Awkward normals

Saturday morning... good friends of ours made a surprise visit ...they came from Missouri. For them it was a 7 hour drive.
I woke up to see their truck and a camper trailer parked in our yard. They had surprised us last year also. This year they came prepared to be self contained because of Covid-19.

They also come prepared in case we didn't want them here. They love visiting this area of Wisconsin and had reserved a spot at Esofea County Park for their camper.

They all had their masks on as they came to the porch. Charlie was so ecstatic that he could barely contain himself.

It was a surreal scene to have good friends so close and yet stay away from that HUG that is the norm each time we visit. It felt awkward and uncomfortable to have masks on while conversing and catching up on the porch. However this is the new normal right?

I see why people protest and want to fight mask mandates and rules of social distancing. 

We have been doing it all along and since we are pretty remote on the farm, it didn't feel that bad.

But it felt a bit awful and very much awkward Saturday.

When we met up with them later on at the campground, we had settled in with our new normal of working out distancing and eating a supper together while still being near enough to have conversation.

I took the kids to the playground and reminded them to wash their hands with sanitizer when we got back to the camper. 

We ate supper together/apart and conversed. Kristi said she had called her younger sister to wish her a happy birthday and discovered that her sister had Covid-19 that had just been diagnosed. Her sister said it was absolutely the worst ever cold she'd had.

We all sat quietly after that. 
I finally said, "You know, for all those out there who don't believe its real? It isn't until someone close to you gets it, right?"

My visitors had not been exposed to the sister for the past few weeks. It makes you stop and think. 

Well. 
Let's just say, so far the weekend has worked out pretty well.

The creek of course was a huge hit. 

We made plenty of space on the porch to keep everyone safe.

For our second night, Rich sat at the other end of the porch in the rocking chair. We ate suppers on our laps and then visited again.

As it got dark, I gave the boys some glow sticks and they went into the yard to light things up.

Things didn't feel quite as awkward last night. I think Rich was more comfortable on his own porch than in a campground.

It was a nice visit. A bit strange feeling, yet it was so nice to see others.

The hardest part was today. Because all the excitement was over and we felt alone. It was as if we realized what we were missing.

We'll get over it, we will be fine.

2019

What did 2019 bring us?

Well. Hmm.
NO medical incidents! Wow. That was awesome!
Family unrest. Well, yes that happened.

MDD. I visited the black hole with Rich. And it is not a pretty place. However by June we saw him climb out of despair.

I learned to drive the skid steer. I broke the skid steer. I hired out to get it fixed. Becoming a shade tree mechanic is NOT my forte.
But I can change the oil in the little mower. I got help to do the 4 wheeler and the big mower. Both are in line for a tune up this spring.

MIL was taken to the nursing home. Her Helping Hands folks were doing their best, but her health was precarious and her slippage was getting the best of her.

I discovered Infrared photography with a little converted pocket camera. I fell head over heels in love with the look.

I met Miss Molly and she was a welcome relief from constant running to Pulmonary Therapy appointments and physical therapy. She made me stop and ride mules with her. I have her to thank for many things.

I bought a cross between a road and dirt bike and rediscovered bicycling distances. If I had fenders, I'd be out on these nice days fighting the wicked muddy gravel roads!

Rich had the knee bursa moved and it was a great success. The attending doctor described it as 'kinda gross looking'.

We had some great visits from my Kenosha Gang and I got to dog sit Teslin!

When I look back on the years, I generally see them as pretty good. I'm lucky to be with a partner that I really respect and love and I know it is reciprocated but not always very evident.
Yes I am Rich's CareGiver, but I am his partner too.

Our lives are pretty good. We have a roof over our heads, plenty to eat, and we have each other.
Color me blessed.

How lucky am I too also be making new friends through CrossFit.

Last but not least is a new interest in macro photography.

Oh there is so much more, but I will leave things like that.

Great Weekend!

I had to wake Charlie up and ask him if he'd like to do chores with me. He likes to spend early mornings buried in blankets on the couch. Should I say he is a spoiled dog?

Okay. He is a spoiled dog.

After chores we decided to take the forest detour to the mail box to pick up Saturday's mail.
He flushed up 3 rabbits and gave chase.
Thank goodness for that beeper collar. I can call him off track when he gets a bit too far for comfort. [Think tiny dog snack to coyotes]

Rich is feeling a bit better now that the meds he reacted to are finally out of his system.

Saturday we had a short visit from my friend from CrossFit. She stopped by and was telling me about needing a 'pet taxi' or crate for her daughter's little dog and she was flabbergasted as to how expensive they were. I straightened up and asked her to step into my Pickers Shed! I found Morris's old crate which was in perfect shape, but very dusty. I asked her if she'd take it off my hands.
Talk about a win win situation!
Now I just need to finish fixing up the truck and haul the other 8 crates into the animal shelter.
My friend Kristi said she would love to bring her kids out to hike this week while they are out of school. Two of the kids are getting pocket cameras for Christmas and she said that I'd inspired them when I'd visited their farm last month to take family photos.
Another Win for me! I adore hiking with kids and teaching them about cameras!

My neighbor's boy received a hand me down pocket camera of mine. You should have seen Carson's face when he realized what was in the box! We'll go hiking later today. Color me tickled.
Allison, my little bug gal, wishes to be an Entomologist when she grows up. I found an amazing book called Bugopedia for her. The youngest boy adores rabbits and has 3 pet rabbits. I found a book called Rabbit and Me for him.

I dropped by the nursing home to take some hand made Christmas cards from the neighbor children to MIL. She loved them so much that she passed them around her lunch table for everyone to admire.
I decorated her room some more and hung her cards that she received.

We've had very nice weather for the past few days and a lot of sunshine. I think that has to be why everything feels that much nicer.

I end this with a shot from this morning. I could see the sky just barely beginning to show light when I walked out into the chill with a camera and tripod. This was a 37 second exposure done in Live Time with a ground fog moving through.
I think it is my favorite sunrise photo of the year!

All sorts of news

Do you hear the presses running?
What a wild week I had.

Okay, it wasn't really wild, but it was a very productive week.
The rains have kept coming but on Thursday I did get out after 3/4 of an inch of rain and I found so many Morels.

Bonus!

We saw a Pulmonary Therapist on Friday. Rich hadn't wanted to go but we thought we'd follow through and see what he had to say.

The results of the Pulmonary Test that Rich had on Monday were available to the Therapist. He asked a lot of questions and then pulled up the test results. He asked Rich if he wanted to know his numbers. Rich sort of just looked at him.

Jim [the therapist] made a quick mental note and then said, "Do you really want to know? Hmm, maybe not."
Rich responded. "Look, I am dying anyway. I just want to be more comfortable. Numbers don't mean a thing."

Jim nodded. "Fair enough."
Next came some testing of physical abilities. Rich had to walk towards a wall and back. Then it was a two minute walk while carrying his pulse travel oxygen.
When he got back, he dropped into a chair and Jim took his 02 levels.

I'm going to skip the technical stuff and skip to the discussion that Jim had with Rich. He told Rich he was remarkably strong for 'his' condition and he thought that some Pulmonary Therapy would not only help his moods but help him to be able to get outside.
He was going to suggest a continuous airflow and not the pulse air for when/if he felt like going outside. He was straight forward. Rich was never going to get 'off' oxygen, but there might be things to make him feel a bit more alive.

Would he be open to Community based Pulmonary Therapy? It would help bring back his leg strength and help him feel more confident. Rich said he would but he didn't see where he'd be out ...doing things like he used to.

Jim chuckled and said he knew guys that had their continuous air flows 02 mounted on their Harley motorcycles.
His script for airflow may have to be upped.

So the good news is Rich will do PT locally if it gets approved. He will try it. I say it is helpful for him to get out of the house anyway. AND if he can enjoy anything at all outside that would be a bonus.

His good mood carried over through the weekend with our Kenosha Gang visitors. I took them to hunt Morels and we spent a good part of the day in the woods with our dogs. I loved the shouts of joy when they found those little beauties.

The rain held off early in the morning and then quit just about the time we were ready to hit the woods.

My last note.
I really don't know how to thank my good friends for all of their help with my 'to do' list.
The orange panels are moved. A pen was put up. The A/C is set for the season. The Jeep was aired up and started.
Old stakes were pulled up. Old Dog houses moved, log chunks were moved...the 4 Wheeler got an oil change....

These were all things I could have done myself over a period of time, however it was nice to have the extra hands.

Charlie however was totally wiped out from all the running around.
After all, supervising is such hard work...