grrrrrrrr.........

Frustrating day. I went to church and folded bulletins this morning just to have something to do (and because the pastor asked me to), and that was fine. Then when I got back, the physical therapist showed up unexpectedly. She refuses to make actual appointments with me and apparently I'm the only person who asks her to do so. more later...

nice poem about snow

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.
The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed In a tumultuous privacy of storm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

snow funnies

I hate snow. I had to go get my usual weekly shot yesterday, and the doctor is just three blocks away, and, rather than just riding my wheelchair down, as I usually would, I had to take Metro Access, the ParaTransit system for people who have disabilities. I could really see for the first time how everything is totally buried under huge mounds of snow with little paths dug out barely wide enough to walk down. I know I don’t usually have anyplace much to go, but now I really feel trapped. From the looks of things, it’s going to be August before we are back to normal.

I got a gig!

Back when David was alive, I used to write nonsense verse for him all the time. He gave tons of parties on people's birthdays, or when they retired, or got married, or had a baby, etc. He used different gimmicks to work the poem into the party entertainment-for example, he'd have me write the poem to the tune of a well known song and everyone, or a group of people, would sing it. He also might use a theme, and have each teacher read a poem that expanded on the theme. Once,
when he they were taking a well-liked principal (David was a school teacher) out on a dinner cruise to celebrate his retirement, he had me write a musical episode of Gilligan's Island, with different teachers playing the various characters (Skipper, Mary Ann, etc.) If you think this is a good ides and would like to do something similar for a friend or relative, just email me at dialawriter@yahoo.com I'll give you some examples in the next few posts.
Anyway, the gig is that a guy in the church choir called. He says some church people have decided to have a "beatnik style" coffee house on March 7. He wants me to write some "beatnik style" poems to read while a guy plays bongo drums. Now, of course, I have absolutely no idea what a "beatnik style" poem is. If any of you know of a good site to go to to learn, I would appreciate it if you'd let me know! All I know is a poem that Maynard G. Krebs read in a beatnik coffeehouse on the Dobie Gillis Show way back in my childhood. It was:

"Little bird,

With your beak pressed up against the pet store window,

There is no birdseed for you today,

Only death!"

More later...

Here is a link to actual beatnik poetry

I got a gig!

I wrote bons

Valentine

There is a very pleasant old gentleman here who is in real good shape health-wise and has all his mental facilities intact. When he and his wife first got here, they were always together. Then his wife went in thee hospital and was gone for months, and he left every day and went and visited her. Scuttlebutt among the residents was that she was going to die. Well, she didn’t. She got back just a couple of days ago, and I’ve never seen her husband look so happy. I ate dinner with them in the private dining room and they were adorable. He kept saying, “I’m so GLAD she’s back. I’ve been SO lonely!” and she just kept smiling. What a nice valentine’s present!

hurricane mania

Good Lord…
Granted, the weather is frightening. It has been snowing hard since last night, all on top of the remnants of 20” that we got only about 3 or 4 days ago. And, granted, the TV news announcers have been blathering on to the point of absolute insanity because coverage of the storm has been on 24/7 ever since the first snow began and there just isn’t that much to say about it. BUT, what happened is that one of the help here saw something on TV that has them all convinced that a hurricane is going to hit at 4:00. They keep warning everyone away from the windows because the hurricane is coming! Don’t hurricanes come from warm tropical winds? Probably someone on TV said “hurricane force winds”, but the only people here who speak English as a first language are the residents.

That could actually make for an interesting learning experience. What a great chance to learn about other countries! Two of my caretakers are from Nepal, for example, and I don’t even know where Nepal is, or what language they speak, or what type government they have there.

HMMM.. It is now 4:00, and the winds seem to have died off, and it may have quit snowing, and no hurricane seems to be brewing!

Song about snow

TO: Let It Snow

Oh, the weather is truly sucky.
Yes, we’ve been a bit unlucky!!!
I watch as the big drifts grow!
Screw the snow, screw the snow, screw the snow!

Bob Ryan says it ain’t stoppin’.
And the flakes, they still keep droppin’.
I’m stuck here and can not go.
Screw the snow, screw the snow, screw the snow!

It is going to snow all night.
I guess this is one hell of a storm.
Out my window I watch drifts grow,
In my room I am cozy and warm!

Well, the twilight is slowly dying,
And the snow’s intensifying.
Since it inconveniences me so
Screw the snow, screw the snow, screw the snow!

here is a cool slideshow of storm pictures.

Surviving in the snow

This place (Sunrise) has actually done a rather good job of operating through out a major blizzard. Quite a few of the caretakers stayed here so that they could work, as did the chef and the maintenance guy (and, for some unknown reason, the activities director! I guess she stayed to ensure that someone was always available to lead us in “I Been Workin’ on the Railroad”!) There hasn’t been any significant inconvenience to the residents at all. Breakfast was ½ hour late this morning, but people, though cranky, seemed to survive.

Although, I think what helped me a lot was getting the night shift to get me up and dressed at 6AM, before they left. Otherwise I’d have to wait for the morning shift to get here and get to work. The other woman in a wheelchair who they have to get up with a Hoyer lift (a large machine that lifts me up out of bed in a sling and then puts me back down in a my electric wheelchair) had not shown up in the dining room yet even by the time I left.

Actually, most of the residents are so out of it that they probably don’t even know it snowed. If they bother to do so, they can see the snow out the dining room window, but it still just doesn’t seem to register with them.

One little sweet lady that sits by the window forgets the second that she looks away from the window that it has snowed. Every time she looks out the window anew (4 or 5 times an hour) she says, “My, what a lot of snow. Looks cold, doesn’t it? When we were children, we loved to play in the snow, didn’t we? We never got cold!!” Every time you pass her or look at her, she is at some varying point in this same conversation, and if one tries to say anything back or answer any of her questions, she just gets confused.

I guess it is better to be oblivious to the snow than to have to deal with it!

blizzard

The snow is absurd. Here is a link to a story about it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_winter_weather

It is now about 7AM on Saturday. The weatherman on TV just said it was 20", with about 6" more to come.

I got the night shift to get me up today, because I figured that a lot of workers would not come in in the morning. It was like pulling teeth to get them to do it. They were really mad. They did it, but they were mad.

They are saying that this is the biggest snow since the blizzard of '78. I was a 3rd year student at UVa at that time. and I don't even remember the snow. I guess it didn't matter all that much, because we walked everywhere. (Certainly my "state of consciousness" wasn't so altered that I didn't notice a blizzard!)

My little squirrel is still scurrying about. Wonder if he got any sleep...

In all of this mess, I guess it really is a good thing that I'm not living precariously in a condo by myself.

They are telling on TV what to do if you don't have power. Wonder how they think you'll see it if you don't have power?

squirrel

It has snowed great huge flakes all day long, and it is supposed to snow all day tomorrow. I guess it is pretty out the window, but, pretty or not, I hate it, because it means I’m completely stuck here.

But on the other hand, why would I have been better off at home? I fell down constantly and had to have the fire department come pick me up every day… and my guess is that they probably have better things to do today.

I’m not going to think about it anymore, because thinking back through the whole history and whole process just bums me out big time. Instead, I think about how glad I am that I am not a squirrel. There has been a squirrel outside my window in a tree all day long, shivering in the cold snow. I thought squirrels went into their tree homes in the snow and ate nuts. But maybe this one is squirrelly.

Hmmm… I just saw a car slide and get stuck in the lot next door…
That’s bad.

My squirrel is running up and down the tree now, and digging up food from under the snow and carrying it with him. I hope he has a nice little cache of food up there by now, because this is going to last for days. Mom says God watches out for little squirrels, but how can she possibly know that? If so, I hope no one tells the squirrel, because, if they did, he might quit working so hard.

Groundhogs Day

I'm sure glad I got out yesterday even if only to Mom and Dad's house. 'cause It snowed again last night. I feel like I'm going to be stuck in this place FOREVER! And the damned grouhog saw his shadow yesterday (Grounhogs Day) and went back in his hole, which means 6 more weeks of winter.

Church

It snowed like crazy on Sunday. That was supposed to be the day the Church dedicated the new organ, so I went to their website http://www.christserves.org/site/ to see if It was rescheduled and I was once again blown away by the church's welcome statement. It is:

All are welcome to worship here.

Whether you arrive on foot, on wheels, with some assistance, or in the company of a service animal, there will
be someone to greet you and all who accompany you with a helping hand.

Whether you are living year to year, day to day, or paycheck to paycheck, the coffee will be hot.

Whether you are single, married, divorced, committed, gay, lesbian, straight,
transgendered, or bisexual, the sanctuary doors will be open.

Whether you come dressed in a kaftan, sari, sweater, kilt, chādor, jeans,
kimono, or suit and tie, there will be a seat waiting for you.

Whether English is your first or eighth language, you have spoken it from your first word
or are still learning, the music and liturgy will speak to you.

Whether you are just traveling through, have recently joined us, or helped establish our
church decades ago, there will be friends waiting here for you.

Whether your burdens are heavy or light, you are imprisoned or free, have sinned once or many times,
the grace of God will be with you at the communion table through bread and wine or a blessing.

Whether you find joy in crayons, music, fellowship, pancake suppers,
or the gospel, you will find a celebration here.

Whether you are not sure about church, have just been baptized, or grew up reciting the Lord’s Prayer
and the creeds, there will be a lesson to challenge your thinking.

Whether your talents include cooking, cleaning, reading, woodworking, driving, shopping, teaching, counseling,
organizing, translating, or singing, there will be an opportunity to serve others.

Whether you find yourself on this list or not,
you are welcome here to celebrate, think, and serve.

Song to " House of the Rising Sun"

TO: House of the Rising Sun

I owned a home in wee Falls Church,
A condo, actually.
It might be too small for many folks to own.
But was just right for me.

I had some real good times there.
I partied quite heartily.
And then I had to pack and leave.
But I’m OK, ‘cause see…

…The only thing that I really need
Is computer and a desk
With both of those I am satisfied.
Without them I’m a mess.

Oh, I have got no children
And right now I’m not a wife,
But I’ll not dwell in gloom and misery
Till I reach the end of my life.

Well, I got money in the bank now.
Wheel chairs that carry me.
And I could go and be someplace else,
But not where I want to be.

I want to be here in Falls Church,
In my condo, actually.
It was too small for many folks to own,
But was just right for me.