Out Of The Blue

Monday, January 15, 2024

Courage

I asked Mike what he was doing earlier today and his response was, "Screwing up my courage to go outside." After about an hour, out he went...

He spent a few minutes with the buggy running to warm up the diesel motor.

Then, off he buzzed around the house and down the driveway. Then, up to the barn to feed and check on the goats, donkey, and the water source at the barn to be sure nothing was frozen up.

For some reason, he didn't seem to do much puttering round out there today!

Me? Well, standing in the door to snap those photos is the closest I came to getting out there in that mess! It has been beautiful to watch falling and to enjoy blanketing everything in sight. I'm so glad not to have go get out there and work in it, though. Great snow day!

And, the good news for me is that I know I have at least a couple more snow days because our school system has already announced them. Yay!

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Mrs. O

My mother-in-law passed away on November 17 of last year. Her health had been failing slowly as one who is ninety years old tends to experience. She struggled with a respiratory episode in September to the point that Mike's daughter took her to the emergency room where she was admitted for overnight treatment. We learned at that time that she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. Then, in early November, she was experiencing side pain and was taken to the local hospital once again. After some testing, it was discovered that she had some infection in her colon as well as her appendix. Due to concerns of what might happen if either ruptured, it was determined that Mrs. O must undergo surgery. She cam through surgery with great strength. Recovery was not nearly so simple, however, and her respiration issues became worse as well. She truly passed in a fashion that she wanted - with her family surrounding her.

We miss her daily. There are moments when we shed tears and moments when we rock back on our heals chuckling about something she said or did.

Oh that we all have the opportunity to live a full, rich life like she did. Today would have been her ninety-first birthday.