Thanksgiving over, progress, vicissitudes

Pilgrims on dining room sideboard

Another Thanksgiving  has gone and although it was just the two of us here, so unlike the crowds I cooked for and we hosted for so many years in CA and even here in earlier years of our retirement, when we look at all we have been thorough the past year with Jerry's continued healing and some setbacks, we are grateful. This year instead of the ready meal from the Festival market I decided to cook a turkey breast, it was almost 5# and I have no idea where they grow these huge turkeys but it was delicious.  Enough to rerun Thanksgiving yesterday and lots more left for sandwiches the next few days, perfect.  

Onto my FB I shared a photo from Uncle Carl in 1982 in Avonmore, PA when they were

hunting turkeys, I do not know who are the men, some of his hunting buddies.  I always thought this would make a Thanksgiving card with an appropriate verse but as with most of my thoughts I have never completed the execution. Yesterday though I spent the day taking down the full array of autumnal decor and clearing the way for whatever I will do to display Christmas this year.  I am  proud of myself for tossing an entire huge box of floral pics that I do not use, actually I drove them to Goodwill couple weeks back.  So I have now put the miscellany into a large Samsonite suitcase in the downstairs closet.  It was just taking up space but now contains the fall floral, leaves, some knick knacks, etc and to remind myself lest I forget by next year I taped a note to the outside of the suitcase as well as inside the door in the closet next to it.  In short I got things better organized and shed some stuff, including 3 bags of foam brought from my late aunt's in PA and a sack of misc clothing clippings that I always thought I would make into quilts, including snap pockets off a few of Jerry's old western wool shirts.  While in the mood to toss, I had Jerry take me to the dump to dispose of along with a roll of carpet pad he had saved in the garage for something sometime.  The recycler refused to take the roll of padding and I did not want to return it to a shelf.  Little by little, too little, too late I am making downsize progress.  Things I had envisioned other uses for.  But life is not what I thought.

Today the word vicissitude came to mind and I feel this is appropriate for this stage of our lives.  Changes that require alterations and adjustments.  That is  the situation here.  

Jerry is now weaning completely off the prednisone that the Rochester doctors have had him on since May.  It helped rebuild his stamina, endurance, appetite but time to decrease.  And this has been a gradual decrease in dosage designed to not give adverse side effects, yet his body is resisting and reacting.  As one of the Rochester geniuses said, "he is an enigma..." Lately he's endured increased sporadic coughing episodes causing his ribcage to become sore where the rib was removed for the operation.  While the surgeon had predicted it might take a year, the pneumonia set back in March complicated that so now we hope we are out of the woods.  . Last night, November 29 perhaps the corner has been turned, he did not have the  bad continuous retching coughing.  It is almost fearful to say, things are better, yet so they seem and we are grateful.  

We have a retirement party to go to, an open house at the event center today for our friend who has been our postal carrier all these years.  She has carefully planned to reitre at age 60.  I did the same.  Wow it has now been 15 years for me.  Our weather is dismal, overcast, cold, windy, some rain, some snow predicted tomorrow.  All around a too early winter.  

Facebook also reminded me that it has only been 4 years ago that Carlie and I were in Prague, and on our Christmas Markets sailing the Danube adventure.  Now she has been gone for a year, another life event never expected but to be endured.  Vicissitudes, changes, alterations. 

Me and Carlie November 2015 Prague
at a local basement Czech dinner

,I dare not complain, some have it far worse and this all too shall pass. "If you do  not like things that have happened at least stop, pause and be grateful for things that could have happened and didn't, you are better off." Just like everything. It seems that lately I have more memories than occasions making new ones, this is aging.   

More on turkeys and snow

our front drive and footsteps of
newspaper deliverer

Backyard icy driplets on clothes line

We had an overnight  wet snow just as has been forecast.  Thankful we do not have to be out and about traveling in it.  On the other hand sure do wish we did not live in weather that keeps winter for so long.  But here we are, where MN/WI are behaving like MN/WI, it is just weather.  It was not much maybe slight 2 inches, but it was wet, heavy, messy. And the winds that are increasing this afternoon are viciously icy.  Last night rain first and then snow took over right as the forecast.  Sure wish it had skirted us.  So I grumbled, shared some pics on FB, sighed as I knew I would have to suit up and shovel.  Jerry cannot and will not be doing any of that, and so a task for self. I hear my late aunt say, "just be thankful you are strong and able" and I try to be thankful for that.  

Just yesterday I had cleaned the kitchen and entryway floors  and shaken out the throw rugs, hung them over the clothes line.  Would not do that today, sigh.  Thankfully I ran a couple local errands just around town yesterday and was feeling quite satisfied with myself that I did not have to go out there, not even a grocery store run.  I filled the loaner car up with gas, anticipating returning it to dealer Friday and retrieving my Caddy.  We will see.  So just as I pulled on my mittens because it is an icy wind blowing out there, I heard machinery and hooray!  Our plow guy had arrived.  Usually he does not show up for minor snows but I sure was glad to see him and stuck my head out to say so.  He said there was not much snow but it was wet.  And since I was dressed I ventured out the back door from the garage and cleared but a small path.  Keeping my snow shoveling skills intact, likely to need them again this winter.   Between his small bobcat and his shovel it took him no time.  So begins another white winter, sigh...where is all that climate change, global warming, blather, bring it on.  I remember a couple years here when I could wear sandals and capris at Thanksgiving, not this year.  But then I remember one year that my late cousin, Rollie,  got snow stormed driving back to Madison, WI after spending Thanksgiving here with us.   

Front house drive and sidewalk all cleared

 

Rummaging through some old Ideals, a magazine I used to enjoy and now have relegated to a stack on the shelf alongside  my PC, I noticed  3 editions dedicated just to Thanksgiving.  I recalled how I used to  use these and include a poem from one with Thanksgiving Day cards.  This year sent not one card, instead FB conveys my greetings.  But then as I have mentioned hardly anyone to send cards to, relatives and closest frineds are  dead.  Times change and we adjust.  Although I do admire the eagle and am fortunate to live in an area where  there are plentiful eagles and sightings, I was amused to find this by Ben Franklin,  apparently he felt a turkey would be a better symbol.  As the  political nonsense of lame demnoncrats continues in DC, I have to agree, they would denigrate this country to turkey status if they and their supporters had their way.  We can be Thankful so far that has not happened.