No Rest for the Already Weary

I was anticipating Monday to be a day of recovery from the frenetic goings-on of the past few days. No way this was to be! Murphy showed up in the form of an infirm mother. I wake up Monday morn and walk into my kitchen, where the phone is flashing like a neon sign. A deep sigh is heaved, I retrieve the message from my sister-in-law. Sunday evening at 11 p.m. My mother is taken by ambulance to the hospital in Berlin with severe chest and upper GI pains. Her blood pressure is off the charts and she is 78 years of age. She has been taking over the counter meds her doctor has instructed her not to take, she will not take meds that have been prescribed to her by the same doctor. She will however,gladly take Tomazepam (addictive) and Lorazepam (also addictive) from any doctor who can prescribe them for her. Translation: My mother has a problem. To top it all off I go in to see her at 10 a.m. or so, and the doctor who is caring for her in the hospital happens to be there. My mom is lying through her teeth to the doctor! I can't accuse my mom of lying to the doctor while the doctor is in the room can I?I remain silent, and later chase down the doctor in the hall and set her straight. I feel like I'm being a total shit! I'm also very angry. M y mom is jeopardizing her health by lying to the doctor. It's her responsibility to answer life or death questions truthfully, not mine. If the doctor misdiagnoses her because of this, and it results in my mom's death, or to my mom's detriment, and I say nothing am I not responsible also? No thank you please. This has not been a happy Monday, if ever there was one.

The Roy Book Binder Show

Last night I journeyed to Berlin and met up with my brother at the Globe Theater to take in some good food and to see and hear Roy Book Binder. Roy is a very good fingerstyle blues and Ragtime guitar player, and the guy was at the top of his game last night. Roy gave 100% last night, he was clearly having a good time, it showed believe me. I ran into fellow blogger Tim Chaney, and his pal Lenny (both guitar players) and they both concurred that what we saw last night was exceptionally good. Roy played 2 sets and during the intermission, and after the show, was more than happy to hobnob, sign autographs, and hawk his CDs, and other promotional goodies. He's a very affable guy, and very approachable. When he's not performing he'll instruct guitar, and I must tell you, acoustic blues guitar is challenge. I know I've been at it a while. You have to stay with it. So last night was part of my learning experience, and of course it's easier to learn when you have a good time. I did!

A Full Plate and Then Some

Today I groomed the dog, no easy task. Especially in this heat. Tomorrow I have to take my wife to work in the a.m. as she is getting her vehicle detailed, then I have to meet my brother to discuss an addition on his house I am working on. Tomorrow afternoon I have to go to the animal hospital in Berlin and pick up Doggie-meds, and in the evening it's off to Berlin again, where I will meet up with my brother as we take in the Roy Book Binder show at the Globe Theater. Local blogger and fellow blues afficianadoTim Chaney will be there also. Tim is an acquaintance of my brother and a fine guy to boot, it'll be nice to see him and his guitarist/compadre Lenny again. Friday I will be working here at home ( on the tree farm) and checking out an auction in Snow Hill. Saturday early I will be mowing grass at the church near Whiton where the kinfolks are interred, and then at 10 a.m. I will be helping to clean the church where I worship near Pocomoke. Saturday afternoon I will be preparing food for a church affair that will take place Sunday after worship services. Is that enough?

Interlopers

This morning around 7 0r so as my wife was getting ready to leave for her job, our dog decided that she needed to be taken for a walk. So I hitched her up to the leash and proceeded to walk down my winding driveway which is about a quarter mile long and surrounded by woods. As I approached the last curve on my drive I saw a vehicle parked in my drive,it had backed off the main drag, and had entered my drive well past my gate,which was open BTW. Since it was fairly early I guessed it had been there for at least a couple of hours. It was a large Lincoln, a Town Car. I couldn't tell from a distance if anyone was in it, but it sure had no business being there, and it was blocking my drive as my wife was just getting ready to leave. Now let me add that when I go about my property I am generally armed, this is because I was once (believe it or not) attacked by a rabid raccoon. Also when I first moved here over 26 years ago there was a pack of wild dogs in the area, and I had a small child to worry about. A handgun is a reassuring thing to have in these situations, and it's perfectly legal to carry it on my person while on my property. But there was no way I was going to approach that vehicle armed or not at that hour of the morning and tell them they were trespassing and to leave. The property is posted, but most trespassing laws are a joke anymore, plus the world is not a safe place anymore. While I will use a gun to shoot a critter, I'm not particularly anxious to shoot a human. So I did the prudent thing I went back to the house and called the Sheriff's Dept. They showed up within minutes, checked out the vehicle. There were two kids sleeping in the vehicle after along night of it, I guess. The officer told them they were trespassing while I was present and sent them on their way. They were very apologetic. End of confrontation, I was relieved. I'll still carry the gun.

I'm Fine, But The Infrastructure Could Be Better

And today, Boys and Girls I made the long trek up to Easton to visit the nice orthopedic man who told me that my shoulders may not last as long as I will. Not exactly unexpected news as I've had issues with pain, strange noises emanating from joints, and now and again my right shoulder will drop with well-defined clunk. If all this didn't hurt I could almost enjoy the new sounds that I'm producing. For now I have all sorts of options and that's good. I will elect for the present to do nothing as I'm not in 24-7 pain, plus I can still comfortably play guitar, my main passion. If it gets worse it goes to injections of cortisone, then to injections of a gel concocted of (rooster combs?) Lastly there will be surgery. Other than that I'm good to go.