Hello Monday!

Having never had a kidney stone, I laughed robustly (but pretty quietly) over this one. Can the I'v-had-a-kidney-stone crowd also laugh? 

It's Monday. Unlike most people, I love Mondays. And have for slightly more than 20 years now. Ever since the big 'career' change. When Sunday is your biggest day of the week well, Monday is like a breather. At least when it's a quiet day..and ours tend to be. Thankfully.
Yesterday we visited our old and blind friend out in a village. The village is down a long and very pot-holey road that winds up and down and in and out of several major ravines. To me, the village is on the way to nowhere although there must be something farther down the road. Back to our friend. He's 86, blind, poor, stubborn...and has had an interesting life. He was forced into the Russian army at some point. When he'd had enough of that, he left. Deserted, I suppose, but he's never been a fan of the Russians. He was jailed (I think for deserting) and escaped from jail. He might have done that twice. He has grown children and grandchildren. He's a widower. And he's nearing the end of his road here. When we were with him yesterday, for a little while, I thought we'd be there with him as he finished. We weren't. We left when one of his daughters came to sit with him for a while. What struck me most yesterday was how strong his will to live is. We humans hang on to life with just about everything in us, it seems. Speaking was very difficult for him but he talked about the pills he was taking to make him better.
F's eyesight has been fading for the entire 14 years I've known him. His sense of hearing has been remarkable though, and for a long time, he knew everyone that visited him by their voice. Then that faded as his hearing faded. Another thing that struck me yesterday is that his hearing is better again. He once again knew me by my voice. The pic is from 2 years ago. 

No Want Kiss U!

Did I ever tell you this story? The story about the little 3 year old boy who was cornered by a Big Older (WellNotThatOld) Lady? He was trapped in a corner as Big Older (WellNotThatOld) Lady closed in. Big Older (WellNotThatOld) Lady said- Come here I want to give you a kiss! Little Boy shrinks further into his corner and, in complete desperation shouts- I have a RUNNY NOSE!!
And No- he did not get kissed.
At least not that time.
And like little boys seem to do, he grew and grew and grew. I just looked him up on Facebook... he's in college. Oh my. And I remember him from when he was 3. (And no, Big Older (WellNotThatOld) Lady is not/was not me!) ;)

I needed this pic after wading through Google's new Terms of Service.  I don't pretend to even begin to understand most stuff about the web. And I know that it's nearly impossible, really, to make things completely private or to delete them once they're created and posted. But I'm not kidding- You'd better make sure your Google profile is where you want it. Those folks scare me more than Facebook. They seem even more intent than Facebook on making everything public UNLESS you specifically specify otherwise. (I keep both accounts because- Well, I do need to be in touch with people. And both sometimes work better than regular email for some people...especially people who change their email address more often than.... Than what? Than Ukrainian roads need potholes fixed? Than you sing in the shower?  Something like that. 

And while I'm at it- Be careful with what you put on your profile. Does everyone need to know what year you were born? Do they need to see your face tagged in every single picture? Does every stalker on the planet need to know your home address and telephone number? Or the names and ages of all your kids AND the school they attend? (A few years ago, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was quoted as having said: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. (this is a link, fyi)"  Of course, he's right. Duh. We need to be honest, upright, moral, etc etc etc. We need to be that for our own conscience's sake. We should all be concerned about THAT first and foremost NOT because of what Google or Facebook or LinkedIn or whatever will share with the public or government. BUT there are other reasons for guarding privacy fiercely. Identity theft. Stalkers. It's a long list, and does include the government and what exactly they'll do with your web search data- but you can fight about THAT one somewhere else. The point is- We Need To Be Careful. Because I doubt that Google or Facebook care about more than their own earning reports or bank accounts. They don't really care about your privacy. At. All.)
Just saying.

In other random news:

• In spite of being dead tired and wanting only to go to bed, I took a shower last night AND washed my hair (does every stalker on the planet need- or want- to know that?!?)- And this is a Big Deal why? Because there is no water anywhere in the city today (and tomorrow, we hear)- the twice annual cleaning of the water pipes has begun. Natalya went to the train station to buy tickets today and did find out that the bathroom there has water. But the hospitals don't; the university doesn't; we certainly don't. 
• Have you ever seen Orc Children? You know- Tolkien's little monsters. We had 2 hours on the train recently with some kids (age 0, maturity wise) who'd been for a tour of Western Europe. After watching them on the platform and hearing how they talked with their adult chaperones- I'm pretty sure they're Orc Children. I have Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as an audio book and some of them sounded exactly like the Orcs of Mordor. And were about as refined and polite and nice, too. I'm going to persist in my belief that not all kids that age are like that. Please please tell me I'm right. I mean- there are some MYP's I read about often who surely are NOT like that. (I guess someone knows what that's all about.) 
• Early fall was cold and unfriendly. No heat. Freezing temps outside. Much need for camel hair duvets. The past 2 weeks have been gorgeous. Warm. (And full heat in the apt- go figure). Gorgeous foliage. I'm sure it won't last. But it's been great! 

I'll leave you with a pic for evidence! :)

And no- that isn't my car. Not even close. I'd want a Hummer anyway, for the roads we cover. Uff.

I don't remember that we had a lot of junk food around the house when I was a kid but we did have Hostess Twinkies sometimes. And I LOVED them. I loved the cakey outside- mostly soft but with a little bit of brown in it. And then that creamy inside. All that yummy-ness. And then the 2 together. Oh Yum.
And whenever I'm back in the US, I have 1 or 2 or 3 for old times' sake. Only this time when I did...uh... they were just a tad sweet and hmmm.... not all that great.

Good-Bye Hostess

But that doesn't matter. I'm still going to miss them. I'm going to miss knowing that I can go eat one for old times' sake. 

Coffee and an old friend

I'm trying to clear out my comics folder. And found this one.

I'm with you on this one Jeremy. I love coffee. If it's strong. And if it's sweet. I just don't like it just plain. And I don't like it weak. When I first went to WI, way back in '97, I spent a lot of time with a lady in her '70's who cracked me up on a regular basis. And never ceased to amaze me. For one thing- when we had to get somewhere and were running late... she drove. Western WI has a lot of hills, valleys (coulees) and curvaceous roads. I never had spent a lot of time driving on roads like that. Well- ok- there was the time that Dad took me to test drive a car some guy had advertised. We're peddling down the road and I'm driving, Dad's in the back seat, Owner's beside me. A curve and I suddenly realize we're heading into that thing a bit fast. And.... I closed my eyes. I did. Truly. Momentary panic. heh.

Anyway- what's that got to do with coffee? Oh yeah- Lillian. Well she drove fast (but only drove when we were in a hurry. That's when I closed my eyes). And she had a coffee joke repertoire. That included.
Standing by the window holding her coffee gazing up at the sky: Looks like rain.... Smells like coffee.
And: Oh careful there- get the coffee away from the edge of the table... it might fall off, it's so weak.
(canned laughter)
I liked hearing her repeat those.
When I was home 6 years ago I had a little time with L. But there were no more coffee stories, no more witticisms of any kind. Oh she could chuckle and rub her hands together at the same time just like always and look delighted. But there was nothing there. Lights on but no one home. It made me ache inside. And this time? There won't be any time with her. At all. Two months ago she was mercifully released from life. I'll miss seeing her in WI this fall but I'm thankful at the same time. Her smile was still there and a tidy 'house' but it was empty.
My Grandma J was the same way. The last time I saw her, she was 'home' if Grandpa was there; if he wasn't, she said over and over- I think it's time we were getting home. Shouldn't we be going home? 'Home' was Grandpa. It was sweet. But sad, too. She, too, has been released from that shell. Thankfully.
I recently saw another Dear Old Friend- my friend's father- with whom there will be no more chats, no more shared experiences, no more shared precious things that make the heart glad. His smile is beautiful and heart warming and ready. His spirit is gentle. And I'm so thankful for the very special time 11 years ago at Shoals. I'd not seen him for a few years and in that time he'd made a decision that lit him up from the inside out. I'd heard about it but couldn't really picture it. And then we ran into each other at Shoals. Every time he saw me he wanted to visit. Every time. He was my friend's father, my very good friend's father-in-law. And because of that he knew about me. And he wanted to share and visit. I'm thankful now for that very precious memory. Seeing him recently it all came back to me and I was glad beyond words that I had that special memory.

All that from a coffee comic.