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| Smooch mail (pop-up card) |
30 Nov: Thanks be to God! Smooch! Ron gets one last day of cards with Don and Ann in Illinois, and he even won a game by going out on the last hand. Today's rides were much warmer at 50 degrees morning and evening. And Cynthia continues Thanksgiving in Texas with Smooch mail. How incredible to find deep love at this stage of life. Ending November the way we began, Thanks be to God!
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| Cynthia's sunset at Lake Conroe |
29 Nov: Smooch! Illinois Forecast calls for another 36 degree ride at 9 am. Yup. Meanwhile, “good morning” from Texas, Cynthia arose early, at 3:30, searching for people, not early-bird worms.
28 Nov, Sunday: Smooch! Ron apparently intends to ride his motorcycle to church in 36 degree weather and return only slightly warmer at 4:30. Done. Ron was even reasonably warm on his 20-minute ride at 8:30 and 36 degrees to church. He managed to walk the length of Don's Crackerneck Road to Hank's house and back before Don and Ann returned after church. Then we played Liverpool rummy, and Ron even won a game!! Indeed, the ride back to Mariner's Village was just as cold, and Ron was just as warm. Things are looking good for Wednesday to Kansas City.
27 Nov: Smooch! Thanksgiving, part 2, at nephew Eric’s house in Wood River, Illinois. Denise provided a marvelous meal of salad, potato salad, jello, turkey and potatoes. Ron is happily full. The ride there was chilly at noon, but the return was frigid at 4 pm. Ron was shocked upon entering the house to see everyone already seated and eating since he had understood that the agreed upon time was 2 pm and he was 3 minutes early. Apparently he was the only one to misunderstand the agreed upon time. Meanwhile, in Texas, in the midst of sputtering rain, chilly and getting colder by the hour, Cynthia met the loveliest angel in disguise going into Walmart. Annie and I had a most delightful conversation. God works in surprising ways!
26 Nov: Smooch! Will the motorcycle start this frigid, 15 degrees above zero, morning? The temp should be 30 degrees by the time Ron attempts to start the bike. Suspense! Drum roll! Yaaay! Great bike! Everyone in Carol's house awakened at 5:00+ as usual, did their morning exercise routines as usual, and Ron then packed all his possessions early enough to suggest lunch at Ruby Tuesday for all. Bill graciously picked up the tab. Ron then loaded everything onto the motorcycle, and it started !! The 50-mile ride to Carlyle at 35 degree temperature was chilly but pleasant, thanks to wearing enough warm clothing in multiple layers - 6 on torso and 3 on legs.
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| Noah is the only great grandson this old |
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| This cutie must be baby Blaire |
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| Get your plate and GO |
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| Cynthia between two grandsons, dwarfing them |
25 Nov: God of all blessings, Source of all life, giver of all grace, thank you for the gift of life, the love of family, children that delight us, and the abundance of food to sustain us, bless our food that we may be strengthened to live our lives in daily gratitude. Thank you for Life Together. Happy Thanksgiving! Thank God for cold weather that has convinced Ron to NOT pull bush honeysuckle today.
24 Nov: Ron is pulling mountains of honeysuckle at Carol’s tree farm, but he needs three full-time volunteers to help him. The qualifications are hand strength and passionate motivation to eliminate bush honeysuckle from Carol's tree farm. Ron and Bill enjoy morning meetings on Carol’s road as Bill returns from town and Ron walks to the mailbox and back. Cynthia sent Thanksgiving messages to family and friends, drove to Hempstead to pick up eight pies, moved them to the second floor condo. Whew! That’s a half a pie apiece.
23 Nov: Another day only slightly different from other days. Ron pulled bush honeysuckle in the morning, and the change was that Carol, Bill and Ron drove into town and ate at Ruby Tuesday, shopped for groceries and returned early enough for Ron to pull more bush honeysuckle. Our evening smooching was shortened when Cynthia could not stop yawning. She housecleaned, and prepared a sweet potato and a mashed potato casserole for Thursday’s gathering of 22 people.
22 Nov: Our evening SmoochSmooch phone call was delayed by phone problems zzzzz.
21 Nov, Sunday: Ron spent the day helping Eric with his RPM coins web site. I love you! 💕 Cynthia worshipped at Grace Lutheran Church; duly inspired, she wrote the meditation for her annual Class Christmas letter. It awaits her favorite editor's stamp of approval.
20 Nov: Awake, we are, Ron in Illinois and Cynthia in a Texas Town, oatmealed, exercised, smooched, and onto the day’s events. Ron mended a zipper, pulled bush honeysuckle, moved an A/C, and researched genealogy. Sistah Carol fed him salmon and sweet potatoes for being a good brother. After his moonlit evening walk, it is time to sleep.
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| Marilee, Cynthia and Bonnie |
Cynthia’s sister sent a fun photo of the three sisters and Jim Reid.
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| View of the marina from Cynthia's balcony |
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| Adam, Noah and great grandmother Cynthia |
19 Nov: The leaves are falling; the clock is ticking, eleven days to December. Autumn sun bathes the marina in glittery, glowing gold. Grandchildren’s watercolors are lovely. Cynthia enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Yacht Club, entertained by baby Noah. Ron pulled 247 bush honeysuckle, using his left arm this time and was surprised to gain relief from previous back pains. After hacking his way through a large stand of multiflora rose, a deer passed by 20 feet from him on the path. Ron stood very still and the deer must have sensed his presence, but did not see him; once it even gazed directly at Ron for thirty seconds without seeing him.18 Nov: I love you at 6:07 AM, Texas Time. Smooch! Cynthia had a hearing test this morning, a challenge for OCD folks who only accept A’s. The left ear passed the test with the recommendation to keep important people on the left side - and her talkative Smooch on the right. That same Smooch finally discovered a Mechem descendent who matches cousin Ray. Carol & Bill needed Booster shots, so we all drove into Litchfield and enjoyed a Ruby Tuesday salad bar lunch before searching Walmart shelves for tart pie cherries and pretzels. The cherries were on the top shelve reserved for excess stock, but the lower shelves were bare. Ron only walked to the mailbox and back once, this evening. Lots of DNA today, but very little exercise. (It was a cold, windy day.)
17 Nov: Deep in the heart of Texas, Cynthia walked five miles! Recommended reading: “Becoming Mrs. Lewis,” a biographical novel found at Amazon, or IBooks download. The writing is almost as good as Ron’s. Excellent wordsmith, indeed. Ron awakened too early and was in time to join Morning Stretch for the greater part of today's excruciating session. After recovery and oatmeal he walked to the mailbox and return talking to his beloved WeeFee most of the way. Since the forecast calls for afternoon showers, he spent the morning tending a fire before venturing to the edges of the property to pull bush honeysuckle.
16 Nov: Only 15 more days in Illinois. Ron is en route to Sistah Carol’s for ten days of pulling bush honeysuckle. Meanwhile in Texas, Cynthia thanks God for Ron. Beautiful weather for a motorcycle ride today in Illinois; warm and sunny with a mild breeze. The only drawback is that the leaves have all fallen off the trees so that the scenery is less that spectacular (much less). Ron parked the bike at the Hampton Inn and remembered that last year, when he retrieved it to ride south, he had to thread his way through patches of ice in the parking lot. Then we went to Ruby Tuesday and were delighted to see that they are now open from 11am to 8pm daily. After two plates of salad plus dessert salad, Ron was very happily full. The grocery shopping that followed was anticlimactic, and Ron fell asleep just before 9pm after dinner of leftovers.
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| Cynthia enjoys lake views |
15 Nov: This morning at 11 AM Ron rode to Trenton for gasoline and added air to both tires en route to O'Fallon, IL where he and former classmate Dick drove to Hooters for lunch. (Ron was disappointed that Hooters waitresses were dressed in their winter garb, and the salad wasn't very good either.) Dick and I had a nice long conversation about our respective spouses and our mating dances. About 2 Ron then rode to the Belleville Public Library and found a few items about James Bankston in Illinois prior to statehood. At 5:45 he rode to Freeburg looking for Reifschneiders where he joined the BTHS class of '65 reunion committee meeting. It was indeed a day of uninterrupted fun, thank God. In Texas, my beloved little SmoochSmooch was delighted to receive an email captioned: Morning Smooch Revisited: I love you, you cute little SmoochSmooch.
That very same SmoochSmooch went with Tina and Jon to a C.S. Lewis movie, her first movie in over 20 years!
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| Ron at lunch, bowl of spinach, mango, peas, etc. |
14 Nov, Sunday: Praise God, we woke up !! Time for Ron to ride over to Trenton to attend 9 AM church with Don and Ann. Ron got to the church early and unannounced and enjoyed surprising the Cryder twins. (They still look terrific even though they were in Ron's high school class. Apparently they have learned how to make time stand still.) Ron, Don and Ann played Liverpool rummy, ate lunch, and played more cards. Meanwhile in Texas, Cynthia slept late and missed worship, so she cleaned the condo and walked to the fitness center where she pounded on the treadmill until her feet hurt. (I never shoulda left her without adult supervision.) She baked six healthy cookies for the dressmaker and she ate eight.
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| Mama-to-be with great grandmother to be |
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| Baby Adam |
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| I guess that is Baby Blair looking much older than a year |
13 Nov: And a weekend day just like the last two for Ron except for 38-degree rides morning and evening. Ron is in Illinois visiting old friends. Thank God for dear friends, for the pearls of memories that keep them in our hearts. In Texas, Covid Negative Cynthia is going to our granddaughter Lauren's baby shower, with a bag of bunny books and a Velveteen Rabbit. Hilarious: Cynthia told Ron she was going to take a shower. Thirty minutes later Ann texted Cynthia, “Ronnie arrived and said you are going to shower, send pictures!” HAHA! Two different showers here! What a disappointment, Cynthia only sent pictures of the baby shower. The baby shower was marvelous, but it was mind-boggling to see boxes upon boxes of baby items; new baby girl will have a clean outfit every fifteen minutes for two years. Ron actually won an entire game of Liverpool rummy by going low on the final hand (knowing he never draws a joker unless he is buying every possible discard). It is hilarious to be one of three old fogeys playing cards despite the confusions caused by memory lapses, conversational lapses, and seating changes. AhhHaa, old fogeys are named for the fact that they are in a fog most of the time. Ron is now convinced that he has enough warm clothing to tolerate above freezing temperatures on the motorcycle ride back to Texas. Ron's only walk of the day started at 8:30 and ended at 9:50, walking 3+ miles across the dam and back.
12 Nov: Another day just like yesterday (maybe). 😍 I LOVE YOU. (Those who read our blog regularly will recognize times when Cynthia and Ron are apart from the surfeit of I love yous.) The day was different and much colder. The motorcycle temperature gauge read 41 degrees for Ron's return to Mariners Village at dusk. Ron was overcome with sleepiness after cornbread and popcorn, so he called Cynthia and went to bed at 6 PM, woke up for the 9 o'clock pill alarm and slept again until midnight, then in smaller segments until arising refreshed at 6:30 AM. Cynthia was self administering an at-home covid test in hopes of a negative that will allow her to attend Lauren's baby shower tomorrow.
11 Nov: I love you again and again, and I'm glad that you got your vaccinations that undoubtedly blunted the covid. AttaGirl. I do wonder what the Dr. Peanut Butter was on the 5th. I love you, I love you, I love you - at 6:20 am. I win. Little SmoochSmooch had plans to overdo exercise but got caught up into a book about Elvis. (Imagine that !!) She is feeling entirely recovered and well again, thank God.!! Ron awakened at 4 am after sleeping for five hours uninterrupted. While that long episode of sleep was very welcome, he was unable to fall back to sleep and arose at 4:45 to begin his day despite being rather tired. The rain stopped before 9 AM and Ron "washed" the motorcycle quickly then went to Walmart for mouthwash and a covid Booster, arriving at Don and Ann's house just before 11. After "the Waltons" and lunch, we all commenced Liverpool Rummy. As usual, Ron was thoroughly trounced by the experts. After a baked potato and steamed veggies dinner, he walked across the dam in rather chilly temperatures with a bracing breeze at times before "dessert" of popcorn, pretzels and cornbread. Goodnight.
10 Nov: I love you, you poor little sick SmoochSmooch. (Ahhh! Thank you! She is weller!) Apparently the Walmart here in Carlyle will give me a covid booster. Stay tuned (as the excitement builds). Ron finally broke free from the chains of sibling affiliation to ride down to Edwardsville en route to Carlyle. Now his sore thumbs will have a chance to recover from severe overuse syndrome (pain). So you haven't hear much from Ron recently because every day has been identical: arise too early (somewhere close to 5 AM), exercise, be grateful that my exercises last long enough to excuse me from Miranda's classes, eat oatmeal with blueberries (often 2 bowls), walk Carol's driveway to the mailbox (0.8 miles) and back, eat frozen mango plus frozen veggies, walk off into the woods - but the first stop is to stare into the clover patch for perhaps five minutes to find a four-leafed clover, continue into the woods to clip & poison vines and pull bush honeysuckle, return around 2 PM for a beer and a little sliver of pumpkin pie. Back into the woods to battle vines & bush honeysuckle until 4:30 dinner bell. Both Carol and Bill readily admit that a cooked dinner is a huge part of their relationship. (I thoroughly enjoyed being caught up in that arrangement.) The sunset walk to the mailbox took a turn for the worst after "Fall back" pushed the walk into darkness. The uneven gravel surface was jarring at times, but canopy of stars was sublime. Goodnight.
9 Nov: In Illinois, Ron is harvesting honeysuckle, and encouraging his sister’s remodeling projects. In Texas, the mobile monoclonal antibody team came to the condo to administer the infusion. ZZzzzz
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| Get Well Grandmother |
8 Nov: In Texas, Cynthia is scheduled for monoclonal antibody therapy tomorrow at noon at home; the infusion center has a mobile unit. Seven year old granddaughter, Fyn, sent a get-well drawing.
7 Nov, Sunday: Smooch! Cynthia, despite not feeling well, has been pushing herself until odd symptoms, like the smell of dirty diapers, a yukky taste and a headache propelled her to go to urgent care this morning where they gave her a fifteen minute Abbott Covid test. Yuk. It is positive, and she is forced to rest. A ZPak was prescribed and immediately begun. Oxygen level is good. Nap was good.
6 Nov: I love you! Guess who won! Meanwhile, in Texas, Cynthia was on a roll: grocery shopping, walking (5 miles) wrapping gifts for Lauren’s baby shower, creating a menu for Thanksgiving, and BOOM, just like that, she plopped down and sat mesmerized by a blue heron! Sunlight and shadows are shimmering on the lake. At two AM it will be time to arise and turn the clock back an hour… right?
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| Cynthia's view from the condo |
The lion is awake and roaring against Woke!
5 Nov: I love you! Awake at 3:45! Dr. P.B. Appointment at ten. Everything is good except for four extra pounds.
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| Mee beloved Cynthia is the short one |
4 Nov: Smooch (he) and Smooch Smooch (she) ! She is racing around the freeways in Texas. Smooch got points for first "I love you" of the day. Ron's Bill alarm again went off too late for him to finish his daily exercises before Miranda was finished on PBS. After oatmeal, he walked to the mailbox and back, enjoying the mist rising from the fields as the morning sunlight evaporated the dew and highlighted the autumn leaves. (Ahhh, beautiful imagery!) Cynthia's trip to the dentist is done!
3 Nov: Thanks be to God! Another day like yesterday… Cynthia exercised, oatmealed, and prepared packages to be returned. Ron’s shoes and Glucosamine/ Chondroitin are en route to Mariners Village. She has an appointment with Aesthetician for manicure and pedicure. She tried “New Green Protein powder” mixed with skim almond milk instead of water. Eh? It will be ok. Several more stops to make, but the rain is H.E.A.V.Y. ! It has been a long time since she has driven in such a deluge. Smooch must be sleeping. Zzzzz. (No, but he and sister were in a no call zone returning from Eric's house.) Ron thanked Bill for his wake up call yesterday, but today it came late - at 5:30, too late for Ron to finish his exercises until Miranda was demonstrating the final excruciating moves. Ron spent the day organizing genealogy notes on his computer, then walked in the woods for an hour or two before Carol decided it was time to deliver deer burgers to Eric's house, stopping first in Edwardsville to buy a ceiling light shade and a pillow. Then we accompanied Eric, Denise, and Kyle to Geno's 140 Club for dinner and returned home with a belt sander. We stopped at Bill's IGA in Staunton for pretzels, frozen mango, etc. (Since Ron's weight is to high, he bought pretzels for Bill. If they are Bill's pretzels, Ron won't eat them all at once.) Bill again was quickest with the daily sudoku. Carol and Ron stayed up late watching a documentary about the migration of the "blue stones" of Stonehenge on PBS. Fascinating.!!
In the meantime, in Texas, Cynthia had a haircut, an audiologist appointment, redid the contract on the rental car, voted, bought groceries, paid the rent, moved several loads of contents from the storage unit to the condo, organized the closets, did laundry, put batteries in the bathroom scale being careful not to rest even a thumb on top, arranged our appointments with an ophthalmologist for 8 Dec., and organized a dinner with friends afterwards, and now the angels will bless her with sleep.
1 Nov: My sweetie hired a Lyft ride to get her to the plane to Texas (thereby avoiding the motorcycle ride in cold of December from St. Louis to Texas). I will miss her dreadfully. Sweet pumpkin! She misses Ron already. The flight was delayed an hour, but miraculously arrived only ten minutes late. How funny, Roxanne and Kiira arrived at the same terminal from Minneapolis mere minutes ahead of her. Jon was on time to pick her up, having arranged a rental car waiting at the rental dealership, and drove ahead of her to the condo. Unfortunately, she left her phone in his car. Maybe that is fortunately, because she thought she lost it. Good night.
