Minnesota Life...

There's a lot of different and same about this vacation.

Most obvious is the attempt to cram in all the visits and reconnecting into a short month. We're prioritizing visits, with Steve's first one being his daughter providing a ride from the airport, and the second being a while spent with his fishing buddy catching up while sitting along the edge of the St. Croix with their lines in the water. Note: No picene deaths occurred: fish were caught, then released.

Today we get to see how much our great-granddaughter has grown in a year. We scheduled this one ASAP into the visit, not only to make sure it fit in comfortably, but because recent Arizona housecleaning / organizing revealed a multitude of items needing to be sent up here to that family, and all those boxes need to be cleared out to make breathing room. Well, packing room also for the car's return trip which will also be an official relocation of Rich to Arizona.

The other major unpacking from the trip up included a sh**load of boxes of glassware he'd collected down there for his girlfriend up here. Haunt the local thrift shops, find treasures for a pittance each, and she can sell them on eBay - or keep for her personal collections - and make a sweet profit from people who appreciate their real value rather than the need to clean out Grandma's house asap after she died so they can go back to their "real" lives. Thrift shops in and around Sun City take in a lot of items that way and price them to clear out quickly before the next houseload arrives.

Rich is dividing his time between this house, helping me clean and fix things, and his girlfriend's apartment, helping her clean and pack. She's trying to decide whether to move back to the town west of the metro where her grown kids are, or the town north where her sister and mom live. Her sis is a nurse who has already been very helpful in providing care, support, and transportation while she is coping with cancer tests and treatments. I have my preference for where she should move, especially considering how non-supportive some of her kids have been, but it's not my life. Obviously she and Rich are ending their relationship, but that's been coming on for a while, and his assisting her indicates it's happening amicably.

Another family branch is getting their own visit from their daughter/son-in-lay/grandson, none of which I've seen since the wedding (theirs), so it was a high priority to arrange that get-together for the week we'll all be in the same state. That leaves the rest of the month to arrange the rest of family and friend visits, along with fishing for Steve, as much as his back will allow. We've already had to postpone one visit with one of his sons, but it's waiting to be rescheduled.

The reason we have limited ourselves to a month is that Steve finally got the call from the insurance company that all the snafus were fixed and he'd good to go on his back procedure. Monday he'll contact his scheduler for their first opening after the 6th when he's flying back. Rich and I, along with all his stuff, start our drive down the Tuesday after Labor Day. Can you count the remaining days? Yikes!

Other stuff has been going on meanwhile. We're relearning the remote for a different satellite system for the TV and different hookups to various equipment. Rich climbed through all the hoops to get his driver's license up here current so he can easily change his address to Arizona. I'm dealing with the local clinic, which no longer has any doctor on staff that I recognize, to not only manage my blood thinner levels but now monitor some weird and unexplained infection I have in one leg. Every question asked to help identify cause is answered "no." Cellulitis is about as generic a name as they can apply to something and still prescribe some hopefully beneficial treatment. In my case, antibiotics. The infection is subcutaneous, producing a rash that doesn't weep or itch, have any detectable point source or cause, but when pressure is applied feels painful about half an inch below the skin.

Weird?  At least it's not believed to be contagious. Just ugly. It's likely the warfarin is aiding in the production of little red spots at surface level. So-o-o-o ... another reason to get off it quickly? Or a reason to thank it for pointing out (puns intended of course) there is a problem?

Meanwhile I am slowly getting reacquainted with the reasons Arizona has become home. It's cold up here. My allergies are starting to kick in again. The meds I take for those are blocking my sense of smell so I don't get that cue of "home" up here. Lawns need mowing, weeds taller than 1/2" - more like measured in feet - are taking over the world, mosquitoes climb in the car with you, everything is located in different places from space in the bathroom to layout in the stores. And it's too cool for pool-walking ... assuming you could locate a pool to walk in. The terrain is sans what passes for mountains around Phoenix, but the trees are so tall, plentiful and dense that it's impossible to tell anyway. Clouds are no longer a reason to stop and watch, having gone from rarity worthy of comment to ubiquitous backdrop. I'd hoped for a bit of stargazing in this more rural area, but....

Well, I'm told lots of places back in Arizona are designated night sky viewing areas.

On the other hand, flora and fauna have familiar forms, ones I forget I've missed until seeing them again. I recognize what's in the fields here. We've seen deer, turkeys, sandhill cranes, ducks, finches, and the windshield needs regular bug-scrubbing as well as replacing, due to one too many rocks along the way. The garden offers coneflowers, brown-eyed-susans, liatris, daylilies, lily-of-the-valley bearing still-green seed balls, milkweed bearing scars from very hungry caterpillars which Paul vouches have produced healthy Monarch butterflies. It also sports a plethora of young ash and maple trees, grass, ragweed about to bloom, and likely some very stubborn sowthistles which resist annual pulling. I haven't literally gotten around (the other side of the patch) to checking them. There are a few winter casualties to be cut down as well, had we time, now that energy is no longer the excuse.

Finally, sleep is more elusive. The bed is higher, its mattress harder and bulging up in the middle, and my share has been cut to half by sharing with someone whose every slightest move is extremely painful. It's hard to ignore, and a frequent reminder of my inability to do anything to help. Plus, did I mention that the bathroom is now out the door, up two stairs, across the living room and down the hall? Most of that trek is over a basement resonating chamber, and every creak is magnified. No longer can bare feet on concrete slab allow undetected movement so everybody doesn't have to know just where and when that journey occurs. As well, one bathroom is shared by three people, one of whom seems to be monopolizing it in the early mornings just because of a need to be ready for work!

Maybe I better go use it now before he wakes up.