Our Happy Place

 Yesterday we drove up to our home on Black Lake (frequently referred to as our happy place). But, of course it couldn’t be that simple. We received a call from our aide service Sunday around 8:30th at our aide wouldn’t be able to be able to get to us. That meant a challenging night and morning for us (see blog Home Alone),  As Ingrid says frequently “Oh Well!, 

We had done a fair amount of packing Sunday but couldn’t do our medical stuff until Monday morning. We finally pulled away from Fox Run around 2:30. We left in sunshine. Traffic wasn’t bad going north. We did have some stop-go construction on 23 before Flint. Traffic thinned as we went north as usual. Around Mio we had light rain and started to see the damage from the ice storm. 

The now infamous ice storm damage wa patchy. We saw lots of scared trees where branches had fallen down with the weight of the ice. We saw other trees topless where the top snapped off. It seemed like birch trees suffered the most. Everywhere were the left over chips marking where chainsaws had reduced large branches and trees to manageable size. 75% of the vehicles headed south were bucket trucks from various utilities having helped with all the damage. 

At Atlanta the rain stopped and we had sunshine again. We continued to see the damage and were anxious to see how our home and trees managed. We arrived to find our neighbor working in her garden and watching for our arrival. She was anxious to tell us about the happenings around. She and her husband did a great job cleaning up after our “for pay” cleanup crew last. Here’s to great neighbors!

We finally got in the house. No damage. Then we began to figure out the process for turning on the house. I admit at times like this I get very frustrated being restricted to my chair and having limited voice. The doing stuff all falls on Ingrid. Our router was down so I missed my church committee meeting. Got the electrify turned on, same for the water, water heater, and the router. And then our aide showed up. She helped get my equipment put together. We left the other unpacking for today. We both slept well!

Today has been light showers. A good day to continue unpacking and organizing. We intended to go to Cheboygan but, once again, time got away from us. Tomorrow.

Our happy place survived the Great Ice Storm of 2025 pretty well. We look forward to a great summer here and seeing family and friends share in being happy here.

Comments

  1. Sara HarwoodMay 6, 2025 at 8:35 PM

    Can’t wait to join you at our happy place this summer! Don’t forget to turn on the heater in the lake - we Texans have become spoiled with warm waters!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Another ALS Clinic

 Yesterday was another clinic. Straight to the results. My breathing is holding steady. I’ve lost 40 lbs. another 20 would be the most the Dr wants. My muscle strength is also holding steady. I need to get back to my physical exercises. My use of the cough assist is important to keep my lungs engagaed. The social worker spent the most time with me responding to my question “what’s next”. She explained my voice will continue to detonate as well as my arm and hand muscles. Should I continue to live, I would suffocate. She then went on to explain how hospice would intervene in the dying process to make it peaceful and not painful. But, yes I will die from ALS. Both the Dr and the Pulmonologist agreed I’m not ready for hospice….yet. They will help me know when to engage them. So there it is. A reasonable report of my current condition and future. The challenge remains to make the most of every day and keep fighting. Obviously the greatest challenge is to avoid depression. I fill out se...
Read more

Remember Me by What I Loved

As I have had time since the onset of my slow progression ALS, I became concerned with how people would remember me. My voice is slow and harsh. I am limited to a wheelchair unable to stand or walk.I was particularly worried about our grandchildren’s memories since the ALS has been of significant duration and severity. I mentioned this to our children and at once started receiving positive feedback from the grandchildren about memories from pre-ALS times. That really means a lot to me. In my reading, I came across a piece on Positive Actions primarily targeted at organizations and their leaders. I have modified the concept to reflect how to think of friends and others. Another iteration brought me to my starting point of requesting how I want to be remembered. I do not want to be remembered by my many flaws and shortcomings but by other’s view of what I love. Not what I achieved but rather what I enjoy. I believe this is different than one’s legacy as what one loves may not result in c...
Read more

If at First…..

,  So we are trying again with another surgery to get a functioning feeding tube with another surgery. A comedy of errors that came out successfully. My surgery was schedules for December 23, with a one night stay planned. A pre-surgery video/remote meeting was scheduled. Not ideal timing wìth Christmas but, at least  getting done. Then, good news, the surgery was pulled up a week to the 17th with at least a one night admission. Then the pre-surgery appointment was canceled. I called and was told the nurse would be calling with details the day before surgery and would be able to answer any questions. The nurse called às stated and had her script of points to cover. I asked about when I should stop taking my blood thinner? She responded not to the blood thinner that night or the morning. Our daughter Sara flew in from Austin to help and support us for a few days. We all got up early to arrive at UM Hospital by 6:30am. We were finally taken to pre-op at 10:00. The attending s...
Read more