All Things

Nothing would please me more than to tell Linda that “I got nothing” for this prompt. Unfortunately, May has been an all-out crazy month. I was going to explain some of this in a quick update on Monday, but since Linda offered this prompt, and the prospect of bonus points, I figured now was as good a time as any:

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “all or nothing.” Use one, use both, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you start and end your post with one (or each) of them. Enjoy!”

Some of you know some of the things in this update. Some of you have guessed about some things, and several of you have asked questions. There’s no escaping the community that is WordPress, and that’s a good thing.

I’ll start with some bad news. My mom passed away a couple of weeks ago. Although her passing wasn’t entirely unexpected, the timing was a bit of a surprise. I’m not going to go into the details, other than to say she lived a long (92 years) and good life, and she passed away while in the care of loving family members. Her funeral was this past weekend in Pittsburgh.

For those of you in the Maddie Fan Club – a group that might be larger than those who appreciate my wit and skill as a writer – Maddie is doing better. We aren’t quite sure what happened to Maddie, she either fell or pulled a muscle while jumping out of the chair she shouldn’t have been using to look out of a window when I came home. The incident caused what can only be described as a panic attack, resulting in noises we hope never to hear again. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain, but she’s still moving slower and more conservatively, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

In addition to these things, I’ve been dealing with sudden hearing loss in my right ear since late April. I haven’t heard (get it?) the end of that story, but I’ll give you an update on my condition and the condition of healthcare in America when I do. Actually, I’m sure most of you are aware of the condition of healthcare in America, and none of us know when we’ll hear the end of that story.

In case you haven’t noticed, blog posts have been shorter in recent weeks. I’ve also been late responding to comments and I’ve skipped a bunch of posts in my inbox. I am starting to catch up. I have a slew of posts in my drafts folder, a pile of pictures in Lightroom and I’ve copied a couple of your URLs that might just inspire a post from me.

There are some interesting things I’d like to share about my mom, but this isn’t the time and I might come to realize that they are only interesting to me. Maddie will be back dragging me around the park in a week or so. Activity at No Facilities will get back to normal, which means posts will return to their usual length – sorry. Also, we haven’t been to the bar recently, but we will be heading back soon.

That is all.

Great River Park has been flooded a few times this spring

Great River Park flooding

“I like it up here. Excellent view”

Our weekend walk is getting more colorful.

I think he’s looking for my wife. The lady with the food.

Great River Park was hit pretty hard. Lot’s of mud and tree limbs.

Foggy start

Great River Park covered in mud after five days under water.

Foggy start

From CT Convention Center, across the river from Great River Park

CT Convention Center

Rhododendrons are blooming.

From CT Convention Center. That’s Great River Park across the river on the left edge.

Maddie and I are watching the birds

Somebody likes the debris in the river