Dwayne and Ken, we need to talk. Happy travels.