Not long after we got back, Catherine
knocked on my door. A few weeks after I moved here, she gave
me the skinny on signing up for activities.
“Penelope puts all the activity signup
sheets for the month in the book at one time, usually during the last week of
the month before,” Catherine said. “There is only room for two wheelchairs on
the bus, so you have to sign up early for the things you want to do.” Sage advice, indeed.
Catherine’s purpose for dropping by Thursday
was to give me a brochure for the West Georgia Eye Care Center, where she goes
for her macular degeneration. I don’t
go back to the doctor I've been seeing until the middle of September. So, maybe this would be a good time to
investigate other options.
Later in the day, Judy, one of the cleaning
ladies, stopped me in the hall.
“Was that your son with you this morning?”
she asked.
“Yep.
That was Russ,” I said. “He took me shopping.”
“How old is he?”
“He’ll be thirty-four in August.”
“Wow. He doesn’t look that old. I figured he
was a college student; maybe twenty-five at most.”
Alas, she never said the words I was waiting
to hear: “You don’t look old enough to have a son thirty-four.”
Last weekend, I went to a performance of The
Great American Trailer Park Musical, which was staged by the drama department
of Columbus State University. Looking at the program, I noticed the
choreographer had the same last name as Richard. I asked if they were related. The choreographer is his daughter-in-law and is a member of the CSU faculty.
During intermission, I talked to Cathleen,
whom I hadn’t met before. After we had talked for a few minutes, I asked about
her Irish accent.
“I came to this country sixty-one years
ago,” she said. “But I go back every few years for a refresher course.”
The air conditioning will be tested this
weekend. The predicted high for today and tomorrow is 105. It will be slightly
cooler Sunday – very slightly – when the thermometer is supposed to reach 102.
I did go out for a couple laps around the building this morning, but whether
I’ll do my usual two after supper remains to be seen.
As strange as it might seem, there are times when a little less air
conditioning would be welcomed. After the doctor finished looking at my eyes
the other day, I called Dennis. He said he’d pick me up in about twenty-five minutes.
My plan was to stay in the waiting room until Dennis arrived, but it soon became
apparent that sitting in the exceedingly well air-conditioned waiting room
dressed in shorts and a T-shirt was akin to spending a November
morning at Ashtabula’s Lake Shore Park in shorts and a T-shirt. I went outside
and sat in the sunshine until Dennis came to take me home.
Bethany and Ken are now the United States
representatives for Kahles, an Austrian company that makes gun sights. In what
seems to me to be a strange example of corporate diversification, Kahles is
connected with Swarovski, the famous crystal people. But anyway, Beth and Ken
went to a shoot in Wyoming last week and made a favorable impression on all
those in attendance. Beth was pressed into service as a range officer. Never
having been at a shoot, I have no idea what a range officer does. But though it
was her first time in that capacity, Beth was voted the best range officer at
the shoot. I’m impressed.
Skype is now far and away my favorite toy.
It makes me feel like a real, honest to goodness grandpa. I got to watch as Hayden ate lunch the other day. He pretty
much ran the show from his high chair, telling his mother what he wanted and when
he wanted it. Mostly he wanted crackers and little puffy fruit thingies.
Several times he seemed to look at his adoring grandfather on the computer
screen. Once he reached toward him, and a couple times he even played
peek-a-boo with him. OK, he was probably tired and just rubbing his eyes. But
I’m an insufferably proud grandpa, and this is my blog, and I say he was
playing peek-a-boo.
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