Tuesday, November 15, 2005
The weather turned fall-cold today.
Since I've been keeping my bedroom window open I knew it when I awoke but thought it was me. I automatically opened the back Arcadia door so The Little Girl could spy with ears as well as eyes on our regular morning Gambel's Quail Convention and the breakfast scurrying of the ground and grey squirrels. Activity was surprisingly high out there so I didn't believe the whoosh of cold coming through the door. It'll warm up, I decided. I'll leave the door open. Even my after-shower shivering didn't convince me that our unusually warm weather of late was coming to an end.
Finally, around 1000, when I noticed that the baseboard heaters in the living room were continuing to cycle on, I headed down the hall and shivered again. I immediately closed the back Arcadia door and my bedroom window, and, as well, the bathroom window. I sneaked into my mother's bedroom. She was mummy wrapped in her blanket, the first morning she's done that since mid-spring. That should have clued me into a possible late arising but I started gently rousing her every half hour at 1100 and finally stopped at 1300.
The weather cast predicts a full 10 degrees warmer tomorrow, much less wind, still as dry as a bone. The next full week should see temperatures in the mid to upper 60's downtown, low to mid 60's here. But, it's coming; the cold is finally setting in. I know this because this morning the temperature of the cold tap water began leaning toward hurting cold.
I can't say how much of a hibernation winter this will be for my mother. Even in this slow week and a half we've experienced since her active week and a half I've managed to have her do informal chair exercises with a few standing ones almost every day (without weights). She's been up and down a lot when she's awake, too. She just hasn't wanted to go out. We'll be going for a blood draw this Friday. That'll help me gauge how she's going to react to going out this winter.
Reading Begets Reading:
Doing aloud reading with my mother the past couple of days has hiked my interest in reading silently, again. I'm picking the books carefully, mostly by size. Today I rebegan the book Sick to Death and Not Going to Take It Anymore!. Astounding little book about the poor state of healthcare for the elderly in this nation at the moment and specifics on how it can be improved. I highly recommend it to anyone who plans to get old and/or thinks they might at some point be caregiving for an Ancient One. I'll talk more about it later when I've finished it but I wanted to mention it, now, in case anyone finds the description apropos to their situation. If you've ever looked forward to old age with dread, this book is crammed with facts, figures and postulations that will cause you to either dread old age even more or activate toward a better old age for all of us. It is especially timely considering the soon to be instated Medicare Part D.
I'm hoping for a somewhat more normal day tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Later.
Finally, around 1000, when I noticed that the baseboard heaters in the living room were continuing to cycle on, I headed down the hall and shivered again. I immediately closed the back Arcadia door and my bedroom window, and, as well, the bathroom window. I sneaked into my mother's bedroom. She was mummy wrapped in her blanket, the first morning she's done that since mid-spring. That should have clued me into a possible late arising but I started gently rousing her every half hour at 1100 and finally stopped at 1300.
The weather cast predicts a full 10 degrees warmer tomorrow, much less wind, still as dry as a bone. The next full week should see temperatures in the mid to upper 60's downtown, low to mid 60's here. But, it's coming; the cold is finally setting in. I know this because this morning the temperature of the cold tap water began leaning toward hurting cold.
I can't say how much of a hibernation winter this will be for my mother. Even in this slow week and a half we've experienced since her active week and a half I've managed to have her do informal chair exercises with a few standing ones almost every day (without weights). She's been up and down a lot when she's awake, too. She just hasn't wanted to go out. We'll be going for a blood draw this Friday. That'll help me gauge how she's going to react to going out this winter.
Reading Begets Reading:
Doing aloud reading with my mother the past couple of days has hiked my interest in reading silently, again. I'm picking the books carefully, mostly by size. Today I rebegan the book Sick to Death and Not Going to Take It Anymore!. Astounding little book about the poor state of healthcare for the elderly in this nation at the moment and specifics on how it can be improved. I highly recommend it to anyone who plans to get old and/or thinks they might at some point be caregiving for an Ancient One. I'll talk more about it later when I've finished it but I wanted to mention it, now, in case anyone finds the description apropos to their situation. If you've ever looked forward to old age with dread, this book is crammed with facts, figures and postulations that will cause you to either dread old age even more or activate toward a better old age for all of us. It is especially timely considering the soon to be instated Medicare Part D.
I'm hoping for a somewhat more normal day tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Later.
