Commenting on the hectic pace of life: “We have the St. Vitus' dance, and cannot possibly keep our heads still” ― Henry David Thoreau

It's Tuesday, October 15, 2019, and I am still enjoying the brief memory of last week's wee bit of cool air. Last Friday morning around 5:30 a.m., I went out on my brother-in-law's carport and sat in the swing. It was a cool, crisp, 48 degrees with a nice breeze wafting its way and doing its feels like duty. I was barefooted and with my Community in hand, (I did purchase a bag just to be sure I had some), and, I was reminded of that old cliche about how nice it would be if you could bottle this experience up and take it with you for a later day. There I was. Enjoying the quiet, cool, rural, off the beaten path and I couldn't help but thank God for my wife's brother and his influence on us all over the years. At 84, he is in a different phase of his time here as he deals with memory issues and other related aging stuff. There are some things that have not changed. He is a most genial host and he still visits folks in nursing homes. These folks are not blood kin. Just family connected or people he has known for years. He still keeps up with his cattle, his property, and all the odds and ends it takes to function. He and I did a lot of reminiscing the three days we were there. Lots of water under a plethora of bridges. Good times, challenging times, sad times, and I recognized his theme for life. Faith in God and love of family and in his case, showing that unlike the lawyer who asked Jesus, brother-in-law knows and serves his neighbors. Amen.

We made it back into our neck of the woods late Saturday afternoon. It's about 325 miles, but, mostly through a lot of little towns and villages. It's a long enough ride to get all the old people ailments stirred up. The wife made the trip even though she has been fighting a stomach bug for over a week. This stomach malady came to fruition Sunday morning. I left her in tears to go and teach my class. She wasn't crying because of the pain although she was in pain. She was crying because she hated to miss being at the services with her beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. I finished teaching and then returned to get her for a trip to the emergency room. We spent five hours which is not bad at all by comparison. They checked her out. Complete lab workup. Ultrasound on her stomach and surrounding organs. Cat scan just to see if they missed anything. (I couldn't be sure if the dinging sound was the elevator or the cash register.) They put in an IV and gave her some morphine for pain. It did help the pain. We will be getting her in to see our primary care early this week. The morphine was good, however, it triggered a wild version of her restless legs syndrome. She was up most of the night. I guess that will be added to the list of things she can't tolerate. It reminds me of my granddad's remedy for pain. He would offer to hit me on the other side of where it was hurting in order to move the problem. He was always so willing to help.

My public service announcement for today.

I will say one more thing about our visit to the ER. We had an excellent response, service, and the people who helped us could not have been nicer. It probably helped that they were not overrun with sick people, but, we were very pleased with the service they rendered. I suppose a whole lot of folks are happy. The Texans won. The Astros came back and won game 2. Me? Don't watch the NFL and call me what you will, I left the Astros game at my bedtime. Why? I was stick a fork in it done. That's why. The trip home on Saturday. Up very early Sunday to finish preparing my lesson. Five hours in the ER. And, all the other duties as assigned. Sure. I am gratefully thankful to God that I am able to do those things, but, I also am aware when my body speaks his mind on the subject. The result? I was up and ready to go at 4:30 a.m. checked the score and felt that very small release of endorphins or whatever it is that gets released when you experience something good. (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Saturday evening I  was in switching mode. Astros game. LSU football game. Live PD.) You know. It was an eye, hand coordination activity. Even the remote control was ready for a nap. Enjoy. Be blessed. And, better yet, know that if we are God's own child, we, regardless of our situation, are blessed forever and ever. Amen. .....More later.