Visiting the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture in Spokane, WA

Visiting the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture, I found these sculptures by the cousin of a friend of mine from church.

Backyard in Medical Lake

Dad and I are in Washington State visiting Lucinda and her family. They don't have consistent Internet so am writing at the Library. Will need to catch up the Blog when we return to Boston next week.

Skylark leaving for Texas May 2009

This is an experimental iMovie/GarageBand production. When the fam was all visiting Dad and Helen last year, Dad decided it was time to pass the Skylark on to Becky and Dave. They have the car but it has not yet been registered and licensed in Texas. Texas DMV will not accept Massachusetts documentation to transfer the title. This will be resolved when Dad in declared Executor of Helen's estate in the next 45 days. Great Car!

At an Apple Workshop

I am at an Apple Workshop on Social Media. Average Facebook user has 120 friends. Great information. I am a little ahead of the curve because I already have a blog. Yeah Me! The area of improvement for me is connecting. This means invite more people to see my blog.

On the way to Dr. Sang's Office on Beacon Street in Brookline.

Dr. Sang's office

Visiting the doctor

Dad is a very good patient. He has been a seeing Dr. Khettry for years. during this visit Dad applied for a handicap placard. This will be a great help for our travels and adventures. Truth be told, I need it as much or more than he does.

The application asked if the disability affects the person's driving. I was reticent to get into the area of Dad surrendering his license. He isn't driving but that would bring up all his loss of autonomy issues... Dr. Khettry can be very dogmatic. I wasn't in the mood to moderate. So we just didn't go there. Used Dad's arthritis and hip replacement as justification for getting the placard. Being 88 years old isn't enough.

I sent a check to Aetna for COBRA health insurance. I finally got all the paperwork. It will be valid for up to 18 months as long as I keep up the payments. So I have been thinking about a job. I am not sure I want to return the the work I have done in the past.

Listening to news stories of reinvention and comebacks, on the radio I heard an interview with Lee Child. When he left a job as a Producer at Granada TV in '68 (fired do to corporate restructuring) he be came a novelist. James R. Clapper Jr., a retired Air Force general, was forced out of the Bush Administration by Rumsfeld. If confirmed Gen. Clapper will be back at a high level of government as the Director of National Intelligence.

I don't plan to begin my job search until Dad and I complete our travels this summer, but a job is never far from my mind.

Museum of World War II

At 9:30 am this morning we made our way to Natick. We went to the Administrative Offices which was the wrong place but Dad remembered how to get to the Museum from having visited once before! He and I were both surprised that we found it. Seems they don't publish the address of this private museum.. we were 15 min. late.

Morley Piper of the 29th Infantry Div, 115th Regiment landed on Omaha Beach on D Day on June 6th 1944. He told his danger story. He talked about how afraid he was and how chaotic the experience was. He also recounted the carnage.

The second speaker was Harry Baker of the G5 Psychological Warfare Unit attached to the 4th Infantry Division who landed on Utah Beach on July 1944. Mr. Baker had a very different experience of the war being an officer behind the scene interrogating prisoners. Mr. Baker is the gentleman with the glasses in the pictures. Dad had a great time.

Today Dad is playing cribbage at the Needham Sr. Center. Playing cribbage is his favorite activity. All the years taking care of Helen, he lived for Thursday afternoons. These pictures are from last week when I picked him up. There were 9 fellows playing during the afternoon but most left before I arrived.

Doctor visits are also part of our schedule. This week Dad saw the Gastroenterologist and the Eye Specialist. The visit with the former was very heartening. The blood work taken a couple of weeks ago showed that Dad is in good health. Dr. Matloff did not want to put Dad through a colonoscopy because there was no indication that he needed it and any procedure that could be risky.

The appointment with Dr. Sang, the eye specialist, resulted in two appointments for next week. Dad's vision has deteriorated. He will have treatment in each eye which will hopefully stop the continued macular degeneration. Dr. Sang voiced concern about our travel plans for the summer. She wants to be sure the treatments are working before we are gone for any extended period of time. We may need to make some adjustments to our plans.

I am cognizant that being in Massachusetts provides a familiar environment and a sense of place Dad doesn't have living with me in Atlanta. He is more self directed and future thinking here.

On Memorial Day, Dad and I took it easy except for doing the laundry. Laundry in easier now than it has been in the past. Part of the renovation of the house was a new washing machine and we got the first dryer ever for the house. Dad has been hanging clothes on the line outside in good weather or in the basement in rainy weather for the 20 years when he and Helen married. Laundry is less strenuous, but there is still the up and down stairs from basement to kitchen to bedrooms.

We went out for lunch at the Centre Street Cafe in Jamaica Plains. I didn't take my camera but should have. The area is vibrant and loads of people were out and about. The Centre Street Cafe was the only eatery that had a line outside waiting to be seated. There were a few chairs outside so Dad sat down. The fellow sorting out the seating saw him and seated us ahead of the rest of the group! Very sweet. Our waitress also fell in love with Dad at first sight. I found this restaurant by googling "Locavare." Yum! On the way back to the car, we stopped at the Goodwill where I found three shirts for me and and one for Dad.

Once home we had a Cribbage Tournament. I think we played about 5 games in all. Of course true to form Dad won the majority of the matches.