The thought isn't new. We've all thought it and said it thousands of times. It's been written on blogs as many times as there are grains of sand in a handful: "my, how time flies!"

I remember the first day of nursing school thinking; three years to go? That'll take forever. And then we were at graduation morning; all of us moving on; our separate ways. It'll be 40 years next month. My, how time flies!"

December 5th, 2009, I resigned my position at my hometown hospital, after 34 years, to pursue a slower pace. After a month off, I started a locum job at a nearby hospital: a 5 month assignment.

Today that 5 months is up. "My, how time flies!"

For the first time since I was thirteen, I'm taking the summer off. Well, from work anyway.

There'll be kayaking, biking, run-walking, swimming, basking, and bar-b-q-ing. There'll be grand kids and family outings, and watching a new grandbaby in the oven. Two weeks hiking in the New Mexico Rockies comes in the middle of July. Should September come, we'll be concluding this vacation with our yearly 90 mile kayak/canoe race in the Adirondacks. When I start back to work, God willing, I can hear me say: "My, how time flies!"

but for now; there is today!

Doing a cursory browse around the Google image engine for pics to go with a noisy neighbor post I discovered a plethora of images and cartoons dealing with neighbors who play music too loud.

We should be so lucky.

Memorial Day 2009




I'm going home today.
So many never got that chance!

Remember!

For it is in remembering that we don't take life for granted.

What joys and surprises await in this new day?

Last week I placed a labor epidural in a 16 year old mother to be. She was a very friendly and chatty girl and it was a pleasure to meet her. She shared with me the fact that a number of her friends were near their due dates too. No shame, just matter of fact.

Yesterday I met another 16 year old who was coming to my OR for a diagnostic laparoscopy to determine whether endometriosis was the cause of her pelvic pain. We didn't find any endometriosis, just pid (pelvic inflammatory disease). Oh and this delightful young women, with her cheerful outlook, also tested positive for chlamydia and GC (gonorrhea).

Welcome to the real world rel.

Wednesday morning motel musings:

What the mind sees.

What the mirror sees.

Caveat for the day:
If a patient complains about a sore throat or a runny nose, or an upset stomach, he or she probably has a bacterial infection.
But if the patient complains about a sore throat, a runny nose, and an upset stomach he or she has a viral infection.

Jane Morgan Le Jour Ou La Pluie Viendra

Jane Morgan - The Day The Rains Came Down - 1958

Enjoy your weekend.

We're out to plant the potatoes, a new blueberry bush, and some new raspberries.

Forcast to rain in the PM

We can either omplain that life isn't

perfect and wait for life to accommodate us

with fewer demands or we can put things

in perspective and lighten up a little.

Car Calender

When I got home from the thumb twiddling contest yesterday, D. was in the orchard pulling weed tree seedlings and she discovered a number of yellow Morel mushrooms. We'd never seen any morels before and were quite impressed. Don't think we're brave enough to eat them though.morels

Google image (neighborhood)

Most mornings I take time to stroll around the bloggerhood to see what my cyber neighbors and ether compatriots have to say. I stopped by Scarlett and Viaggiatore's and although she's devoting more of her attention to facebook these days she did have a recent post on her blog which introduced me to a neighbor in her 'hood; Suburbia, from across the pond, at Moments from Suburbia. On her side bar is this quote: There are 2 thieves of our time. Regret for the past and fear of the future. Don’t let them steal from you. In fact I've seen similar reflections along this line, this time it struck me with the simple truth that, if followed could, make our lives so much more upbeat.

My blog friend Elisabeth did a post re: Catholicism in general and a priest in particular. It struck me tangentially that I drifted away from the catholic church because of their reliance on guilt and confession to keep their congregants in line or on the straight-and-narrow, if you will. Regret for transgressions against God in particular but also against fellow humans and fear of going to hell. Personally I find that a poor technique to bring about faith and allegiance to any cause. That, do it my way or go to hell, philosophy seems so pervasive in the world culture today and for the life of me I don't see that it has brought us any satisfaction with the world's state of affairs.

Don't misunderstand me; I think God and Jesus are good concepts. I think Mohamed and Buddha, and Krishna, and Robert Fulghum professed great ideas for getting along and making this existence mutually satisfying. But humanoids of the ilk of Stalin, Amin, Ma Barker, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Ivan, Herod, Nero ,oh the list goes on and on, have shown us how selfish egotism can give rise to mega human suffering .

The past is not to be regretted but a tool of instruction to make today better. The future is not to be feared but to be embraced, if and when it comes, as another opportunity to embrace the best life can offer.

Speaking of the best that today can offer, last night visitors arrived at our back door: Kristy, the Apple, and Jacob arrived around eight PM. I know you're puzzling over who the apple is. Go ahead, admit it. The Apple is the new grandchild in the making. Kristy and Jacob are in the 2nd trimester, week 15, of their pregnancy. You remember; kumquat, lime, shrimp, well now it's apple size. We talked about such topics of import such as: ultrasounds....like in "do you want to know if it's a boy or girl before delivery?" If it's a boy; to circumcise or not. Can a crying baby be ignored? We talked about Kristy's sisters ideas on marriage, living quarters and child rearing. We watched Jacob and Bobby making a mother's day video, well it could have been Jacob and Bobby. We looked back with pleasure and humor, not regret. we looked to the future with excited anticipation, not fear. If I don't live 'til tomorrow, I'll die knowing the joy of this moment!

Apple fetus by ~yamiyoujitsu

Thursday morning

on call

I'm going for a walk

in the rain.

MDA Telethon 2008 - Terry Fator performance (Hour 4)