KRVM, again and again

I know I've said it before, but I don't know how to describe how enormous is the gift of terrific music programming on public radio in Oregon! I LOVE KRVM and that's all there is to it. According to one news report, twenty percent of KRVM's budget comes from the federal government, so when it comes time for all of us to dig even deeper into our pockets to support radio, I know where my pennies are going.  When I jumped into the car to run some solo errand on Saturday, my last day with Mom and Dad, there it was, a program called Magical Mystery Tour.

Memo Book

Last day of this trip. Never enough time. I managed to sneak away to my favorite ocean overlook on the way back from Fred Meyer (I wanted to replace Dad's memory book, which was destroyed in the laundry). I was ready to take a shot of myself, when a gentleman in a red felt hat offered to do it for me.  He was a quick study in the art of smart-phone photography. I noted his Elks jacket and asked if he was a member of the local lodge and does he know Dad (yes, and of course he does).  So as I'm composing my blog post in my head, Andy throws open the rear of his van to show me his handmade carved myrtlewood crosses.  He wants to give me one, and all I have to do is sign his memory book.  We talked about the weather, my dad, and the fact that the overlook was he and his wife's favorite spot.  We exchanged hugs and that was that.

TBFTGOGGI

So we got the call in the middle of the night that Dad had fallen and was en route to hospital, most likely not serious.  Dad was downright giddy at Peace Harbor...singing "Three O'Clock in the Morning..." I reminded him that he always fooled me on April First.  Quick as anything..."Look! There's Mom!" He can still get me.  When I get back to Regency I learn that there was a malfunction with the alarm that alerts employees when he's up and about...oops!
These folks are well-intentioned and over-worked, but perhaps someone was busy toilet-papering the administrator's office and forgot to plug Dad's alarm
in.  I know, I know, someone would turn this into an opportunity to get indignant and outraged...but my response is more of a shrug....another day in eldercare....there but for the grace of god go I.

And how about a recent Regency grad?

It's all about drive & determination.

We're not goin' to the memory unit yet, goddammit!

Everyone in the family gets a stay at Regency.

Here we are, playing Bible memory.

...and what would you do?

photo credit: Ashby

So what would be an appropriate response, one might ask, if one or both of their eighty-something parents were in and out of rehab nursing homes and suffering from various age related illnesses and increasing dementia? Would an appropriate response be to create a fabulous granny square dress?

Joyce Carol Oates, A Widow's Story

And if one were suffering the above mentioned conditions, if one were limited to, say, one single author, who would one insist upon reading, through the late phase of their life as children, offspring, daughters? Which prolific artist would we insist upon?

And what's more, what sort of coping mechanisms might one employ to deal with the onslaught of chaos?
 Perhaps clean, update, and redesign major swaths of interior living space?  Check out the fabric on the pillows. I've been carrying sample swatches of Melinamade since 1994!  Finally purchased a large quantity of the boomerang charcoal and am finishing front porch furniture. 

It'll even double as my sewing room/office!

 And the final responses to stress? Cooking and humour! 
Addie behind the camera is bound and determined to make me laugh.

photo credit: Addie

What is that...a cobweb?

Flapjacks on a Friday morning? You betcha!

Oops....I forgot to work out this morning!

And so it goes.  Another week in the life of suburban mother/daughterhood.  My photographers are awesome, and
 we love to joke around and laugh with each other.

Not a day too soon!

 I was out for my Wednesday run and lo and behold....jog bra weather!  Unseasonably warm, but I'll take it!

Oh, glorious sun and warming weather!  Spring is coming! After watching that horrible sun-less Battlestar Galactica for a month, I can't stop thinking about how much magic that natural light and sun provide us.  Whatever the quality, take it....you never know.