Saturday At Storm Lake - Part 3

Little Lake Discovery Center Boardwalk

With cool observation tower!

Where you can look out over the marsh

Or, observe semis on the road....*sigh*

Ten informational placards, situated over the course of the boardwalk

Snaky looking geese, hiding out in the marsh grass

After dropping Ethan off at the convention, Ma and the lads proceeded to the west side of the lake, where a boardwalk and path go along the edge of Little Storm Lake. It wasn't as long as I thought it would be, but having a place for boys to run, walk, and clamber about is always a good thing.

And after they read the board on pollution, they wanted to pick up trash along the path :-)

Tweet

Saturday at Storm Lake - Part 2

Above the lake, a rather bold ground squirrel came to shamelessly hint for food ...

...Ethan obliged with a piece of bread

It takes a lot of concentration to chew and keep an eye on the humans

"nom, nom"

We're at the tail end of the morning's adventure, but anyway....this little guy was practically begging to have his picture taken.

Tweet

Saturday at Storm Lake - Part 1

The lake is so large it needs a lighthouse! Or, a cool entrance for city.

Ah....man and the irresistible lure of the sea

Boys and the irresistible lure of potential treasure

Mr. Chairman!

Last picture is the reason we traveled to Storm Lake. Ethan was a junior delegate to the Iowa Republican District 4 convention. Other than the fun of attending, he hoped to attain an office of some type....I guess that panned out :-) Ethan was excited to be elected chairman, promote a plank or two, and then address the adults. He was fairly pumped.

As in past years, I took advantage of the opportunity to take Trevor and Nolan along for a few "cultural opportunities.  Storm Lake is a picturesque little town and the home of Buena Vista University, which housed the convention.

More to come!

Tweet

"Farewell, Vlad the Gallbladder"

First off, things went well with surgery, itself.

But that afterglow was a real trip.

Ma has to admit it wasn't the "no big deal" she thought it would be. But first, logistics:

Considering we still have a few guys at home--making it unwieldy for Loren to be my designated driver--an alternate modis operandi was drawn up: have Ethan go with to drive me home after the outpatient procedure.

That got Ethan some necessary driving instruction :-D

And he was able to get out of bed at 5:30am...yes, I was the first procedure of the day. Unfortunately, he had to hang around until after five o'clock. It was determined I wasn't up to going home. That's when Loren came with Trevor and Nolan for a visit, and to pick up Ethan.

Suppose it was best to keep me overnight. My blood pressure was very low (don't remember the exact number) and my heart rate got down to 35 some of the time. Continuous setting off of monitors. And walking around was not much of a possibility because of vertigo and nausea.

Since Fentanyl was on my chart as an allergy, they did not give me that again, but a close kin of morphine.

So apparently I can't tolerate that very well, either :-p
 
And now Ma has eliminated another family of anesthetics for any future surgeries (Fentanyl and ...something Morphine-y that starts with a "D")  I like to think of it as my little contribution to science. My science, anyway!

Today I took 3 naps, two of them being over an hour in length. Naps are wonderful. Getting in and out of bed, not so much. But here at home I don't have those crazy leg puffers inflating all night long, which, aside from being annoying, requires the aid a nurse to visit the bathroom. But they do prevent blood clots from being in bed so much.

There is definitely more pain than I'd anticipated, but oddly, the worst is in my shoulders. The doc pumps a harmless gas under the skin to lift it up, making one's innards easier to see. But gas remains in the body and often migrates to the shoulders. My whole upper torso is one big "air pocket."

My throat is pretty sore because they had a hard time intubating me. Must have unconsciously picked up "difficult patient" persona  from Loren...ha ha.

I was going to try and not take the Hydroco/APAP but I did give in a while ago. Figure there is no sense in being that tense from not taking it. Maybe tomorrow I'll switch to OTC meds.

And lastly, my apologies for not telling many people. I have found, with all the stuff Loren went through, that people visiting or calling or bringing over meals can be less than restful. Also, I didn't think it would be that big of a deal (I still don't), especially in light of folks having much more pressing health situations than a wonky gallbladder.
 
Nice folks at FGH but hey, getting back to normal happens best in one's own house.

And it turned out I didn't have to see the doc to be released, I was an outpatient with 24 hour privileges :-D They even cleared me to drive myself home! The first song that came up was  I Get Around by the Beach Boys :-)

I presume that tomorrow will be better than today, even as today was better than yesterday.

Someone should write a song about that.    #spiralstaircase

Tweet

Ma Explains the Eclipse in Six, Easy (non-professional) Steps

Something's coming...

Skater in the Sky! (wasn't that a song?)

Or maybe a comet???

Ok...this was more what I was expecting.

And this....

....and this.

So, the really great thing about taking pictures at night is that you don't have to bother with adding a frame. Yes, it only saved me 1.5 minutes in prep time, but the morale boost was unquantifiable.

For photos 2 and 3 I was experimenting with the "night" settings on the camera. Experimenting, as opposed to actually having read the entire camera manual. I had to laugh when the one night setting popped up, "please turn on flash." Ha. Yes. That will reach. Fer sure.

I did end up waking the boys so they could watch. Handy, since their bedroom window was smack on to the display. Then I let them sleep in an extra hour, because Great Mom!

We thought it pretty cool. And even though the pictures aren't spectacular, the night sky certainly was.

Tweet

Merry Old England - Take 15

Coming up to Bath. Yes, that Bath!

Beautiful Cathedral, right beside the Roman Baths.

Roman Bath...yes, I THINK that's how the town got its name.

Some very, very old stone pieces. That face in the middle was probably from native people, not the Romans.

A duck enjoys the healing rays of the sun. People dressed as bathers, in background.

In a side street, a guy was raising money by....well, anyway, I thought he should at least get his picture taken. Wonder how many aspirin he takes before doing this...

After lunch we walked partway up the hill to the Jane Austen museum. Cool and funny fellow in period dress, outside the door.  As if that weren't enough, some men (who knew the "doorman") drove buy in a garbage truck and handed out  Cadbury Creme Eggs to a few lucky (I was one!) people :-D The lesson? Always stand near the street.

Day 7. We drove through more of the beautiful English countryside of hills and green to Bath. Yes, it looks....just.....like...this. Can you say, "Yet another chunk of gorgeous and unbelievable historically beautiful architecture take-me-back-to-Northanger Abbey?"

Oh. My. There was a square facing the church pictured above, wherein different musicians sang or played for coins. One had an extraordinarily lovely soprano-voice. As in, an OPERA singing voice. She got a pound from Ma, fer sure! Then there were the more eccentrics, like the man in photo six.

In another bit of touring disappointment, the front of the Roman Baths were being renovated. Had it been free from scaffolding this would have been the view. Sharon and I sat in those very benches (in the link), eating our lovely, crusty pasties and listening to the buskers. It was atmosphere, times ten.

The Jane Austen museum was loads of interesting, but we received a call from our bus driver that the next stop, Stonehenge, had called and said they were closing one hour early....we had to hustle off, missing more sightseeing and a walk to the top of the hill.

Bath is one of those dream retirement places, methinks.

Tweet

Merry Old Great Britain - Take 14

Walking through one of the gates at Chepstow Castle

Gorgeous view of the river

Defensive nook from which to shoot at things

It is not a tame castle.

Cool looking row houses in the town of Chepstow

You may have noticed I titled this and the last post with "Great Britain" instead of "England." That's because Chepstow Castle is just over the river Wye, in Wales.

Building of the castle's foundation began in 1067, so yes, we are talking old history for us Americans....540 years before Jamestown.

In other words, in the year 2514, Jamestown will be as old as Cheptsow Castle is right now. But of course, by then, Cheptstow Castle will be....well, you get the picture.

This was another first-for-Ma, in a day of several activities, within a week of excursion madness.

Tweet

River City Chorus :-D

Singing my favorite song, "Down in the River to Pray"

Group within the group, "River City Reverb" singing even better than last year. They did a super job with another of my favorites, "Swing Down Chariot."

This is the guest group, "Vocal Spectrum," of whom I have already offered laudations :-) They sang on stage, naturally, but this impromptu "Music of the Night" for my guys will always be treasured.

To reiterate, my pictures are not great because we requested seats further back, where the acoustics are said  to be better. However, up front I would have gotten less fuzzy pictures.....

But as usual, a superb show! We would not miss this concert. Every April, first Saturday in the month.

And this year's theme was "Songs from Stage and Screen" inspired by their invitation to sing at Carnegie Hall in 2013.

As well as selections from "The Music Man" we heard "The Way You Look Tonight," "Steppin' Out with My Baby," and others...but, one of my (yet another) favorites had to be "Hallelujah." Oh my. such great singing.

As for Vocal Spectrum, one of their highlights had to be "Bring them Home," with tenor Tim Waurick (of Timtracks fame) singing the solo to such ethereal heights and with such expression that the audience unanimously rose to its feet. Very moving. Clapping and wiping your eyes at the same time is a little awkward, by the way. My but that guy can sing!

The opportunities for cultural enrichment have been coming thick and fast of late, with no signs of stopping...so, more to come :-)

Tweet

Merry Old Great Britain - Take 13

When last we glimpsed England, it was the sixth day of the trip and we'd ventured into the Cotswolds. After the picturesque towns we stopped in Cirencester, for lunch. This town, originally called Corinium, was the 2nd largest city to London, during Roman times. Yes, everywhere you turn in England, there is another jaw dropping church.

Dropping by a pub, I partook of a very cheap (leftover) breakfast special. Bacon roll and hot drink. I decided on regular tea. Oh. My. Word. You would not believe how good their tea tastes!

Stopped at a sweet shop and I noticed these bottles; the object of which is to fill with vodka (I think) for a sweet and tasty libation! Glancing at the picture just now I noticed the "salted skulls" off to the right. Seriously need to go back to England for some of those....

This is something of an inside joke between Sharon and me....at the C.S. Lewis home the guide was raving about the modern and expensive stove at the Kilns, an Aga. We saw this shop in Cirencester and started laughing :-)

Alrighty! Heading across the River  Wye into....Wales :-D

Example of a bilingual sign.

Our destination (after a two hour drive) was Chepstow Castle. More pictures of this, next post.

I cannot give enough accolades about English tea. In most of the pubs, you order downstairs and then go up a narrow, curved stairway to comfy rooms with a variety of seating arrangements. There's a convivial atmosphere, and then someone brings up the tea: your own pot, your own cup (real, not styrofoam), and a little pitcher of milk or cream. I took one taste and was overcome with the sensation, "Wow....everything is going to be alright. I could sit here and visit for hours. This is the life!"

Can totally identify with Bertie Wooster needing his cup of tea before meeting Aunt Agatha. Proper tea can fortify one to face the world! Must find a way to make this.

As to the churches and cathedrals....at the risk of repeating myself, these specimens of architectural wonder were everywhere. In every town of any size. I'm certain one could have a tour filled solely with churches, or just castles, or...well, you get the picture. It would basically take a lifetime to see everything.

Concerning Chepstow Castle: it's Great Hall is the oldest surviving stone castle in Britain. Part of the 50th anniversary Dr. Who special was filmed here. More castley photos, next time!

Tweet