The GW Jazz Band

 

It was an adventure for two 78 year olds and definitely outside our usual routines.  Yesterday Jeff and Susan dropped us off at an alley in Georgetown and we lined up outside the door of Blues Alley Jazz Cafe waiting for the doors to open at 6 pm.  By the time the doors were opened, there was a long line and we filled up the small venue completely.  The waiters did their best to take drink orders and then food orders.  We were not optimistic that they could feed all of us but they did amazingly well.  I enjoyed a spicy shrimp and grits and Jim had an even spicier Cajun chicken--New Orleans food for a blues venue.

The show began at 7.  We were told that they were a "listening" venue so to keep the conversation to a minimum during the performance.  Our grandson Michael played the trombone and we were so pleased to see that he was featured in several numbers --and he was terrific. The most memorable number for me was the familiar "Summertime" in which the soloist and Michael alternated lines.  

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After an 8 am start to our day, we were home shortly after noon.  It took us well over a half hour just to get out of Washington DC with all the folks starting their work day.  It was great again to have Jeff and Susan in charge of the plans and the travel--especially navigating the crowded streets of DC.

Now it is back to our ordinary lives again after two adventures.  That is just fine.  We are thankful for our ordinary lives. 

A Birthday Celebration

 Last week was one of two important doctors' appointments for Jim.  Because this blog is primarily created for our own memories, I will mention our relief in that both went well and Jim got good news twice.  We are grateful and don't take such news for granted at our age! 

Yesterday was my birthday.  Laura and Michael sent a beautiful bouquet that arrived on Saturday in time for me to enjoy it for a day.  Jeff and Susan picked us up on Sunday morning and we headed to James'apartment near Baltimore, Maryland.  It was fun to see his studio apartment with a great view from the 9th floor.  We had a substantial brunch at a nearby hotel and then headed on to Washington DC.  Jeff and Susan warned us that the next few miles into the city were often congested with traffic and so they were--even on a Sunday afternoon.  

We checked into the Courtyard by Marriot Bonvoy hotel right next to the George Washington University campus. Around  4:30 we left for the Lisner  Auditorium where Michael was playing his trombone with the GW wind ensemble.  The concert was the final one for the graduating seniors so they were each mentioned by name with their majors and their plans.  Two more years and Michael should be one of them!  It was a lively concert with contemporary music.     

We drove into Arlington, Virginia--our fourth state for the day plus the District of Columbia.  We ate at an Outback Steakhouse and dined well.  Jim and I were thankful that Susan was driving and we did not have to negotiate traffic or routes.  

It was a typical restless first night in a motel for me but we were ready by 9 am to have Jeff drop Susan and Jim and me off at Founding Farmer's Restaurant for another brunch.  Jeff went on to work--a video conference at Fort Meade--in which he has to participate in person because of the security demanded in his work.  Afterwards. the three of us at my suggestion walked to the White House but we could not get much of a glimpse of it through the trees.  It was a good long walk for me with my cane but I made it with a couple of sit-downs.

A bit more about my birthday.  Jeff and Susan made a framed portrait commemorating the eclipse event of last weekend and gave it to me.  Dan and Alex called.  My sister and a few friends sent emails.  I felt celebrated!  Jim and I will celebrate together when we get home--an ice cream cake is a traditional treat. So it was an unusual birthday and a good one!

Solar Eclipse--Mirror Lake Inn, Lake Placid, NY

Susan, our daughter-in-law,  had asked if we would like to join them for a total eclipse experience.   She made all the arrangements and she and Jeff drove their van.   We had our own travel agent and guides!

We left around 11 am on Saturday and stopped briefly to visit with Dan and Alex at their home in the Catskills.  As we neared Lake Placid, the roads got narrow and twisty and there was snow everywhere on the ground.  It was like being in a totally different climate zone. 

Room 733 was lovely with an amazing view of Mirror Lake and snow-capped hills.    Susan chose a location keeping in mind that if there was cloud cover or rain, we would still have a great destination. And she was right!

 After we arrived, Jeff and Susan picked up a pizza order  on Main Street and Jim got a few beers in the lounge downstairs.  We watched NCSU lose to Purdue and Connecticut beat Alabama. 

On Sunday morning Susan and I walked to St. Eustace Episcopal Church for the 10 am service.  It was quite a walk for me with my cane--the first time to use it in a public place.  I was not pleased to see that no one had cleared snow off the steps to the church.  We walked up the hill and found a side entrance.  The windows in the church were memorable.  It was a treat to worship with my daughter-in-law.

Sunday afternoon we watched USC beat Iowa in a great game with two stars-Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Camilla Cardoso of USC.  We walked to an Italian restaurant and enjoyed an excellent meal including tiramisu.  

Monday was the big day!   Jeff and Susan staked out a place on the beach and put up chairs and Susan's tripod and camera.  Jim and I went outside around 2:00.  There were many other hotel guests nearby but it wasn't crowded.  It was very dramatic as we followed the sequence of the moon passing over the sun.  The weather definitely got cooler. The moments of totality around 3:25 were so amazing that it brought tears to my eyes.  People cheered.  And then suddenly it was over and the light came back on! At totality the hills were black and people were shadows against the lake.  What a memorable experience! 

The moment of totality

Mirror Lake is aptly named.

from the Washington Post

Susan was the photographer.

A Walking Stick (aka cane)

 

It is a turning point in my life.  I am trying to be thankful and not sad.  I definitely have mixed feelings.

Jim ordered me a cane through our three month opportunity to spend $40 with United Health Care.  He did not surprise me with his purchase.  He showed me what he wanted to do for me.  I did not say "No." 

The package was at the door already the next morning.  I used the cane when I walked to meet my friend Peggy at our usual spot near the clubhouse where we often sit and chat for a while.  Peggy was pleased with Jim's purchase.  

It is a recognition of aging and increasing fragility and that makes it hard to accept.  But it is also a way of being able to walk with less uneasiness.  I hope my pride doesn't get in the way of my using it! 

Jeff's reaction to my sending him a photo of the cane was a statement we had used with him ever since he was a little fella--"It's another sign you are growing up."  I appreciate Jeff's sense of humor.  Hmm.  Growing up or just growing old! 

  However I will be thankful I am growing old and can still (there's that word "still" again) walk on my own even if I need a visible sign of help. 

-----------------I just read Alice Fryling's  Aging Faithfully which was on my Kindle app for quite a while.  It was the right thing for me to read today as I accept the changes in my life and deal with them with Thanksgiving. 

Our Basketball Teams

 

Last week the Notre Dame women won the ACC basketball tournament.  We enjoyed watching freshman Hannah Hidalgo who was named the ACC tournament MVP.  She is so feisty; she steals the ball from opponents.  If she is double-teamed, she finds her teammates and gets an assist. So now we get to watch them again in the NCAA tournament beginning on Saturday.

And we watched the NCSU men surprisingly take the ACC tournament championship after playing five games in five days to do so.  They beat Duke, Virginia, and Carolina.  When they were playing Virginia, we turned the TV off when it looked like a lost cause--and then they tied the game at the last second and won in overtime.  We decided it was good luck for them if we turned the game off.  

So when they were playing UNC and were not doing well, we turned it off again.  And then UNC's star player, RJ Davis, stopped hitting all his shots and NCSU's star player DJ Burns (the body of a football center with the feet of a ballerina) continued to do his thing and they won!  Thus they were able to be in the NCAA tournament--winning was their only chance to do so.  So we can watch them later this week too!

March Madness is always fun and now we have two teams we care about that we can cheer on to victory--unless we decide again that we bring them bad luck and thus have to turn the games off.

---------March 31  ND's women lost to Oregon State but NCSU's men won over Texas Tech and then this evening over Duke in another great DJ Burn's show.  This means that NCSU has both men's and women's teams in the Final Four.  To be continued!  

The Saga of the Hips

Four and a half years ago while we were in the process of packing up 27 years of life in one house, I was having a lot of pain in my left hip.  I could hardly walk across the parking lot of the Air BnB where we were living temporarily.  I asked my South Bend doctor if he could give me a cortisone shot to get me through the next month of moving to Princeton. He said that only a specialist could do the shot. However it was easy to get an x-ray in his clinic so I had one done immediately.  He showed me that I had arthritis in my hip and warned me that in one to four years I would need a hip replacement.  Meanwhile, I could take Tylenol and Aleve every six hours for relief.  He told me not to stop when it felt better but to keep on for a while for more permanent relief.

For four years my hip gave me no trouble even though I was no longer taking pain medications. And then it started up again this fall with a dull ache down both of my legs and sometimes a feeling like my left leg was caving in on me. My primary care provider in Princeton warned me against taking more than two Aleve a day. I dreaded the thought of surgery.  A good friend had complications with her hip replacement surgery and had to have it done a second time.  So did my South Bend doctor who had to have his redone as well.  I knew rehab would be a problem with our living in a second floor apartment.

I did very little walking during our time in Florida not only because of my hip issues but also some balance issues.  I felt sturdier hanging on to Jim's arm.  He was kind enough to say that he actually liked it when I did so.  When we got home,  I began a routine of taking one Aleve in the morning and one at night.   I also found some exercises for issues with limping on Youtube and began doing them daily.  

And to my great relief, the dull ache down my leg is gone.  There is no pain at night when I am trying to sleep.  I feel some sensitivity when I walk but no feeling of my leg caving in.  Something is working!  My body is coping and maybe even healing.  I can live with this small amount of discomfort and am relieved not to feel like a hip replacement surgery is my only option.  

My Reading Life

 

I just spent an hour or more going over the books I read and recorded on Goodreads this year and last year.  I wanted to find all the books I rated five stars and then to look for more books by those authors.  In the last month I have rejected at least ten books that I brought home from the library or downloaded for my Kindle app. Sometimes I just take those rejected books off my "to read" list on Goodreads or the "For Later" list at the Princeton Library.  Sometimes I shelve them as "abandoned" on Goodreads and then write a "private note" as to why I abandoned them.  I never rate a book one or two stars.  If that is all it was worth to me, I probably abandoned it.  I know authors look at these reviews so I don't want to disparage any books publicly. 

Goodreads statistics show that I read over 1400 books in the last ten years.  I abandoned 140.  10%!  I know however that I give up on more than 10%.  Recently I came home with six books from the Princeton Library and I read two of them.  

I found 59 books in 2023 and 2024 that I rated five stars.  I jotted down the names of the books and the authors.  My next project will be to find other books by those authors.  Sadly, I have read everything Nicholas Rhea wrote before he died.  I will have to wait for more mysteries by Martin Walker or memoirs by Niall Williams and his wife Christine Breen. Hal Borland wrote many years ago.  

I wondered if I had recorded reading Jim's biography of R. H. Charles when it was published a year ago.   I had neglected to do so!  So I rated it five stars and wrote a review--the first reader to do so.  I think probably the target audience for such an academic book does not use Goodreads.  So the average rating as it stands today is "five stars."  

Goodreads saves me from rebuying books.  I get lists from EarlyBird books in my email and when I check to see what Goodreads readers think of a book before I make a purchase, I see that I have already read it--or rejected it.  I put books on a request list at our wonderful Princeton Public Library or if it is not there, I can often find out of print books at Better World Books or the used book list on Amazon.  I purchase a few books from Amazon every month for my Kindle app--for 99 cents or $1.99 or $2.99. 

In my retirement, I have plenty of time to read and am grateful to have ways to find books that I enjoy and appreciate.  

One more thing about my reading.  In the last year or so I have found email addresses for several authors and let them know how much I appreciated their work.  I have had lovely responses from each one making me realize it was worth the effort to find a way to contact them.