Power of Prayer

     Yesterday with all the prayers said for me by my new friend Mike, I directed them toward getting a reply from my IME, as I'd been waiting for over a month and was afraid something had happened to him,* and all would be in vain.  Today, I received the long-awaited email from that independent medical examiner.
      Now comes the hard part.  I may need to go find Mike.

* He is a quadriplegic.

Alert-----Potato in the Pool

 Today was the day to harvest my crop, of potatoes that is.  Last spring, a bag of potatoes started to go soft on my counter, so I tossed them out the kitchen window, and later buried them alongside the house. A few plants grew and when the tops withered, I found my harvest of potatoes.  A scant handful, but edible. As I walked around the house, I decided to rinse them off before bringing them into the house.  But the largest slipped out of my hand and sank to the bottom of the pool. What was I to do but leave it there.
   Cut to afternoon--when the swimmers arrived. The youngest, peering into the pool yelled,"Potato!"   Coincidentally enough, one of his favorite expressions is "Potatoes" so his mother said "Oh, it's just a leaf."   But no, inexplicably to all at poolside, it was an actual potato.  A homegrown perfect potato, and very clean.

Me and Mike

  Today I drove to St. Mary's to pick up a disc of Dad's Brain MRI from 2/04/14 that Dr. Tarolli had requested. A fool's errand most likely, but what the heck.  I had called Medical Records earlier in the morning  to determine where the MRI was done because the location was not on the copy of the written report which I had picked up way back then.  Turned out it was done at St. Mary's and at my request they told me it could be picked up there within an hour. So several hours later I went to St. Mary's Medical Records Office, which was not where it used to be.
    I asked at the window for Medical Records and was told they no longer have them at St. Mary's because with St.Peter's Health System, all records will be at Samaritan. But wait!   When I said I was told only this morning that I could pick them up here at St. Mary's, the  helpful rep found the disc had been on hold for me behind the desk.  I didn't ask  how that came about. Mission was accomplished.
   The day was not yet done.  By the information desk, a man appeared, a person whom my mother and Helen would have called "a poor soul."  He had a Bible clutched in his hand and was telling everyone "I said a prayer for you."  He told me so, more than once, and I said I needed all the prayers I could get.  He said he went all around the hospital every day and said a prayer for everyone.  He attended St. Augustine's Church  every Sunday and lived in Assisted Living at the corner of Frear Park.  He asked if I was driving that direction and if I would give him a ride home. He said a prayer for me. My car was parked in the lot up a flight of steep stairs so I said I'd pick him up by the door, as he was mobility-impaired. I had a fleeting thought of just exiting the parking lot and heading home without him, but I looked down the hill and saw him standing there, trusting, holding his Bible.
     So I circled down and picked him up for the short ride to his home.  He said prayers for me, though I don't know what prayers they were.  And no, I was not concerned for my safety. I made sure to pat him down for weapons before he got in my car.

Grocery List-less

  Stuff I have not been able to find at SNS:  Olivio Light, Van's Blueberry Waffles (The store seems to no longer carry them.) Last week they were out of Cook and Serve Pudding in flavors other than chocolate, and also Goetze's Caramel Creams. Today they didn't have a single loaf of Pepperidge Farm Raisin Bread or  any other brand either. (And the celery rots in the refrigerator after only a week or so, but that's a different issue. )  Nor have I been able to find Swanson's Frozen Chicken Dinner, the kind with real bone-in chicken pieces. not the gross pressed chicken slices, but maybe they don't make them anymore. And I never ask the clerks for or about a product:  I just don't have that kind of relationship with them.

If not for catfood...

   ....I would have left the grocery store.  It's been since August 2, and except for stopping in to pick up an item or two, I haven't been grocery shopping. But the house was pretty much empty of food, so I decided it was time to replenish the groceries.  As I started to push the cart through the aisle, while mentally assessing what I needed to buy, it came to me that I would only be buying whatever groceries I would be using myself.  I felt that now familiar shock of emptiness, and wanted to leave the store.  I didn't though, because we needed cat food.

Deadwood

This is the area parallel to the road.  Visitors often park there.  I need to call a tree service to get rid of the rest of the dead branches.  When I get around to it...

One more

Prototype by Ben T.      Arts Director, Valley Falls Summer Program