February, nose to grindstone

Dale, Ron (as Adonis), and Aldona

The photo to the left is from Dean & Janina's wedding. Cynthia agrees Ron was an Adonis, but he is even more so now! 

Ron & Cynthia at The Oscars, a great restaurant

14 Feb:  Happy Valentine’s Day!  Lovely roses, a Valentine's card and a great walk together to the trail!  Cynthia is ecstatic that she is able to walk for an entire 30 minutes without suffering during the walk or afterward.  2.58 miles 

13 Feb:  Walk # 1 is over, so is lunch.  Ron is cleaning, organizing, and recycling, and we completed walk #2.  2.77 miles.  

12  Feb Oh, boy!  We are going to have guests.  Ron started the recycling project by burying compost last night after his usual 4-mile walk.  This particular compost burial was to fill in a hole on the breakwater path where Cynthia has hurt her back after the grass grows high enough to obscure the hole.  We won't know if the hole is filed until the dirt settles next year.  Ron has been so busy reading through Volume 4 to create the index that he hasn't updated the blog much at all.  His first necessity is to list the favorite flavors at Blue Bell on the 10th.

11 Feb:  Cynthia and granddaughter Lauren started a conversation that could become a book.  Lauren opened the conversation by sending Cynthia 20 questions.  The first one took her days to answer because it opened the door to a difficult time in her life.  Lauren will respond and also answer the question.

10 Feb:  Ever since Dr. Beim told Cynthia that he wanted to see her again in three weeks, we have been looking forward to our last trip this year to Brenham because the Blue Bell Cremery tasting room is located conventiently near Dr. Beim's office.  After our medical appointment in Brenham with Dr. Beim we hustled posthaste over to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory. Mmmmmm!  We were more relaxed and less frenic than during our earlier visits, so we only ate 11 scoops of ice cream.  Ron's favorites were the pistacho, peachy peach, butter pecan, mocha almond fudge, and happy tracks; Cynthia's were the butter pecan and cherry vanilla (although she complained that cherry vanilla is supposed to be white instead of pink).  Neither of us was impressed by the black cherry or the oatmeal creame pie.  Afterwards, Cynthia opined that the ice cream and tasting room were too cold and that she actually liked eating Kroger's Premium Selection Amaretto Cherry Cordial at home better.

9 Feb:  We are two tired puppies after riding the bike to a financial appointment, followed by Jason’s Deli and two walks.  Addictive behaviors die hard; Ron has been an ice-cream-aholic all his life and has had the habit locked down for 16 years, but ever since he splurged following his cataract surgery, his passion has been reignited.  He even enjoys the FREE soft serve cones at Jasons Deli and consumes four fairly large cones with his salads; he has even stopped ordering a baked potato to insure that he has room for all four cones.  3.59 miles.

8 Feb: We were delighted when a woman told us after worship how much she enjoyed watching our relationship. 2.85 miles

7 Feb:  The weather is marvelous. We worked on computer tasks all day, took a nap, and we took two walks.  Cynthia received many responses to the grandchildren's Valentine's Cards.  Charlotte's dancing was a delight. 

6 Feb:  Last night we both slept well for an uninterrupted 9 hours.  What a relief.  Cynthia's epidural has kicked in and she is now full of p___ and vinegar. (Who me!?  We walked twice today for a total of 2.96 miles. Woo! Hoo!)

5 Feb:  Cynthia had a Women’s Wellness Dr. Appt; afterward, we had oil and filters changed (the Lexus Wellness session), followed by a delicious salmon dinner at the Pizza Shack before picking up meds at the pharmacy.  Ron is helping Cynthia transfer data onto a spreadsheet in preparation for Monday’s meeting with a fiduciary.

4 Feb:  We drove into The Woodlands today in chilly, windy weather to Texas ENT Specialists for Cynthia to get new earpieces (ear molds) for her hearing aids.  It was a fun visit with an eccentric Mom.  On the way to the Woodlands, we noticed a new Jason's Deli that we had never noticed before, just next to the Target and Research Forest Drive on 2854 (Honea Egypt Road).  It was a good restaurant.

3 Feb:  Hi Barb,  Yes, we are neglecting the blog because Ron has nose to the grindstone trying to get Volume 4 ready to go to the publisher.  He is now working on the index, which means he has to read all 400 pages looking for oversights, omissions, errors, typos, and other less-than-perfect details.  Thanks for worrying about us.  See Vol. II above

2 Feb:  MEDICAL:  Cynthia had an epidural in her SI joint.  Ron had an echocardiogram that apparently indicates to the technicians that he is still alive.  Let's hope the doctor agrees.  The assessment on his MyMedical chart at UT Health agrees.  So far, so good.

1 Feb, Sunday:  We enjoyed worship at Grace Lutheran and lunch at The Oscars.  Oscar is so good; he ordered salmon especially for us.

2026 We Turn 18 Again Beginning in January!

Ron is in the treehouse before zi-lining  

31Jan: The chilliness in the condo warrants a heating pad on my lap. We are ready for our second walk of the day going a little further each day. Cynthia is planning a party next week and writing letters to great-grandchildren using one finger. Here is a photo of Vol. III.  Vol. II disappeared. 

 

30 Jan: Great-granddaughter Charlotte successfully competed and won the yellow belt in Taekwondo.   We successfully slept, oatmealed, exercised, and walked.  Ron walked twice.  And here is a photo of Vol I of the four volumes.

29  Jan: Here we are just bouncing to the end of January achieving goals. We exercised and walked twice. Cynthia had a pedi/mani and returned items at UPS.  Ron has moved on to Hico, the last Watershed before editing and creating the index for Volume Four. Yay. It certainly will be a treat for this to be off to the publisher when we leave for Pritikin and we can focus on eating and exercise. 3.15 Miles! HOORAY 

28 Jan: Buy four AA batteries Cynthia;  she did! She also bought a small adult blood pressure cuff, but it had to be a child's size, so it was returned.  We walked twice and did upper-body workouts at the fitness center. And on this day we continued our great progress with being eighteen again. We exercise a lot, we eat a lot, and we laugh a lot! 2.56 Miles 

27 Jan: We had a fabulous day, or was that yesterday? Cynthia is elated to feel so great. We did our morning stretches, she did the physical therapist's workout, and we did an upper-body workout at the fitness center, followed by a 15-minute walk on the trail. How exciting is this? The best part of workouts and walking is the exhilaration.  Ron is making great progress with Volume Four. Cynthia worked with DNA correspondence. Lauren sent Grandmother a list of questions with answers that might make another book. It is a joy to have so many grandchildren. Ron is walking the trail earlier tonight. 2.31 Miles 

26 Jan: The day was quiet doing the usual with the grandchildren correspondence, exercises, and seeing the gastroenterologist. Does Broccoli give indigestion? 

25 Jan: Thankful. That's the word for our awakening to electrical power and to no snow.  We ate, exercised, and walked twice. Cynthia is deeply thankful for walking without pain. Ron is almost finished with North Hico. 2.0 Miles. TWO MILES T.W.O. 2 MILES.

24 Jan: Ok, historic storm: we are ready as we can be. The car is filled with fuel, Cynthia has containers filled with water in the bathtub, but it is futile to fill the tub or sinks because they won’t stay filled. Extra food is in the refrigerator and cabinets.  We did laundry. Cynthia is very proud that Ron has started recycling; this takes weeks to do before we leave for Miami on 10 March. Thank God for heat and power, but, Cynthia would have preferred to go to a lovely hotel with a backup generator.

23 Jan: Cynthia was bound and determined to be prepared for the worst possible hurricane, tornado, blizzard, and the Great Flood by shopping and shopping again. We mailed the Lea books to the NGSQ for a critique/review.  Ron finished South Hico Watershed in Volume Four; the remaining are North Hico, Hico, and the Index. The book size was trimmed back to 500 pages. 

22 Jan: We must have been busy.  Maybe we will remember what we did on this day  

21 Jan: Dr C’s consultation in the Woodlands for the epidural in the SI joint, is now scheduled for 2 Feb along with Ron’s echocardiogramat two PM. 

20 Jan: Oh!Oh! We saw the ophthalmologist in Brenham.  There is a Blue Bell Creamery right there.  Then we drove to Hempstead to talk to the CPA about taxes.  

19 Jan: Cynthia awoke at 7 to discover Ron sitting at his computer at five AM still working on Volume Four. The sun is shining and bright, high temp of 63.  Cynthia is always chilly so she ate oatmeal for lunch, too.

1/18 Sunday Worship followed by salmon lunch at Oscar’s, pick up packages at Jon’s, and stop at the storage unit to pick up sweatshirts and knitted caps.

1/17 Cynthia housecleaned, did laundry, finished recording receipts to go to the CPA, and she did her therapy exercises. Ron is working on James Lea, Volume Four, with three more watersheds for inclusion.  Next, he wants to create a website for the Leas. We walked for eleven minutes  Cynthia called the Inn at Long Trail for summer reservations.  It is so cold in Texas that we went to bed to get warm. 

1/16 Cynthia is celebrating her graduation from Physical Therapy. Everyone is pleased that she is finally starting to strive to be an achiever. She needs more degrees! She is happy not have pain.

1/15  A day of Rest  nite nite

14 Jan: Cynthia is doing taxes; Ron is writing correspondence. 

13 Jan: Allergy Medical Appt @ 10:00 AM, followed by appointment with podiatrist at 1:45.

12 Jan: Physical Therapy and home again, home again.  

11 Jan: Turn the Page. An important part of the Forde Family has passed from this place to life beyond.  Now we turn the page.  Cynthia has PT at eleven. 

10 Jan: Happy Birthday Paul!  We arose at six AM to ride with Jon to the Klein Funeral Home in Houston for the Memorial Service for Stan F.. Scott’s service was held there in 1998.  Following Stan’s service, too, we traveled to the graveside service at Scott’s Grove, our family cemetery.  We had a lovely lunch catered by Waller County Catering. Friends were in attendance from forty years ago.  Most of our great-grandkids were there. 

9 Jan:  The plan for January and February is two-fold: Cynthia wants to finally spend time with the grandchildren and we will get the taxes done in addition to physical therapy twice a week. YES, we are thankful for our marvelous life together.

8 Jan: We enjoyed a lovely, late sleep followed by Cynthia's housecleaning, doing laundry, washing dishes, and floors. Ron decided it would be good to do the first of three ten- minute walks so we escaped the kitchen for ten minutes.  Cynthia is worn out, Ron went for a walk after working on Volume Four. The already published James Lea volumes 1-3 were ordered for Barb, libraries, and archives today. 

7 Jan: Today was another “Rise and Shine” day for Ron’s electrophysiologist appointment six blocks away. This guarantees a mile of walking.  He has everyone laughing hard at his stories. Cynthia had a physical therapist appointment, we picked up a RX and returned a pair of shoes to Amazon, returning to the condo by 4:30 PM. Cynthia walked 2.82 Miles 

6 Jan:  Cynthia’s hair appointment with Sasha was at eleven AM.  Sasha has been her hairstylist for 45 years and he really enjoys Ron!  We ate lunch at Jason’s Deli; Ron slept all afternoon  We walked to Salata before he returned to work on Volume Four.  Now he is getting in the four-mile walk around Rice University.  Cynthia’s lab results are good. Cynthia walked 2.65 miles 

5 Jan: Our cardiologist appointments were at 7:45 AM.  Cynthia was delighted to be able to walk the six-block distance from our hotel to the doctor’s office.  We wished him a Happy New Year after our great appointment and he said, “Let’s plan on another twenty years.”   We napped, looked at the news, and walked to Salata for dinner.  Cynthia walked 2.51 Miles! 

4 Jan Charlotte turned four years old awakening to find 100 balloons in her room. After worship, we ate at Oscar’s and rode to the TX Medical Center for three days. Our cardiologist might put us in the bad patient jail because we have eaten contraband. Cynthia walked 1.53 Miles 

3 Jan: Today:  We listened to the President's report about capturing Maduro.  At three PM we will do an upper body workout at the Fitness Center.  We exercised and we ate! 

2 Jan 222… 6.!  TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-SIX!  Now what???  Aha! We rode the motorcycle to UPS to return a package.  Cynthia also mailed a package to Cousins Quint and Sharon.  We ate a late lunch at Oscar’s and we increased our walking to twelve minutes.  Ron is working on Volume Four.  Cynthia is organizing tax info. DNA will be set aside for taxes this month.

1 Jan 2026: We celebrated New Year’s (Christmas) with the Forde family at granddaughter Corrie’s; her backyard is filled with tree houses, playhouses, zip liners, rope swings, live chickens and goats, and thrilled all ten great grandchildren. The BBQ lunch was delicious. Except we ate contraband fat and sugar.

December Joy in Texas

31  Dec:  Cynthia had a PT appointment, we picked up the potato salad for tomorrow; we walked in Walmart and we walked for ten minutes towards the point. It is encouraging to move into 2026 walking outside again!  1.23 Miles     HAPPY NEW YEAR!

30 Dec: We are having lunch with Steven at the Pizza Shack. The sun is bright, but it is very chilly. 

29 Dec: Ron is making progress responding to DNA questions and Volume Four. After lunch, we will go to the fitness center for a thirty minute upper body work out, then back to work on our Mac’s.  That was the plan. Instead, we took a nap. Cynthia is making great progress falling asleep. ZZzzzzzzzzzzz  

28 Dec: Worship at Grace Lutheran 

27 Dec: We took a good break in our busy lives to go to the Fitness Center doing upper body workout. Except… it has been so long, Cynthia forgot her weight lifting reps. 

26 Trump declared Dec. 26 a National Holiday. Cynthia is. taking advantage of the extra holiday by sleeping late, doing her exercises, eating a great bowl of oatmeal with berries, and then going to Walmart and walk holding onto a cart for thirty minutes before responding to a trillion zillion messages. 

25 Dec: Merry Christmas! We ask God’s blessings on all as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ!  

24 Dec: Our day was unbelievably quiet in every way.  Cynthia is responding with one finger typing to a trillion messages while Ron is clicking his Mac keys. 

23 Dec:  A dear friend of Ron’s had a stroke and is in a nursing home. Thanks to Diane H for taking this photo of Ann holding up a Christmas message to us, 

22 Dec: Physical Therapy at 9:30. Several Lea books were mailed to libraries.  Ron is doing a phenomenal job on Volume Four. 

21 Dec: Jon joined us at church. This is our first time back at church this fall because Cynthia could not walk. . We had lunch at The Oscars Bistro.

20 Dec: Ron is working non stop on Volume Four. 

19 Dec. Medical: Dr Lotze at 8:30 and Dr Conley at 10:30. Ron named our new game, “Guess the word that Cynthia can’t think of.”  We had lunch at Jason’s Deli and napped this afternoon before Ron started working again on Volume Four. 

17 Dec: Physical therapy. Our family is grieving and Cynthia is pastor, mother and grandmother. 

16 Dec: Cynthia had a periodontal appointment this morning, and a retina specialist appointment this afternoon with good news that her AMD is early/intermediate. He said her eyes are healthy. We ate at Jason’s Deli and did not get home until late. We have only two more Dr appointments this year! 

15 Dec: Cynthia’s former spouse passed away today. This is a very difficult time for the whole family. 

14 Dec: Soon, it will be Christmas and this link to our Christmas card is to wish you the merriest Christmas ever!https://jlcards.com/FE7Hk0

13 Dec: Today, we have lunch with Bill and Merry at eleven.  We just don’t know where we agreed to meet.  Ron may send Christmas cards, Cynthia may send E-cards. Writing and Typing is too tough. 

12 Dec: We had the quietest day with a lovely nap, and Ron is making great progress on Volume Four.  Granddaughter Samantha sent a cute video of Noah singing at his Christmas Concert. 

11 Dec: We drove to the Opthalmologist in Brenham, Texas which meant a stop at Blue Bell Ice Cream Creamery followed by a nap for our too-much-over-full-tummies. The hip world turned once again.  This is a copy of the message I sent my children: Monday I had a spine epidural to test how much pain is coming from my spinal L4 and L5 root.  It is three days later so about 50% of the pain is spinal.  Tuesday, I met with the hip ortho who surprised us by saying the hip has some wear, but I do not need a hip replacement.  Instead,  The main source of my pain is a dysfunctional sacroiliac joint.  He encouraged us by saying with eight weeks of physical and steroids in my SI joint plus a new anti-inflammatory medication for the SI joint.  So good news all around!  Ron had an eye appointment to check follow up after his May cataract surgery so we pigged out at the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory. 

You are dearly loved!. 

You are dearly loved!

10 Dec: We get to sleep in tomorrow!  Yaay  And we did!  Pharmacy 

9 Dec:  And here we are ready for the medical center run to see a hip orthopedist this time. The visit was good with surprising news. The clinical exam shows Cynthia’s hip to be ok, mild arthritis, the doctor was not alarmed by the tears in the labrum or the over extension of the femur. He reported the pain seems to be coming from the spine, and a dysfunctional SI Joint. He recommends physical therapy and an anti-inflammatory. We stopped at Jason’s Deli for dinner as part of our date night. Good night!

8 Dec: Physical Therapy begins at 9:30, we will eat someplace at noon,  drive to Memorial Hermann Hospital for a spinal epidural.  Worn out, we arrived home and napped for two hours.

7 Dec: The day flew by since ours didn’t start until noon-thirty. Ron is focused on Volume Four of James Lea. Cynthia is showered and ever so hopeful Ron will give her his dirty laundry to wash before midnight. 

6 Dec: The sun is shining,  boats are moving onto the lake, and it doesn’t look anything like Christmas in Texas, but, that is a happening in the heart. 

5 Dec: This is a good day, Cynthia stopped all meds except ongoing ones. Nothing helps mechanical pain, surprisingly, she has less pain.  So much joy is boring to our readers! Ron returned from his walk and that is a joyful sound!  He said we don’t act like adults. 👩 

4 Dec: We have nothing on our schedule until Monday next but sleep! That’s a very joyful thought!  Ron is making marvelous progress on Volume 4. We need to send Barb her books. 

3 Dec:  And off we go to physical therapy, always comforting and healing. We stopped at UPS to print out medical forms and dropped off two pairs of pants to be hemmed. Cynthia slept all afternoon. Zzzzzz

2 Dec:  Sleeping until noon translates into joy  We are happily eating lunch at one-thirty. Ron worked on Sudokus, and he walked at five PM. Cynthia is frustrated by inactivity. But movement causes pain. Reading, normally a great joy, is curtailed by vision. Having a good attitude is transforming the tough times into joy filled times. 

1 Dec:  JOY! Oh, what joy!  We are ready to do physical therapy!  Cynthia learned her left hip has so many problems that it is better to replace it.  She has an appointment next Tuesday with an orthopedist. 

Ron joined Cynthia in Texas, and we both give thanks to GOD this November

Ron, Cynthia and Rachel (Blaire and Becs hid)

30 Nov, Sunday:  And we thank God again for the life that we are enjoying and all the bountiful blessings that come with life itself.  (Just ask your favorite dog if you don't believe us.)  Cynthia thanks God for Ron, too!

29 Nov,  MRI Saturday!  The online MRI info said, "Nothing to eat or drink for four hours prior to the 60 minute procedure."  We awoke at 7:30/ yikes.  Ron suggested a protein shake.  Good choice.  The 60 minute MRI is for those done with IV contrast.  When we arrived we learned hers is only fifteen minutes because it is without contrast.  Whew, Yaay.  We are happily well-cooked and well fed after eating at Jason’s Deli.  Cynthia enjoyed a 2.5 hour nap!  Ron continued with James Lea until leaving for a walk just after dark as the rain was just beginning.  No walk after all, and he weighed a pound more in the morning.

28 Nov:  Black Friday.  We intend to join Jon, Rachel, and her girls for dinner at Oscar's after paying bills and visiting the bank and Walmart.  Ron continues spending all available time working on James Lea or sudokus; he is now done reorganizing the documentation for the first 50 plotted plats.

27 Nov: Happy Thanksgiving!  Ron woke Cynthia up at three AM to say, “I thank God for you! Happy Thanksgiving!”  And we went back to sleep soundly.   We have had a very good day.  Our friend Jane asked about Protein Rich Plasma Therapy.  The most important thing to know is that it is not covered by insurance.  Apparently, it can be very helpful.  Seek a PRP specialist that does a double spin.  The first spin is called a soft spin separating the platelets.  The important second spin compresses the platelets into a rich plasma.  You want a company that knows how to separate Leukocyte Rich Plasma to be used in tendons, and piriformis joint… then using the Leukocyte Poor plasma to inject into joints and cartilage.  So I now know enough to ask a company if they do those things.  If they do, I can trust them IF I am willing to pay out of pocket.

26 Nov:  Dustin guided Cynthia's physical therapy today.  In the afternoon, Cynthia learned about Platelet Rich Therapy from Dr. ChatGPT.  We thank Frank Musumeci for telling us about it years ago at the Pritikin, another of our huge benefits from our chosen habit to return there every other year.  The blood needs to be double spun, so that the platelets are compressed into rich pellets.  Guided ultrasound is used to do injections.  Monday, Cynthia will ask questions to see if Sports Medicine is a good location.  It might prove to be better than ShockWave Therapy.  Walking before dark this evening, Ron espied 15 does, 2 bucks (one with 8 points), 12 ducks swimming in the lake, 2 eagles screeching as they returned to their nest high atop a huge pine, innumerable people and dogs, and one cat.  It is unusual to sight the eagles.  James Lea is proceeding satisfactorily, 4 out of 64 plats reorganized as desired.

25 Nov:  Another day with no schedule except to take it easy on Cynthia's hip tendons.  Ron did indeed walk as usual in early evening after the temperature dropped below the 77 degree high.

24 Nov:  We arose at three AM because?  Ron! Why did we get up at three AM?  (Because Cyntha was twitching for half an hour.)  Cynthia showered, ate breakfast and went back to sleep for two hours.  Then we had her physical therapy session.  It was great!  Jean cautioned Cynthia that calming down her torn tendons and muscles will take months and that her biggest risk is doing too much too soon.  We stopped at the storage locker to get the wedding vase and at Walmart for flowers to please Cynthia.  Cynthia went back to bed after noon, and Ron joined her later to help her avoid doing too much.  Ron finished labeling the maps for Volume 4 after moving nearly every plat at least a little in the last three days to make the map "tighter."  It rained a lot today, so Ron didn't walk although he did use the rain to begin the process of washing the motorcycle.

23 Nov, Sunday:  Amazing.  Nothing to do on Sunday!  Ron did walk across the peninsula twice today.

22 Nov:  Amazing.  Nothing to do on Saturday!   Ron continues to walk daily although his knee is complaining a little.

21 Nov:  Gack !!  We hafta get on the road at 9 AM this morning, but we did it.  Ron zoomed us in and out of traffic like the pro motorcyclist he is!  Cynthia had her annual physical at MD Anderson.  All clear for another year.  Today is Julie’s birthday.  Cynthia is thinking about all of the people she is thankful for this year.  Ron and Jon are at the top of the list.  We enjoyed a lovely nap this afternoon, and Ron walked the pathway to across the peninsula before dark - no pitfalls, someone did a fine job of maintenance on the path.

20 Nov:  Ron stayed lazy in bed forever and finally got up to give Cynthia a ride to UPS to fax a report to Dr. C.  Then we ate at Oscar's (click here) and enjoyed seeing Oscar and Elaine.  Cynthia’s MRI report came in showing the root of the hip and leg pain.  Torn tendons.

19 Nov:  At 9:30 AM, Cynthia had physical therapy which went well, and at 3 PM, a consultation with Dr. C, who will give her a spinal epidural on Dec 8th.  We stopped at Lakeside Pharmacy for gabapentin on the way home.  Ron did a fabulous job maneuvering I-45 rush hour traffic.  Ron refrained from walking until he can get it done in daylight to see where any pitfalls might be.

18 Nov:  Tomorrow, tomorrow, it’s almost tomorrow.  Tomorrow is only a day away!  Tomorrow is Now TODAY!  Ron phoned from Cooper Farms (click here) at mile 198 where he ordered soft-serve peach and cinnamon ice creams.  The pecan pie is probably preferable.  He will be here in 2.5 hours from the time he stops eating ice cream.  This was after eating 4 packets of oatmeal at the hotel and a couple of cookies and a fruitcake sample at Collin Street Bakery (click here).  (Next time eat several of the free samples and leave a generous tip.) And he arrived home by noon!  Yaay.

17 Nov:  Ron is riding south from an overnight in Pittsburg, Kansas.  US 69 south from Pittsburg was not heavily traveled, but that changed once US 75 joined at Atoka, Oklahoma, and the traffic on I-45 through Dallas at 4:30 pm was horrendous, coming to complete stops several times.  Ron stopped only in Atoka for gasoline and a pint of ice cream at the Marble Slab Creamery.  Cynthia had a physical therapy session at 9:30 AM.  The PT said her SI structure needs to be stabilized, the SI joint is slipping, causing the piriformis muscle to tighten around the sciatic nerve, and that is why she has this pain.  Ron arrived in Corsicana, Texas about 5:30 PM, a three hour ride from Montgomery, Texas.  Fortunately, there was a Subway on the same block as the Comfort Inn.  Route: US 69 S to Kansas 126 W to KS 7 S to US 166 W to Chetopa and US 59 S to Welch switch to OK 2 S which rejoins US 69 S at Big Cabin continuing to Atoka and US 75 S into Texas and I-45 S through Dallas to Corsicana.  This was a great choice to avoid the Oklahoma toll road.

16 Nov, Sunday:  3:00 AM, Cynthia woke up with a very itchy nose, some kind of allergic reaction?  Benadryl helped her go back to sleep.  But, at 3:00 AM, both feet hit the floor, she is exercised and oatmealed, but fighting drowsiness.  Jon arrived at 6:15 AM to take her to Memorial Hermann Imaging for a pelvis MRI.  Except!  The extremely painful MRI was a hip MRI and not pelvis; she has to reorder a pelvis MRI.  Someone made a mistake!  We hoped for easy answers that can be rectified with physical therapy.  Now, we wait for another MRI appointment and go through that painful ordeal once again.  We had a delicious breakfast at Katz’ near the hospital.  NEWS from the road:  Ron slept very well, uninterrupted from midnight until six AM.  He was preparing his second bowl of oatmeal, and repacking his saddlebag because he discovered that Missouri changed its motorcycle helmet law in 2020 to allow anyone over the age of 26 years old with insurance to not wear a helmet.  He saw 22 riders without helmets yesterday.  Who knows how far Ron made it today!  He left Kearney after ten AM, and he arrived in Pittsburg, KS about five PM.  Google Map Finder says it is about a nine hour ride by interstate to Montgomery.  Ron takes the byways and back roads.  I don’t know who, what or where he might decide to visit tomorrow.  But it appears likely he will arrive home Tuesday.

15 Nov:  Ron’s Big Ride began this AM from Sister Carol’s tree farm in Southern Illinois.  He arrived in Edwardsville before 10 AM to pay his storage unit fees for another year.  From there, he rode west to Jerry W’s home, then onto Joan’s home near Kansas City, Missouri.  Cynthia reserved a room for him tonight in Kearney, MO.  And he wrote: “Smooch.  I arrived safely in Kearney, Missouri after a delightful visit with cousin Jerry and Emery.  Jerry's property is quite nice although I saw only a small area around the house.  The house is also quite nice, and Jerry had frozen mango for me.  Emery is enjoying being a painter and has enough paints to last a lifetime."  Today, Cynthia went to great granddaughter Hayden Grace’s first birthday party and ate some sugar free cake.  Hayden remained interested, observant, and overwhelmed.  As she began looking at the gift wrap, I thought, here we go… now she begins a whole lifetime of parties and opening presents.

14 Nov:  The stock market is going down, down, down.  The sun is coming UP, UP and UP.  All will be well.  Cynthia has two medical appointments today.  
From Illinois, Ron writes, “Too bad that it is too late to update the blog, but I've had a busy day and evening.  Tomorrow I need to pack before and after pulling bush honeysuckle.   I love you, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, and hope you can stand up straight before noon two days in a row.  Remember, NO pain, no sudden moves and don't overdo your exercises.  Smooch!”   Ron is preparing to leave bush honeysuckle tomorrow and return to his beloved bride.

13 Nov:  Cynthia awoke to the sweetest emails and vox messages!  What a wonderful way to wake up.  Yay! Cynthia has scheduled a pelvis MRI for Sunday @ 8:00 AM.  Yay again.  It will be miserable laying flat for 45 minutes.  But, Monday, we will have answers.

12 Nov: 3:20 AM?  Oh, well,  We live in a wonderful world, so I will enjoy more of it.  Thankfully, Cynthia did go back to sleep.  Carol is preparing an early Thanksgiving Turkey for Ron’s departure towards Texas on Sat.  Gobble! Gobble!  We are tired and going to sleep early.  I love ❤️ you!

11 Nov:  Cynthia has two Dr appointments today.  Thanks to son Jon for being the driver!  The first appointment is early, so she is oatmealed, exercised, and dressed.  Whaat? The scale keeps going down!  Magic!  The galley proof for Vol II arrived, awaiting Ron’s approval next week.  YAY!  This was an overwhelming and exhausting day.

10 Nov:  Already? Yup, Arise now and greet the morning!  Cynthia is up, oatmealed, exercised, and preparing a fax ordering medical records sent to the neurologist.  I love you Smooch! 💋  Ron was on a surprise ride with his sister, so we will find out the mystery tonight.  It is much cooler in Texas today.  Cynthia wants to walk but decided to ask the Dr tomorrow if she should walk through pain.  Cynthia has been continuing to have extremely high blood pressure occasionally, like 220/90, so Ron decided to return to her earlier than the 1st of December.  After all, it is better to arrive at her side before the stroke rather than after it.

9 Nov, Sunday:  Will Ron get a Sunday break from pulling bush honeysuckle in Illinois?  No! Will his hands, muscles and knees survive the arduous task?  Yes!  Cynthia was surprised to see another pound loss.  Ron phoned, but C missed the early AM call; she reached him en route with Eric to the coin show in Springfield, Illinois, so poor Eric had to listen to the mushy stuff.  It is bitterly cold in Illinois, but a lovely high of 68 in Texas.  Eric and Ron ate dinner at Ruby Tuesday.  Ron has another jigsaw puzzle to do.  Cynthia is delighted she managed a walk to the Point.

8 Nov:  Cynthia’s Texas scale shows a six pound loss, likely muscle, since Cynthia has been inactive for six months.  Perhaps the neurologist can suggest ways to rebuild strength and muscle.  Today, she will find a place to rest outside in the shade.  She had a productive day inside ordering medical records and she cooked Sockeye Salmon.  Mmmm.  Ron pulled 70 bush honeysuckle yesterday and 168 in his three hour mission today.  And they got to eat at Ruby Tuesday’s.  Oh, they are having fun!  Ron’s cataract surgery has enabled him to spot all hidden bush honeysuckle.  The boredom in Texas is extreme!

7 Nov:  MEDICAL  Cynthia has an optometrist appointment near Jason’s Deli for updated reading glasses RX at 1:45.  Jon offered again to drive Cynthia.  She is up, oatmealed, and happily startled by the scale showing a five pound drop.  Oh my, the car battery was dead.  She must have left a door ajar, and Jon had to use jumper cables to start the car.

6 Nov:  Cynthia had medical tests in the Woodlands at 1:45; Jon drove and moved the garment bags upstairs for her.  Ron hopes that Cynthia can remember that her most important schedule for the next month is to AVOID PAIN.  This morning, Ron was up and finished his exercises by 8 AM.  Cynthia is unbelievably bored.

5 Nov:  MEDICAL  One of us awoke at 3:45 and couldn’t go back to sleep.  At 5:02, she ate breakfast.  Cynthia had a physical therapist appointment at nine AM that was very helpful.  After lunch a friend helped pull stuff from the storage unit and put it into her car.  Jon will bring it upstairs.  Cynthia is scheduled for a flu shot today at 3:30.  Ron was finished with exercises at 9 AM and breakfasted soon after, but was still indoors at 11 am when the cabbage soup was ready to eat, walking thereafter slowly through the woods, pausing to look around for the next bush honeysuckle after pulling the last one - for THREE hours.  After all that, he spent 30 minutes lying flat on his back on the living room rug hoping that his back would recover.  It did, and all is well.

4 Nov:  MEDICAL  Smooch!  There is a sweet-voiced lady who answers Ron’s phone telling me his voicemail isn’t set up yet.  She is at it again this morning!  AH! Ron discovered his phone hadn’t been turned on.  A unguarded phone is how that voice lady sneaked inside.  Cynthia has an appointment with the neurologist at 1:45 PM.  The appointment was positive with two options ahead.  She will have more testing on Thursday, meet with the neurosurgeon next Tuesday.  Ron has been actively pursuing bush honeysuckle on Carol's property although his knee is beginning to object to a twisting motion when pulling them.  Today provided quite the surprise when a large bush honeysuckle suddenly lost its grip and sent Ron sprawling onto his back like a turtle directly into a bed of multiflora rose with thorns.  There he sat while E-Vile older sister laughed at his predicament.  Fortunately she was able to regain control and clip a multitude of multiflora rose from his backside - which still left him upside down with multiflora rose stickers under everything except the bush honeysuckle that he used to cushion his hand from the thorns as he regained his footing.  He has walked the mile to the mailbox every day to help his legs tolerate the exercise.  After a delicious dinner of salmon w/ berries and sweet potato, Ron resumed his work on Volume 4 of James Lea, James Lea, James Lea.

3 Nov:  Medical Twice  Jon is picking Cynthia up at the first crack of light to bring a passenger to the airport before taking her to her Dr appt at eleven.  The late afternoon was eventful.  Pain necessitated  a trip to urgent care with very high blood pressure.  She was given BP meds for thirty days.

2 Nov, Sunday:  7:24 AM Texas time, one of us is oatmealed and ready to do very gentle stretches.  Two eggs microwaved with Feta cheese in two pieces of Dave’s thin sliced bread was mighty tasty.  Meanwhile in Keosauqua, Carol, Bill and Ron were up early, ate breakfast at the Great Day Cafe and drove with only a few stops back to arrive in Litchfield in time for a Ruby Tuesday dinner before dark.

1 Nov:  We Thank God for each other.  Cynthia is indeed the most blessed human alive.  I love you Ron Beatty!  Ron, Sistah Carol, and her Bill, attended the funeral services of Cousin Rex Rambo in Keosauqua, Iowa the past two days.  The most important quote from the two-day event was from his son, Rex: “Everything Rex did was about family.”

October, scary because we need to reform our ice cream binging.

Ron and his bride in Vermont, 2024

31 Oct:  The plan is to leave about 10 AM (and we were 15 minutes early) and stop briefly every hour as we drive north and west (done).  We did arrive early and found food at the Riverbend Cafe in its new location after checking in to the Hotel Manning, which is much nicer with individual bathrooms for each guest room.  The visitation at the funeral home was deserted by the time we arrived about 3 PM, so we got to look at all the assembled keepsakes dating back to Rex's grade school report cards.  The visitation in the evening was wonderful, with all the children and siblings present, meaning there were too many people to be able to visit as long as desired with anyone.  We capped the evening off with a visit to Mistys, the local soft serve ice cream place.  (Ron ate an entire quart of black raspberry and vanilla swirl.)  Cynthia had an active morning beginning with a badly needed haircut from Courtney, who did a great job.  Cynthia deposited a check at the bank, sent a fax containing questions for the doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, shopped in Walmart for a few items, made an appointment at Better Care Chiropractic for next Wednesday at nine AM, and got stuck in Building B because there is no exit off those elevators to the second floor of Building A.  (A staircase intervenes.)  The owner from B107 was dispatched by Danielle to help me get the purchases carried up to our condo, which reminds me to go back down and retrieve my car parked in a handicapped zone.

30 Oct:  Cynthia's driver picked her up at 8:30 AM for her United flight at 11:20 AM, which arrived in Houston 1:45 PM.  She had a wheelchair waiting for her in St. Louis and another one reserved (but hidden) in Houston.  Her son Jon picked her up despite confusion about terminals and got her back to our favorite condo without pain or discomfort.  What a relief !!  The condo looks lovely and clean; she is a happy girl.  Ron left Mariner's Village about noon and enjoyed RADICALLY different scenery than when riding south three weeks ago.  The trees were mostly dressed in rust and dirty orange although several were brilliant red or bright orange.  It was beautifully dry and sunny.  Perhaps most impressive was that all the corn and beans have been harvested and the horizon is much further away.  Bill, Carol and Ron are all in agreement to drive to Keosauqua tomorrow to attend cousin Rex's visitation & funeral.

29 Oct:  We were quite concerned that we would get soaked on the ride two blocks to physical therapy, but the drizzle just got us damp.  Cynthia sat in her favorite disappearing seat and got warm electro-stem at 10:30 AM.  Ron was greatly excited that Stacey, her therapist, told her "Don't do something stupid," words Ron doesn't dare use.  We were fortunate that the ride home was only slightly wetter.  Cynthia behaved herself and didn't try to do too much for the rest of the day and had a lovely, pain-free day.  Ron walked across the dam in the evening despite a cold breeze.

28 Oct:  WooHoo!  Here we are on Tuesday, and Ron successfully packed a trillion pounds of Cynthia's stuff into a Snuggie brand box and drove it to the post office.  Yup, Ron beat the forecasted five PM rain by shipping the box and returning to the room by 1:58 PM.  Since it is still dry, Ron has decided to walk across the dam before dinner of potato and steamed veggies at Los Amigos at 4 pm.  Despite needing to do other things, Ron continued working on Volume 4, rearranging vast swaths of text.

27 Oct:  Cynthia's visit to Med+Plus was successful in that Rhonda gave her a steroid injection, but the injection was not nearly so successful as previously.  She is still having some pain although it is much milder.  Ron commenced working on Volume 4 of the James Lea, James Lea series.  This is the final volume and will be organized notes rather than a narrative.  When Ron attempted to go for a walk in the evening, it was chilly but not raining and not dry, so he punted.

26 Oct, Sunday:  Ron did send Cynthia the .pdf with a completed Volume TWO, which she immediately submitted to the publisher.  YAAAAAAAY YIPPPEEE  We were happy to have a day with nothing scheduled so that we could sleep in and be lazy.  Ron is really, really good at that.

25 Oct:  We hafta get up early (and did) to be ready to entertain Carol and Bill at 2:00 (still in progress at 1:30).  They wanted to see Cynthia one more time before she rides off into the sunset and lives happily ever after.  Speaking of happy, she woke up happy and her pain has not resurfaced yet today.  She is walking almost normally, and we are so proud of her.

24 Oct:  We were up early to get to the clinic, but there were no injections today and no doctor.  Still, the visit was highly enjoyable since Stacy strapped Cynthia into her favorite chair for fifteen minutes and hooked up the electro-stim for a similar duration.  Another nap was just as good as yesterday, and dinner at Los Amigos again just what we wanted: a baked potato and steamed veggies.  Ron then walked across the dam talking to Dave E. before riding to Wally World for more Tylenol. (I sure hope Cynthia owns stock in Tylenol.)  Strangely, we still didn't get to bed early.

Oct 23:  Ron is working on Volume 2 index again.  A nap and light activity seemed to help Cynthia, and she is much more optimistic today.  We ate at Los Amigos, and Ron walked across the dam  before sunset, enabling him to happily walk the haunted trail in deepening dusk.  Ron talked with cousin Jim during that walk, and brother Dean called later in the evening before bedtimes for us both.

22 Oct:  We were delighted to see Stacy, who strapped Cynthia into her favorite chair.  Today's injections were trigger points in her larger butt muscles.  After a good visit, Dr. Schatz proceeded to stretch Cynthia's leg very painfully, presumably trying to get greater mobility despite the pain and tight muscles.  We napped for an hour after getting back to our room and for another hour after potato and steamed veggies at Los Amigos.  After walking to Wally World once for groceries, Ron changed his mind about walking across the dam and instead walked to Wally World a second time to find a large, sturdy box for shipping.  Cynthia walked the halls four times; she is so happy that she could walk the halls!  Cynthia is so happy and that makes Ron SO HAPPY too.  Ron couldn't sleep until after he realized that the solution to the violence mounting in "Sanctuary Cities" is to declare such sanctuary polices to be insurrectionist activities, punishable by enforcing the laws protecting law enforcement officers.  Here is the official word from Google: "Yes, insurrection is a federal offense with federal penalties, as defined in 18 U.S. Code § 2383.  Those who incite, assist, or participate in an insurrection against U.S. authority can face fines, up to 10 years in prison, or both, and are disqualified from holding any U.S. office."  Pritzker might have to govern Illinois from inside a federal penitentiary.  You read it here first.  James Lea is progressing nicely thanks to the sleeplessness.

21 Oct:  Cynthia is walking almost normally today.  After dark Ron walked across the dam.

20 Oct:  Cytnthia is looking forward to more injections.  Let's hope the cumulative effect catches up to her hopes for relief.  Today’s sarapin with steroid injection was successful in combating pain.  Stacy was out sick, so there was no one to strap Cynthia into her favorite green decompression chair.  Cynthia had scheduled Flu vaccine at Walmart, but they wouldn't poke her because of today's steroid.  Ron got poked twice, once for flu and once for shingles.  Shingles #2 needed in two months, i.e. Dec. 20 in Texas.  Again after dark Ron walked across the dam.

19 Oct, Sunday:  Rain is supposed to end before church.  I wonder if Cynthia will feel up for a ride to Trenton.  Yes, No, the pain is still too much.!  Ron is out of bed and fed at noon:30.  The celebratory dinner for Erika with Eric and family was rescheduled for today at five PM and everyone had a good time.  After everyone left before dark, Ron walked across the dam.

18 Oct:  Rain was forecast for afternoon, but it started early and continued intermittently with occasional lightning, thereby effectively preventing Ron's intended walk across the dam.  The rain also postponed the celebratory dinner for Erika with Eric and family.  We enjoyed our usual meal at Los Amigos and walked the halls a time or two until Cynthia's pain said stop.  After an encouraging day without much pain, her pain suddenly ramped up before dark.  Ron started on the final clean-up of the index and was disappointed that he quickly found a couple of names not indexed.  Back to the grindstone.

17 Oct:  We successfully got up early to get to physical therapy by 9:30.  Poor Cynthia; after two days of intolerable pain, depression is getting her down, and she only got to hang in the decompression chair for fifteen or twenty minutes.  Again, it was Sooooo nice.  Rhonda jabbed a big long needle full of some kind of joy juice (sarapin) into the most painful butt muscles that could be found and gave Cynthia a prescription for an opioid that might be more effective for relieving pain.  Saying that we ate baked potatoes and steamed veggies at Los Amigos is somewhat redundant.  Our loyal readers can assume that we will eat that there every afternoon until we leave.  Cynthia steeled herself and walked the length of the hall in the hotel a couple of times.  After dark, Ron decided it was time to walk across the dam, but on the way out, the lovely couple from Springfield was in the lobby, so conversation delayed his exit by half an hour.  There was a whole lot of shrieking and yelling going on from the vicinity of the haunted trail, along with firecrackers, chain saws, train horns, etc., so the volunteers must have made the trail suitably scary despite their late start.  The hay is gone from the hayride; the pickup trucks pull light weight wagons with seating more suitable for metro subways.

16 Oct:  We spent the day indoors with Cynthia on her back on the floor with calves up on a chair cushion.  In that position, her back "releases" and allows the spine to realign somewhat.  No physical therapy today; the clinic is closed.  We ate our usual baked potatoes and steamed veggies at Los Amigos.  Ron walked around the hotel about ten times with a couple down here looking for a new residence in a less congested area than Chicago or Springfield.  At Cynthia's reminder, we did Ron's pacemaker test last thing before bed; we won't know if he passed for a week or two.  Since Cynthia fell asleep early this evening, Ron stayed up until he finished the first pass of the index edits just before midnight.

15 Oct:  Cynthia walked almost OK after a refreshing night's sleep, then iced and heated her leg, but was appalled that her pain became so great again after that "therapy."  We saw Laura again at 10:15 for five trigger point injections to relax the bigger muscles surrounding Cynthia's pain.  Dr. Schatz was going to stretch Cynthia's hip, but the pain was too severe, so he relented and cautioned us not to do too much.  Let the muscles relax for a day or two.  The mattress might be too soft, allowing her hips to sag while lying on her side.  Carol and Bill delighted us with a visit and dinner at Los Amigos.  Cynthia hobbled over!  Ron is walking the Halloween trail tonight, dark as a black cat at midnight on a moonless night.

14 Oct:  We hustled down to the clinic ASAP for an injection and physical therapy.  First was the injection into the SI joint along with a caution not to expect immediate results - maybe three days.  Then physical therapy wherein Stacy strapped Cynthia into a decompression chair that held her torso and legs while allowing her bottom to drop unsupported.  Cynthia would have remained there all day if she could have; the pain relief was Soooo very nice. Ooohhh yes.  Ron continues working on Volume II while listening to the Senate Judiciary Oversight Committee; what a bunch of prima donnas who consider themselves sacrosanct.  Our internet hasn't been great, so we moved next door, closer to the router.  After an evening meal at Los Amigos, we walked around the motel a couple of times.  Cynthia is moving easier and is optimistic.

13 Oct:  Cynthia's appointment with the physical therapist only 1/2 mile away.  We could walk if Cynthia could walk.  Cynthia’s edits disappeared, and later Ron's edits disappeared.  Dr. Schatz is wonderful.  He speaks quite forcefully and has comprehensive knowledge about Cynthia's problems, having read her reports and MRI.  Apparently the problem is that her body is smarter than her brain.  (The normal human situation.)  Her brain says to ignore the pain, so the body has to scream louder.  Yes, her problem originates in the L4/ L5 vertibrae, exacerbated by the torn hamstring tendon and gluteus maximus tendons, which press on the piriformis which strangles the sciatic nerve.  The SI joint is also involved since her L5 is flattened on one side and cannot decide whether to become a rigid part of her tailbone or to continue acting as a vertibrae which flexes and bends.  All these irritated body parts have convinced the IT band to tighten more also.  He says this is an easy fix, once we can convince all the affected body parts to stop screaming.  That was so incredibly reassuring, and he further said that all the exercise and stretching we have been doing is beneficial.  Tomorrow Cynthia will get an injection.  Ron started to walk across the dam but reconsidered half way and decided not to overdo it. 

12 Oct:  Sleep is good stuff.  Ron walked across the dam after dark.

11 Oct:  We slept and slept some more but didn't get much rest in the smaller bed.  At noon we exercised, ate breakfast, and arose.  (Cynthia says that it is tough work sleeping in a queen-size bed with a giant.)  Cynthia’s head cold is a bit better, and she is walking a bit better.  It is so peaceful at Lake Carlyle.  The Lea Book sizes are now corrected to 8.5x11, and that size should be ready for publication in a couple of weeks.  We ate a late lunch at Los Amigos, and Ron enjoyed a tamale for the first time in forever.  Ron dabbled in James Lea again for an hour or two before walking to Walmart again for old fashioned oatmeal to keep his bride happy.

10 Oct:  We stopped at Ruby Tuesday for one more lovely salad before riding out of Litchfield towards Hillsboro, through Donaldson and Greenville to the Mariner's Village Inn at Lake Carlyle.  Raj & Pam welcomed us back.  Then we napped.  Ron walked to Wally World for groceries and came back with everything needed.

9 Oct:  Cynthia stayed in bed with Rinoallergies.  Maybe this is a head cold?  She coughed most of the night.  This is indeed awful and compounded by the hip pain too.  Ron brought hot oatmeal, a scone, fresh fruit, and a cup of coffee from the hotel breakfast bar.  Carol came to town to pick Ron up at 9 AM and showed him all the pictures that Bob Craig had left with her a month ago.  Such fun looking at old Beatty family photos.  Carol even fed Ron and Bill lotsa lunch; salads and veggies.  Cynthia prepared more oatmeal at 12:45 PM.  Now, she and her sore hip and major headache are going to try to sleep!  Carol returned Ron to Litchfield at 3 PM so that Ron & Cynthia could enjoy another Ruby Tuesday meal.

8 Oct;  We had lunch with Carol and Bill at Ruby Tuesday.  Carol brought the printed Volume One, and we were astonished that it is only 6x9 instead of the intended 8.5x11.  AuthorHouse will revise/resize it to 8.5x11.  Later in the afternoon, Ron rode out to the farm to see his sister and Bill, and Cynthia took a nap at the hotel.  Her cold/ allergies have worsened.  Sistah Carol fed Ron a wholesome dinner of salmon, broccoli and sweet potato.  Great news, Cynthia can stop worrying because the deposit arrived at the bank.

7 Oct:  Up early to the sounds of rain.  After breakfast, we rode to Litchfield.  Ron was delighted with the scenery on the smaller, familiar roads that we took.  We arrived in mid-afternoon and enjoyed an early dinner with Carol and Bill at Ruby Tuesday.  Cynthia’s cold/allergies are somewhat improved with RX nasal spray.  Hip pain is not improved after sitting on a hard chair yesterday at lunch in Bonaparte.  Route, same as last year: US 218 into Keokuk, US 136 (crossing Mississippi River) 3 miles to a R on IL 96 S  (don't miss the 2nd Right) 28 mi to a L on US 24 S (before Quincy) 3 mi to a R on I-172 E for 20 miles continuing onto I-72 for 55 miles to a R on US 67 S just west of Jacksonville, 4 miles to a L on Woodson-Winchester road 4 miles to a R on IL 267 S 22 mi to & through Greenfield, Illinois, L onto IL 108, 22 mi to R on I-55 S 7 miles to Litchfield (best route)

6 Oct:  Off to Keosauqua to visit cousin Rex.  Finding Danielle and five BIG dogs at the house was quite the surprise. Rex, Danielle and the dogs are there to take care of his father, cousin Rex, who cheerfully replies that he is alive and well.  Marvin and Doris picked us up to take us to lunch at the Bonaparte Retreat (click here).  Cousin Sharon joined us there, and we all enjoyed a comfortable conversation.  Sharon says that her sister Carolyn took a photo of the piece of lumber with the name "William Beatty" that came to light during the remodel.  We called Scott since Cynthia won't ride out the gravel road to his house, but he declined to come into town to see us, so we were able to leave in late afternoon and arrive in Keokuk, Iowa before dark, laid down in bed, and slept for a couple of hours.  Ron then rode to the gas station, to ALDI for raspberries, and to Walmart for air in the tires.  We then enjoyed sleep, lots of asleep.

5 Oct, Sunday:  We left "early" (before noon) and arrived in Fairfield before dark.  The Super 8 is not a bad motel and is conveniently close to a Walmart that sells blueberries, raspberries and bananas.  We went to sleep early and enjoyed our sleep.

4 Oct:  This was an exciting morning watching Kole play football.  He caught a pass for a "first down," sacked the quarterback and pursued runners all over the backfield.  Best friends Cynthia and Ann were so very happy to see each other that we are elated that we went.  Jerry and Betty picked us up for the class reunion luncheon, thanks to Dave and Annie.  Roy's daughter brought him down from Pine Mont, MN, and Myra made it out, looking good and still very comfortably mobile.

3 Oct:  We were up early to see Dick and Jane at 9 am - - - except they read the blog last night and thought that tomorrow meant Saturday.  All was not lost.  They showed up about 11 am, and we spent hours enjoying conversation.  After they left, Cynthia screwed up her courage, and the two of us walked across the road to Subway for dinner.  After our subs, we walked an extra mile getting back to our room, by which time Cynthia's pain was tolerable.

2 Oct:  We got in gear by 1 pm to walk over to the Iowa Welcome Center and enjoyed talking to Charlie Henderson.  Cynthia found lots of interesting cards to send to the great-grandchildren.  We continued walking from there and are really quite pleased that Cynthia was walking more easily today, Thank God.  Ron has been pushing forward on the Volume 2 indexing.  We enjoyed another delightful visit with Dave and Pat over dinner this evening at the Woodfire Grill in the Casino.  We had way too much adult conversation about medical afflictions, but after an hour of that we segued into talking about children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren until Pat's pain became too great and we left.  Unfortunately Cynthia's sciatic pains returned to and from the restaurant.

1 Oct:  Tomorrow has come and gone!  We will precede fall south after a few more days in Northwood, Iowa.  This Holiday Inn is either on the farm owned by Cynthia’s Turvold great-grandparents or next to it.  Cousin Ray came to visit for a couple of hours and took Ron to Subway in Northwood for lunch.  Ron remembered to bring half a veggie sub back to Cynthia, and she appreciated it mightily.  We managed to walk up and down the hallways about half a hundred times, and then again later, with the pleasurable results that Cynthia fell asleep early and slept well all night.

Remembering sister Merrilee

September, Two Rolling Stones

This is our R1250 RT with custom seat.

30 Sep:  We continued our binging on ice cream, but tomorrow is the 1st of October and we must quit that in order to have perfect lab scores by the 1st of January for our doctor's appointments.  We enjoyed lunch with Deanna and Julie at the R80 in Kensett.  They gave us a lovely tribute to their departed brother Danny and showed us several pictures of his art work.  Oops, the recommended dessert was homemade pecan pie, and Ron decided to see if he could buy pints of ice cream at the conjoined quick mart.  It was a success, and the pie was indeed almost as good as the ice cream.

"Hudson has tricks" was the warning

29 Sep:  Brett, Jenn, Hudson & Holden met us again at Northern TapHouse at 10 AM for a final brunch and that chess game.  Hudson has learned the chess moves reasonably well, but he hasn't learned to look ahead for hazards; Ron won.  We again rode I-494 around to MN 77 south across the Minnesota River to highway 13 to Jensen's for lunch with Carolyn at 2 pm.  We had a lovely visit and decided to confine our lunches in the future to the three of us.  About 4:30 we headed south on I-35E, but we were not ahead of the evening rush hour.  On the plus side, the traffic thinned with every exit until it was quite light by the time we entered Iowa, and we did arrive in Northwood without undo delay.

Resting after the Bocce fiasco

28 Sep, Sunday:  We did indeed have great fun although we didn't follow the plan.  Brett, Jenn, Hudson & Holden met us at the Northern TapHouse for breakfast & lunch at 12:30.  The TapHouse doesn't do egg whites, but they were willing to cook a veggie omelet for Cynthia using eggs, and she reported it as very tasty.  3-year-old Holden needs to be active at all times, so Jenn took the boys for a walk while we were waiting for the food to arrive.  They cover quite a significant distance in 20 minutes.  After lunch we decided to go to a park in Edina that has Bocce courts and bowling.  3-year-old Holden enjoyed chasing the Bocce balls and collecting them into groups.  We all had fun despite being unable to score.  Brett and Cynthia talked religion and politics while Jenn and I took the boys for a long stroll along the lake.  Especially fascinating were the couple of remote-control boats plying the waters amid flocks of ravenously hungry ducks being fed from shore by bystanders.  Eventually we reassembled just before cell phone calls were made to reassemble, and from there we drove to Licks in Excelsior (click here), a great ice creamery with fascinating flavor names, like Exhausted Parent, Heaps of Love, Fat Elvis, Sticks and Stones, and This Just Got Serious.  I got two flavors in a quart, and it was all delicious, but I didn't pay attention to the names of the flavors selected by my server.

27 Sep:  Brett, Jenn and the boys picked us up at the hotel at 9:15 for Hudson’s soccer game at 11:00 AM.  On this chilly Minnesota morning we watched the Western Minneapolis suburbs first grade soccer teams.  Geat-grandson Hudson was the first goalie for his team.  Hudson’s team scored a goal but lost 2-1.  The historic event was followed by a lunch at Birch's (click here) in Wayzata overlooking one of Minnesota’s ten thousand lakes.  Everyone overate! and the brownie fudge sundae was outstanding!!  Brett had the best idea to walk it off at the U of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  What a great idea, and we all are so happy that Cynthia's torn tendons warmed up so that she was able to comfortably walk more than two miles.  The trees and flowers were gorgeous.  Thanks to Jenn and Brett for a fabulous time.  The challenge chess match with Hudson is postponed until tomorrow.  We are looking forward to great fun.

26 Sep:  We had a fabulous Lunch at 1:30 PM at Jensen’s Restaurant with Cynthia's Turvold cousin Darlene & husband Jim, plus Lance & Shelley and Donna.  We didn't solve any world problems, but we had a lot of fun with the conversation.  Cynthia was a bit anxious on the motorcycle on I-494 traffic through significant construction, but we got there in only 30+ minutes despite a five-minute stop and go in Eden Prairie.

25 Sep:  Cynthia's pain is significantly reduced this morning, and we walked for 45 minutes around the neighborhood.  We drank no alcohol this evening when Brett and Jenn brought the boys to the TapHouse again.  Again it was so fun to watch the boys.  At 7 years old, Hudson is much more calm and sedate, behaves much better and spends a lot of time ruminating.  At 3 years old, Holden does none of those things and is in perpetual motion, having fun one instant at a time.  It is so strange to think that earlier this very month we were still in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and that we have visited Roy and Barbara in Salt Lake City since.

24 Sep:  We spent the afternoon with Brett at the TapHouse, had a wonderful conversation, drank WAAay too much beer and wine respectively, and staggered the half block back to the hotel, leaning hard on each other to stay upright.  Ron had switched to drinking water about 3 PM, intending to ride the motorcycle to see Hudson's soccer practice, so he was quite disappointed when Brett told him that soccer practice was probably already over.  After escorting Cynthia back to the hotel and into bed, Ron went for a long walk and cell-phone talk with friend Bob.  Bad news there is that Bob's wife, Rachel, is moving into hospice care Friday.  The outlook is miserably grim; she has an aggressive cancer in her brain.

23 Sep:   The 10 AM online Zoom call with Eric K was a disaster.  It emphasized how little we can accomplish with a new computer paradigm.  We won't try that again until we can meet in person with Eric so that he can walk us through the logon.  (That's right, we were unable to even logon to his Advisors Crypto site.)  Brett and family visited us in the evening at the Taphouse for a delightful outdoors evening meal.  Afterwards we took Hudson and Holden over to sit on the motorcycle, eliciting HUGE smiles from the boys.  Cynthia and I went for a couple of short walks of a couple of blocks, but she was in significant pain all the time.

22 Sep:  A Blessed Monday of rest and relaxation.  Reservations are made for next week in Northwood.  Our visiting plans are "coming together" in that everyone wants a different date and different time.  Oh well, we love our friends and relations anyway.

21 Sep, Sunday:  Ron had barely finished his exercises and eaten a bowl of cereal when Brett, Jenn, Hudson, and Holden showed up for breakfast at the Northern Taphouse (click here), a pretty good pub next door to the hotel.  We thoroughly enjoyed our day with them, watching the kids running all over the farm where we picked apples, green beans, and raspberries.  Then Brett drove us all the way downtown to the Minnesota Institute of Art, nicknamed, very inappropriately, MIA.  Cynthia walked all over the farm without problem and lasted into the Museum before she suddenly ran out of steam and needed to leave in order to find food.  Brett treated us to a lovely dinner and brownie ala mode dessert at the Boulevard (BLVD - click here).

20 Sep:  After that one evening, we were back on the I-35 north to Medina, Minnesota, a NW Minneapolis suburb, to see Brett & Jenn, Hudson & Holden.  This was again a quick day, 150 miles to the Country Inn & Suites, within 10 miles of their house, still undergoing remodeling.  What a horror show the insurance company has put them through.  We ate dinner at a good restaurant and invited them to join us for breakfast tomorrow.   Route: I-35 to I-494 through the endless construction to the Carlson Parkway exit in Plymouth.

19 Sep:  Serendipity strikes.  We rode 100 miles east on I-80 to Des Moines to see cousin Sandy and her son Van.  Sandy is still as sweet as ever but is really quite bewildered by all the things she now just doesn't understand.  Cynthia was touched to see the role reversal in that Van is now very solicitous of his mother and takes care of her with patience and understanding.  We then called Ray Mechem in Mason City and rode those 200 miles on I-35 north.  Upon arrival, we called again and were invited over to see Ray and Dick (who we missed in Berthoud, Colorado) and their wives Mary and Fran, plus a bonus daughter (Malinda ?) and son-in-law.

18 Sep:  Today we get to stay put for a change and visit friends.  We did walk to the National Danish Museum (click here).  That was a very interesting museum, and Ron particularly like the Danish pottery on display on the upper floor.  It was also interesting to see the artifacts on shelving in the basement.  Cynthia did better with the walking today and is feeling better.  At 5:30 we returned to the Norse Horse bar for dinner with Deb, Karma, Barb and James.  The women had one conversation, Ron and James had a different one about golf, airplanes and AI, but a good time was had by all.

17 Sep:  We arrived in Elk Horn this afternoon at two.  Good news: we enjoyed another great lunch at the Ruby Tuesday in Lincoln.  It was great to see the Welcome to Iowa sign.  This was a much more gentle day, only 167 miles.  We didn't do a lot after checking in to the Hygge Inn but napped and then took a long walk around town to see the changes.  Sadly, the town is losing much of the charm that it had when the National Danish Museum was located there.  For Cynthia, the best part was to go to sleep early and sleep well.

16 Sep:  Cynthia owes everyone email, but her hand complains.  The sun is shining, we are fed and exercised, now to pack and ride for a thousand hours.  We rode directly to a Ruby Tuesday restaurant in North Platte for a delightful lunch of veggies and greens.  Today was less pleasant, hot and humid with more traffic, another 300 mile day.  We are in York, Nebraska. … 866 miles in three days on I-80.

15 Sep:  The weather has been grand!  We were on that smooth road in Wyoming by ten AM headed for Nebraska.  Cynthia’s back is good; Ron fed her ice cream every time she growled.  We stopped in Sidney, Nebraska, two hours east of North Platte.  After eating, Cynthia declared herself exhausted.  The wind was a little less rough than yesterday, and the traffic was still light.  Ron never expected two days on the super slab to be tolerable.  It helped that Nebraska revoked its helmet law last year, so Ron was able to enjoy the wind whistling through his ears.  257 miles this time.

14 Sep, Sunday:  Ron and Cynthia plan to depart "early" for Elk Horn, Iowa (click here).  Since I-80 is the most convenient road to take from here, we will give it a try despite Ron's disinclination to spend so much time on the super slab.  Let's hope it will be easier on Cynthia's back.  The ride was long, 300 miles, and we arrived successfully in Rawlins, Wyoming at 5:30 PM.  The ride was not as bad as expected since the traffic was less than expected, although the wind was quite strong and buffeted us constantly.  The road surface was quite smooth, especially in Utah and Wyoming.

13 Sep:  Ron intended to spend the day with Roy, but instead wrote postcards and watched political news until Cynthia woke up from a long afternoon nap.  Ron then rode over to Roy's to spent an hour with him in his "man-cave" until time for Roy, Barbara and Ron to drive to the hotel to pick up Cynthia for dinner again at the Market Street Grill.  Again we all enjoyed conversing with each other about church, genealogy, etc.

12 Sep:  We were almost packed in Rangely when the earliest raindrops started falling at 10 am.  We waited for 2.5 hours until the rain stopped entirely, quite unusual for the desert high country.  We were so very relieved to be looking at Blue skies ahead for the first 30 miles to the town of Dinasaur but noticed a tongue of cloud reaching northward from a very dark southern horizon as we turned to go west.  In Vernal, UT we stopped at a Subway to be sure that Cynthia had something substantial so many hours after breakfast.  We managed to get out from underneath those clouds, but there were equally worrisome clouds above the mountains to the west, and those kept getting darker and darker as we approached closer and closer.  We stopped in Duchesne at the Visitor Information Center where a lovely lady told us that the heaviest rain would be at Strawberry Pass but that it was sunny in Heber City and Salt Lake.  Ron decided to hope for the best, but soon after we left Duchesne, we again encountered  heavy rain and hail.  This time the rain was not as blinding, but the hail stung Ron's face more severely.  After ten minutes we passed through it, and Ron was much relieved although we were still climbing towards the actual pass.  The mountain top was a lovely huge flat area with two or three huge lakes, quite scenic and worth the difficulty getting there that day.  The descent from the pass was interminable through winding canyons to Heber City, and winding again down I-80 into Salt Lake City.  We called Roy and Barbara immediately after arrival at our hotel, and they picked us up half an hour later for dinner at the Market Street Grill & Oyster Bar (click here), just a few blocks from our hotel.  We all enjoyed lively conversation about church, genealogy, etc.  Ron redid the graphs for Volume Three, and Cynthia sent corrections to the publisher.

11 Sep:  Leaving Montrose on US 550 and then US 50 N, we turned on CO 92 E and started up Colorado Route 64 over Grand Mesa en route to Rangely, Colorado, but in ten miles we first encountered big heavy raindrops and spent no time in turning around and ran straight into a heavy deluge of blinding rain and hail for twenty minutes.  Amazing that formerly dry conditions can be transformed so completely, so rapidly.  This is Cynthia's first experience with hail; it makes quite a racket on her helmet.  Ron doesn't wear a helmet, so the hail only brutalized his face.  He back-tracked to Delta, CO and proceeded through Grand Junction following the GPS to I-70 West to CO highway 139 north to Rangely.  It was a very interesting ride with rocky mountains, 15 MPH hairpin-turns, and occasionally threatening storm clouds.  The hotel is nice, and we walked the length of town to Gio's, which restaurant served us nice salads and ice cream with caramel topping!

10 Sept: After breakfast Ron rode to visit Pat with a top case filled with recycling he could not unload in Pagosa Springs.  Cynthia spent the day exercising her back, taking a shower and packing.  Volume One is being printed.  The Volume Three galley proof was not in color, had fuzzy graphs and had a mistake in labeling on one graph.  Ron still needs to improve the index for Volume Two by deleting duplicative entries.

9 Sep:  Montrose, Howard joined us for lunch at the Stone House and took us to visit the Ute Indian Museum, a very interesting place.  Cynthia took a step off the boardwalk that was too big for her legs and pounded her back, and her sciatica is reminding her to not do that again anytime soon.  Ron and Howard enjoyed an afternoon stroll through the riverside water park, but Howard decided not to stay for dinner so he could get home before the deer make driving dangerous for all concerned.  Volume One is off to the printer.  Yaay.

8 Sep:  Ron planned an early departure for Montrose, Colorado, and we did get started about 10:30, which is early for us.  We were surprised to find much warmer temperatures than the BRRRRR anticipated.  Cynthia wore her heated gear that was totally unnecessary for the entire ride, although it did get cold going over the 10,000 foot passes.  We intended to eat lunch at the Lone Star Cafe in Durango, but it was closed, so we ate at the Sidewalk Cafe instead.  Dinner was at the Stone House in Montrose.  The route was simplicity itself, US 160 W to Durango with a stop for lunch, US 550 N through Silverton to the "million dollar highway" to Ouray and continuing to Montrose and the Quality Inn just past Walmart.

7 Sep, Sunday:  Ron received an e-mail with four absorbing interviews from his MIT reunion in April.  Today is packing day!  We walked early and spotted several deer.   Dinner was at  Boss Hogg’s at 4:30. We are so tired it is off to bed.

6 Sep:  Ron worked on Volume Two and is making great progress.  Our lunch was great.  Cynthia is surprised at how much she loves broccoli with honey mustard.  We had a delightful visit with a couple from Georgetown, Texas.  We walked the neighborhood.  Cynthia is finally writing overdue email to her family.  Eleven grandchildren and thirteen great grands takes a lot of writing with one finger typing.  She submitted dirty clothes to the washing machine.  Her favorite word is clean.

5 Sep:  Cynthia's box of mostly clothing was shipped back to Texas!  We had a 76 minute walk to the lake and spotted six bucks and two had ten points.  This was a successful day.

Cynthia achieved her goal of making it to the lake.

4 Sep:  At noon-thirty, we have walked the loop around the subdivision once.  Cynthia has packed her saddlebag to see how much she can fit inside (not much!)  Ron has completed his first pass thru the index and now needs to take recycling to the County Transfer Station.  After feeding our faces, Ron rode to the recycling center with the mountain of recycling from the past six weeks, cardboard, clamshell plastics, etc.  What a joy that they took it all.  We walked in the evening for a total of 4.51 miles and returned to our motel to go back to work.  Ron re-packed Cynthia's saddlebag and discovered that she can carry another outfit.  He then packed the box for shipping things back to Texas and was amazed that the return box was smaller than the original.

Cynthia got a pedicure

3 Sep:  On this gorgeous day in Pagosa Springs, the housekeeper has cleaned our room.  Cynthia has bathed and eaten and is ready for her nail and pedicure appointment.  Ron has been working on the index for Vol. 2.  Life is very good despite that  Cynthia tripped and fell on the trail to the nail salon.  Every year so far, she has fallen once as we begin hiking; this year was no exception.  We enjoyed a pasta salad with salmon dinner at Gustoso’s.

2 Sep:  By evening, Ron finished the edits for Volume Two; next, he needs to proof the index and re-insert it.  We slept beautifully, and we had a great walk with perfect 73-degree temperature under the most gorgeous blue sky.  A mother deer and her “teenage” son ignored us as we passed by.  With tonight’s second walk, we achieved a total of 4.35 miles, 10,929 steps. 

1 Sep:  Pritikin says. “You can eat ice cream on your own birthday, just not on everyone else’s birthdays.”  We could not help ourselves since it is Cynthia’s third great-grandmother, Brynhild Olsdatter Gandrud’s birthday, born 247 years ago in Flaa, Norway.  Right?  Happy Birthday, Bestemor.  The ice cream was delicious.  The first day of September is beautiful.  Ron worked on Vol. Two all afternoon.  We accidentally sent Vol Three as an edit file instead of a .pdf; Barb caught it, and we submitted the correct file.  Cynthia’s right hand is in a brace so she one-finger corrected some Brooks genealogy.  We walked early and at 4:30 ate dinner.

Aug in Pagosa Springs, Colorado & Lea Book is at the Publisher

Old photo of Ron with salad at Pritikin

31 Aug, Sunday:  Eight more days until the five day ride towards Salt Lake City, God willing.  Cynthia is very thankful to God for Ron, and Ron for Cynthia. (Smooch!)  She is incredibly blessed.  Ron updated Vol. One with significantly improved images of Maurice Gleeson's graphs.  And Volume Three is completed.  Both volumes ARE SUBMITTED TO THE PUBLISHER!!!  Ron will finish Volume Two as time permits, while traveling to Salt Lake City.  Eliza is such a dear; who ever heard of a waitress bringing ice cream from home to give to her favorite customers??  3.82 miles;  We saw a deer with a little fawn cross the road in front of us.

30 Aug:  The sun is shining with cool temperatures.  After enjoying a much-needed three-day-hiatus from James Lea, Ron is working on Volume 3 which is very close to completion; he expects to complete it tomorrow.  While working on Volume 3, he discovered that the DNA graphs are very clear in color and can be made very clear in black and white, so he needs to again revisit Volume 1 to fix those.  We will submit volume 3 and the corrected Volume One on Tuesday.  Then Ron will finish the index on Volume 2.  It is conceivable all three volumes will get to the publisher before Sept 8, (God willing!).  Cynthia is now free from back pain while walking.  Hurrah, but, she is back in the hand brace full-time.  Cynthia thinks that we need to move mountains in the next eight days.  The box of supplies is almost ready to be shipped back to Texas.  And she submitted the laundry to the washing machine again.  We walked a total of 4.14 miles and 10,560 steps.

29 Aug:  On this rainy day, we haven’t figured out a course of inaction. Volume One galley proof arrived yesterday creating joy followed by panic.  Ron extolled the beauty of the workmanship until he recognized we sent them a link to the wrong manuscript.  The correct link was sent after Ron made a couple of minor corrections.  The correct galley proof will be ready early next week.  Cynthia sent the cover design with very explicit instructions.  That, too, will be ready next week.  Ron decided a morning nap would be good.

28 Aug:  It is a gorgeous day in Pagosa to have a wonderful day!  And we did!  Our walking totaled 2.84 miles, and we enjoyed a delicious garlic/salmon/veggie/pasta salad.  Ron mended his socks and walked again tonight. 

27 Aug:  The sun is shining and so are our hearts.  Life is good as long as we don’t turn on the news to the Minneapolis killing fields.  Ron finished recording his receipts, we had a lovely walk, and Cynthia totaled sixty minutes walking for the day.  

26 Aug:  We were very surprised to sleep past 9 AM this morning, but we feel wonderful.  Ron got busy with much-neglected correspondence, which he finished after lunch at Boss Hogg's and promptly mailed at the Post Office.  Martin told him of a new route into town to avoid the construction.  The new route was very nice, but that bridge over the river showed the water level disappointingly low.  Late afternoon, the rain began and looks to have poured down an appreciable amount of water before dark.

25 Aug:  Yaay Hooray!  Hallelujah!  Volume One is off to the publisher!  It will take a week to go through clearing it legally; they check for copyright and plagiarism.  Then they start on the cover design.  Ron plans to take a couple days break before finishing Vol three and Vol two.  Both are written but need work.  We ate lunch at Gustoso's, pasta salad and salmon.

24 Aug: Sunday:  Ssssshhhh!  This is Ron’s day of rest.  We did indeed sleep late and enjoyed our usual breakfast while Ron watched financial news.

23 Aug:  Ron said he is shellshocked because Volume One is really completed, including creation of the .pdf.  But, he won’t email it out of his control to Cynthia until Monday morning.  Cynthia has the submission letter prepared.  Being bored in the hotel room this past month, she thought to submit her latest book, SUNDAY OFFERINGS, as her PhD dissertation.  It was due 28 years ago when she had a traumatic horseback riding accident.  We will see if they accept it this week.  Ron is walking (maybe dancing).

22 Aug:  Yay for sleep.  Yay for Ron who is at page 229 with sixty pages left in the very last procedure before he creates the .pdf of Volume One for submission.  He is highlighting the index entries leading to family group sheets.  And now he is going for a walk while Cynthia does exercises.  After Ron’s walk, we had a great lunch at Boss Hogg’s, agreeing that fresh, raw vegetables make us feel good.  Ron needs a break from the computer tonight so he will take a thirty minute walk, and we will say Good Night!  Page 229! Hooray!

21 Aug:  Today, we did the epidural at 8:30 AM.  It was a rousing success.  Zzzz all morning and afternoon.  Yay!  It transformed me from the Wicked Witch of the West into Glenda the Good Witch with a pink halo. 

20 Aug:  Epidural Day!  Hooray! No? Waaah! The appointment was a consultation instead of the epidural…  Despite a gloomy forecast, those saintly medical professionals got the epidural scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30 AM.  I continue to learn more each visit.  Today, I learned it is likely I will not need surgery, but I may need a couple more epidurals in the future.  The page checks are completed, and Ron is highlighting the index entries leading to family group sheets.  I am hopeful we will be able to submit Volume One to the publisher this week.  He is working hard!  Cynthia submitted the laundry to the washing machine early.

19 Aug:  Ron completed pruning the index!  Now, he is verifying page number references within the text; the final step will be to go through the book searching for family group sheets and highlight those pages in the index via bold print, but there are not too many of them.  Soooo close!  Yaay! And on this day, Cynthia had a blood test to see if she still has any left.  Indeed she does.  MEDICAL.  The salad bar at Boss Hogg’s is the best!

18 Aug: Mon:  Ron mailed an Amazon return package at the UPS near City Market.  We enjoyed lunch at Boss Hogg’s because Gustoso’s was closed.

17 Aug, Sunday:  Neither of us slept well due to Cynthia’s back pain.  She is counting the minutes until Wednesday at nine AM.  The spinal issue dates back to Nov 30, 1997 when she was thrown thirty feet from a retired race horse.  This will heal again!  Ron took a long walk today after he worked on the index.  We ate lunch at Boss Hogg’s and took a three hour nap.  Will we sleep tonight?  Yes, we did.  Only two more days until pain relief!

16 Aug:  Lazy day.  Ron enjoyed watching a motorcycle police video while Cynthia slept.  Now he needs to ride his motorcycle to find Tylenol.  Riding in the mountains this past week, Ron realized he needs to practice his riding skill doing circles and figure eights.  We walked to Gustoso's Italian Restaurant for pasta salad with yummy salmon.  Only three more days to Cynthia's steroid epidural.  Uffda!  God willing it works!!!  She has zero pain sitting, only particularly when standing up and much less while walking.  And only three more weeks until we begin the ride to Minnesota!  Cynthia needs a photo of Pagosa Springs for the August post!  Ron is at page 439/489 on the index of Volume One.  It is slow-going, bless his heart!

15 Aug:  Ron picked up Cynthia at the Durango airport after her flight from Houston arrived as scheduled at 11:21 AM.  She arrived 11:15, Ron arrived 11:30.  YAAAY !

14 Aug:  Ron traveled to Gunnison, Colorado yesterday to visit Howard and Sage.  He rode to Pagosa today arriving wet from rain the last ten minutes.  I LOVE YOU,  Cynthia has a morning appointment;  she cleaned and organized the storage unit.

13 Aug:  Ron is visiting friends in Montrose where he discovered his calling to become a plumber by helping to replace a garbage disposal.  SMOOCH,  Cynthia has two MEDICAL appointments.  Howard has promised to call today to decide if his calendar has sufficient time to see Ron this month.  If not, we will stop by after September 8th on our way northward.

12 Aug:  Ron is a free spirit.  MUAH, from TX.  Cynthia has an eight AM DENTAL appointment.  Pray for her as she drives east into Houston’s bright morning sun.  WHY is the Sun brighter in Texas than any other place on earth?  Cynthia enjoyed a lovely pedi/mani and TWO naps today.  Ron and Pat got the old garbage disposal out of the sink and read everything under the sun to figure out how to install its replacement ... tomorrow.  Cynthia is moving about quite nicely today and yesterday, Thank God.

11 Aug:  We hustled up early to get Cynthia to the Durango airport by 10:30 AM; she flew to Houston.  Ron continued riding north to Silverton and Ouray over the Million Dollar Highway to Montrose, Colorado to see his former roommate Pat.  It was 63 degrees at noon-thirty atop the red mountain pass and the wind began buffeting Ron during all those switchbacks on the way down.  Ron enjoyed the awesome scenery much more previously when he was more confident about his motorcycling skills.  After Pat and Ron enjoyed a terrific meal at the Stone House, our favorite in Montose, Ron returned to James Lea and found that many of his page numbers installed after the pages were set in stone are now incorrect.  Bummer.

10 Aug: Sunday, We had a delicious night sleep. Cynthia is preparing for tomorrow’s flight.  Ron worked industriously completing D-LEA of the index.  Ron, Extraordinaire!  So close to completion, but we had to stop and pack because our motel is on the pre-evacuation list for a wildfire four miles west of Pagosa Springs.  Hopefully, we will get to sleep through the night!

9 Aug:  We didn't sleep well last night either, but we are awake and working on computers at 10:36 am.  By 1:30 we were enjoying salmon and chicken pasta salads at Gustoso’s.  Yum.  By 4:55 we woke up from our long nap and were back to work!  At 8:30 with 381 pages of James Lea completely proofread, Ron intended to go walking but instead told motorcycling stories for  two hours to two motorcyclists from Kansas.  He reviewed 20 pages of the index, but because he is finding too many corrections for the index, it won’t get done this week!  Bummer! 

8 Aug:  MEDICAL- The plan is to leave for the doctor’s appointment in Durango about ten AM - and we did leave at 10:22.  We are home at 1:30 PM with MRI results of Radiculopathy... meaning the L-4 and L-5 are in a tight squeeze for space causing the nerves to complain loudly.  Unfortunately, the doctors do not have space in their calendar to do a steroid epidural injection for weeks.  But, Food Is Our Medicine!  Prayer Works!  And Cynthia Will Work On Physical Therapy to Relieve Symptoms.  Team work!  Ron is doing an amazing job on the manuscript; he reached p. 261.  Proofreading gets easier at page 296.  We should be able to submit Volume One manuscript Sat or Sunday, God willing.  Yay. 😀 He is beyond amazing!  And he walked to Wally World for raspberries, blueberries, almonds, and popcorn.

7 Aug:  Ron is delighted to be going through James Lea so quickly and is making many improvements and corrections.  Smiles and Hurrahs!  Today we arose early although I cannot imagine why, so Ron is out the door at 9:45 and 73 degrees to walk to the boat ramp and back.  Then it will be time for lunch at Boss Hogg's, and then James Lea all afternoon to avoid the 85 degree heat.  The salad bar is above and beyond most salad bars.  We eat a lot.  We fell asleep at four PM to six PM, now, back to work.  Ron is hopeful we can send it to the publisher by Monday.  That’s good!  Page 240, but Barb, don’t get your hopes up.  We have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow.

6 Aug:  Another day, another dollar ... actually $75 from options today, and lucky to get that.  Cynthia's spinal pain is just about intolerable; she is quite the trooper.  We did walk to Boss Hogg's even though today is Liza's day off.  Amber came in to do our housekeeping and kept Ron talking for that duration (poor Amber).  Now it is time for Ron to relinquish James Lea at page 173 in order to walk before dark to Walmart for blueberries, raspberries, frozen mango, jam, and Tylenol.  He actually remembered them all.!!

5 Aug:  I love you (and get first written I love you of the day).  And Cynthia IS very surprised!  We are two worn-out puppies.  We walked to lunch and returned to our computers only to fall asleep sitting up.  Ron has completed his proofreading and editing up to page 148 now.  Our only walking today was to Boss Hogg's for lunch.

4 Aug:  Medical: 3:45 PM, MRI.  Ron lazed in bed and answered two e-mails by noon.  Then he did his exercises, and we walked to Boss Hogg's for luncheon salads.  Cynthia had to lie flat on her back for the MRI, and the pain was VERY severe.  Afterwards we rode to Gustoso for salmon and it was very good.  Cynthia especially enjoyed the feta cheese and olives on the accompanying salad.  Ron resumed James Lea instead of trying to take his over-full body out for a walk.  111 pages, but no long walk today.

3 Aug, Sunday:  Good Sunday Morning!  Ron started early doing the final pass through of Volume One.  In just one week, he has proofed eighty-eight pages; there is a good chance he will have Volume One ready to go to the publisher in three weeks, God willing.  By evening, after spending hours on broken links Ron decided to go to the market for groceries.  Cynthia decided to see if her seminary will accept her recently published book, Sunday Offerings, as her PhD dissertation.  She was ABD in Nov of 1997 when she had a life-changing horseback riding accident, and her son Scott died from Leukemia a few months later.  We will walk to the corner in an hour.

2 Aug:  Another great day!  Ron had a very challenging Sudoku captivating his attention until two PM when we walked for lunch.  Cynthia is avoiding news by focusing on FTDNA.  We walked again tonight to check out two restaurants for salmon.  It was fun to learn that the upscale French bakery, Faire, is owned by the same woman who had the Two Chicks and a Hippie restaurant in there, but this new cafe is managed by her daughter, Bethany.  Two Chicks has greatly expanded and is very successful.

1 Aug:  Happy, happy August!  After two weeks in Pagosa, mostly spent in our hotel room with hip pain, healing appears to be on the horizon.  Cynthia’s hip pain is greatly improved, thanks to a spinal relaxation exercise recommended by Dr. ChatGPT.  The MRI is scheduled for 3:45 PM on Monday.  Colorado Spine is scheduled for Friday at 11:30 AM.   Vol I is getting the final pass through.  We have five weeks to finish the index for Vol II and maybe Vol III, God willing, before we ride to Denver, then to Minnesota about mid-Sept, and through Iowa in early mid-October.  Then we start planning 2026?  Yikes!