Sometimes you worry even when you think you are not worrying.

Cliff recently went to the doctor for his yearly physical.  All his prescriptions needed renewing, so there was no way out of going.  After the examination and a few questions, the doctor told us he would see us in a year, that everything looked good and that the office would call with results of his blood tests.  
Two days later a nurse called to say that one of his tests showed him to be a little anemic; he needed to go back and get yet more blood tests.  
"No wonder I'm anemic," Cliff said.  "They are taking all my blood!"  
On the way home, he asked me why he would be anemic, since that has never been a problem before.  
"Well," I told him, "four months ago a surgeon came out of the operating room to tell me that your gall bladder was fused to your liver.  He said getting it removed was like taking paint off a wall.  I imagine you lost quite a bit of blood in the process of a seven-to-eight-hour surgery.  I'll bet that's the cause."  
"Oh yeah, you're probably right," he answered.  
Usually any time blood tests are run at our doctor's office, we get a call the next day with results, even if everything is normal.  As we got ready to go to Iowa, I mentioned that they would probably be calling Thursday as we traveled, to let us know what the new tests revealed.  
They didn't, nor did they call Friday.  The first thought in my mind?  I swear to you, I thought, "They aren't calling because it's bad news and they don't want to ruin our holiday weekend."  
Where did THAT come from?  I didn't think I was worried at all.  At this point, the word "leukemia" sneaked into my brain.
You need to remember that I'm a little punchy after that mess in April.  Oh yeah, and the memory of the daughter's fight last year with cancer always looms near; sure, she's cancer-free, but cancer leaves a long shadow that never quite goes away.  
A person just never knows what's going to sneak up on her or her family.      
  
Today Cliff got a voice mail on his cell phone saying to call and get the results.  I called back and left them a voice mail.  That two-hour wait for them to call back had me on pins and needles.  
Finally they called, telling Cliff things were fine but that they want to see him in three months.  
Whew.  We are assuming they just want to make sure he isn't anemic at that time, because originally he wasn't supposed to go back for a year.  

But I feel MUCH better.

Merry-go-round at Mt. Pleasant

I rode the merry-go-round at Old Thresher's, and I made Cliff ride too.  He wouldn't get on a horse, though.  He sat on a bench seat behind me.  These horses don't go up and down like those on merry-go-rounds of my childhood; they simply rock back and forth like a rocking chair.

Just think, my grandmother was only a girl when this thing was manufactured.

This is what makes the merry-go-round go around.  Steam power!

And this supplies the music!

I happened to find a Youtube video showing the whole thing in action.  (Sorry you have to watch a few seconds of a commercial before it gets under way.)