The weather, and other short stories.

We received over one and a half inches of rain this week over a period of two days.  What a difference that made in our garden!  I had just planted beet seeds, carrot seeds, and turnip seeds when the rain came; I believe every one of those seeds came up, which is a lot different from the way it's been all summer.  And the green beans that had just started bearing now have beans twice as long as they were before.  So the health of my garden is much improved, except for certain vegetables for which rain came too late.  Every tomato plant has some degree of blight, but so far we're getting quite a few tomatoes.  I have forgiven the state of Iowa for taking all our rain away because the little girl we used to babysit has a grandmother in that great state who showed up with quite a large amount of very good sweet corn which I promptly took off the cob (after blanching) and froze at the very same time my own home-raised corn was ready.

Like the garden, I'm apparently healthy too.  I saw a cardiologist who instructed me to get an Electrocardiogram and to stop taking my water pill, which was one of two prescriptions I've been taking for high blood pressure.  He also told me to take my blood pressure standing up until my next appointment.  For some reason, my blood pressure improved!  In fact, my blood pressure monitor even stopped telling me my heartbeat was irregular, which it used to do about half the time when I took my blood pressure.  At my second (last) appointment the doctor informed me that my Aortic valve was functioning well enough that it definitely wasn't the cause of my light-headedness and almost passing out so often, so I had no reason to worry about it.  I'm just going to have to be more careful about getting up and hurrying someplace.  He explained it this way:  "We rate the condition of the aortic valve from 4, which is perfect, to 8, which is the  worst.  Yours is 4 1/2, and it took you 78 years to get to that point.  The bad news is, you won't get to see me any more."  He also told me not to go back to taking my water pill, since it obviously wasn't doing anything for me.

I liked the doctor, and now I don't have to worry about my frequent lightheadedness;  I just need to take my time after I get up from a sitting position.  So it's a win/win situation.  The good news?  I managed to get off all the stomach pills six months ago and can eat anything I want; now I'm only taking one prescription blood pressure pill (Amlodipine).  I only wish energy came in a bottle, because I'd like a little more of it... but that's how it is when you reach a certain age.

Now for Cliff:  He has lost almost all his hearing, practically overnight.  Suddenly he can't hear anything, no matter how loud I speak, even with both hearing aids in.  Since it came on so quickly, the ear doctor (whatever ridiculously long name those guys are given) had one thing to try; if that doesn't work, he will need a cochlear implant.  If a person loses his hearing all at once like Cliff did and gets to a doctor within a month, sometimes Prednisone will fix the problem (about 60% of the patients get relief that way).  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be doing anything for Cliff.  He'd had the deafness longer than than a month anyhow, more like six weeks.  But it was worth a try.  He is ready and willing to get the implant, and Medicare covers most of the expense.  He sees the doctor again this coming Tuesday.  It is not an instant fix.  I understand they don't even hook it up until a month after the implant.  But it is a solution to the problem.  What an age we live in!

We are going to St. Joseph, Missouri to watch the Kansas City Chiefs practice on Monday.  Cliff doesn't want to go, but he's happy to take me anyhow.  He said it isn't like they are playing a game, they just run around throwing and catching the ball.  I told him all I want is to see them once in my life in person, even if they are at a distance; this is the only way that will happen.

Covid is spreading quite a bit around here.  It's easier to catch this time, but everyone seems to be getting very mild cases, even those who have never had it.  I'll still wear my N95 mask when I shop, but I'm not going to worry a lot about it any more.  Actually it's been around so long, I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it anyway.

And that's the way things are on this beautiful day.  Peace.

Maybe I complained too soon

I used to love reading books by Norman Vincent Peale because he was always so positive about things.  I first discovered him around the age of 13 when I checked out a book called "The Power of Positive Thinking for Young People".  I often remember little phrases and sayings of his, one of which was, "Don't think about what you don't have; just concentrate on what you HAVE."

Although I talked about some things I was thankful for in the last entry, I really wasn't very positive about my garden, so here's a do-over.

Yes, the tomato plants, all five of them, are blighty, some more than others.  But I neglected to mention the tomatoes we have right now, like these on the kitchen windowsill:

I don't know how long we'll have tomatoes to eat, but I'll stop worrying about it until we don't have any.

I brought these beets in to pickle.

Remember the okra plants that were so short?  I've watered them twice with the soaker hose, and they are growing taller, although still not higher than my head like usual.  We've had okra twice, once fried and once smothered (okra and tomatoes).  And I have more in the refrigerator.

I have faithfully watered the sweet corn I planted in hills, and things are looking good.  There isn't even a sign of bugs among the "tossels", as my dad used to call tassels.

There are some big ears of corn on those stalks.

Here's the sickly eggplant I bought for half-price.

I've carried a lot of water to it, and there are several blooms on it.

I'm telling you, folks, letting the cucumber vines climb a fence is the way to go!

I had a mystery plant growing on the fence in another spot.  I can now announce to you that it's a volunteer cantaloupe vine.

I've harvested most of my potatoes and onions.  Potatoes are in the two boxes in the foreground; the smaller box holds my favorite potatoes, Yukon Gold.  Laying on top of a big television box are the onions.

Yes, the potatoes are on the smallish side, but I do have plenty  of them.  Oops, I see a stray onion in the potato box.  

It's still going to be hot for quite a while, but that just gives us something to complain about... if we're going to complain, it may as well be about the weather.

Rest in peace, Norman Vincent Peale; your positive words are still guiding me.