The Random Thoughts Of An Addled Mind or A Strange Thing Happened On The Way To The Blogpost

Pansies.... (click for larger views)

"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." ~ Mark Twain

Let's see. I did post about the sale of my parent's house and the daughter's graduation and the "fleeing of the nest." I managed to let you know about the sweetheart of a dog we adopted and the passing of dear Miss Clover. But there are many, many pictures of gardens and cats and storms and pumpkins and holidays that haven't seen the light of day.... well, because my mind is addled. I forgot to do a post on my wonderful surprise gift.... from my brother.... a new iMac with the wide 24 inch screen and 4 GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive and that it has Aperture for pictures and the software to make it run Windows. Oh! He also sent a new HP Photosmart All-in-one printer.. fax.. copier.. scanner; although I think part of this was for him too... so he could fax business stuff back and forth to Vienna. The package is WONDERFUL!!!!! Since it came in May, I have had time to link it to my network and can share picture files back and forth with the old Dell.

A patch of autumn color...

Then we have had the ongoing saga of Mom's back pain... or, hip pain... or. Well!
That was just it! It took more than four months of seeing orthopedic surgeons for hips, orthopedic surgeons for backs, physical therapy for both, neurosurgeons for backs, various injections, scans, blood tests... etc........ before one of the docs finally decided that there was a problem with BOTH.. but the hip was the worst and first to be taken care of. So we made the rounds of the renal specialist, heart specialist, rheumatologist, family practice, orthopedic surgeon, more bone densities, chest x-rays, stress tests and pre-op blood tests and had the surgery set for October 23rd but because of a last minute glitch, it was canceled and more tests ordered.

Finally, on November 17th, the surgery finally went off.... right hip replacement. Surgery went well but the post-op pain meds really made her confused.... she thought we were all lying to her and that the surgery had been canceled again. Friday, finally over the post-op problems, she transferred to the rehab center.... right next to the two gas stations with the cheapest gas in Hampton Roads...... yeah! Dad spent the last two weeks on the couch in the hospital room. I got him to come home to shower and eat two or three times. Now, he will stay home at night and sit with her part of the day.

Wildflowers & friend....

One day (the days run together with an addled mind) I was driving home from the hospital and saw this huge soaring bird. At first I thought it was Canadian goose or a large duck, but it had a smooth gliding motion unlike the frantic flapping of the geese. The bird landed on the golf course green right next to the pond with Mallards and geese already present. As I drove by I was amazed to see the large and regal white head of the American bald eagle... perched at the edge of the putting surface. (That's one way to score an eagle!) I hope he migrates on back in the subdivision... we have a great source of food for him this year... the field mice are plentiful!

Thanksgiving was formally held in the hospital, and I must say that the kitchen personnel outdid themselves with ham and turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, green beans and collards. It was one of the better hospital fares I have seen. On the way to the feast I saw a woodchuck (groundhog) sitting up at the side of the road... doing whatever woodchucks do... so... with the addled mind running loosely... that childhood rhyme started running through my head... How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Of course, it is now in my head and won't go away!!!

Violas.....

I was coming home Thanksgiving evening and started hearing a slight hissing sound that quickly turned into a loud roaring grind.... I thought my transmission had fallen out or something horrible like that. Somehow, with a break in the traffic, I maneuvered across five lanes of traffic and came to a stop just before an exit ramp, got out and there... my back tire was flatter than a pancake. I called 911 to ask about the roadside service but he pulled up behind me just as I got a person... not two minutes after my flat! This is a really good service for motorists.. he had my spare on in less than 10 minutes and wouldn't take a tip or anything! I did have to get a new tire as it was punctured by a four inch piece of metal from a phillips head screw driver... it was still inside the tire when they changed it.

So that about catches things up... oh, yes! I MET JUDY!! AND MR. KENJU!! We had a wonderful lunch and her daughter was reassured that I was not a knife wielding serial killer from the internet...

"It can take a surprisingly long time to get from one part of my mind to another." ~ Ashleigh Brilliant

What do the flower and tree pictures have to do with any of this post? Absolutely nothing! An addled mind doesn't need an excuse... for anything.

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