May 31, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Interior.

I eat breakfast sitting in a comfortable chair in the corner of the living room. The windows are beside me so the morning light is excellent for reading. Unless I turn my head, I do not see the view out the window. But I do look at the rest of the house. Most of the time I read but sometimes I just drink tea and look at the objects I can see from my chair. I can see a lovely tile we bought in Scotland. I use it as a trivit on the end table of the couch. It makes me smile just looking at it from across the room. It is a picture of Scotland with blue and green and gray in the ceramic tile. The potter who made the tile was outgoing and fun and I still recall with pleasure the time we chatted with him, along with David and Suzanne. Behind the couch and above my desk is a painting done by Eleanor Sutherland. It is a still life and I love it. Every time I look at the painting I wish she was painting now. On the top of the book case is a small picture of my grandmother Houghton, taken when she was a young child. It is in a filigreed gold frame. The little picture pleases me. A man named Thomas Clerc published a book in France called "Interior". He lives in a 900 square foot apartment in Paris and the book is a description of all his object. It was translated from the French in 2018 and now is being reviewed. One of the reviewers wondered if a list and description of peoples stuff could be considered Literature. This year the paperback has been published in the US so the book is being widely read. I enjoyed the review but I do not intend to read the book. But I spend quite a lot of time appreciating the objects in my house, just as Mr. Clerc did in his book. Sometimes I even mention those objects when I write my little blog. But I certainly do not consider those objects significant except me. But I did laugh when I read the review. And I continue to admire and appreciate all my stuff.

May 30, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Andrea and the Riots.

In 1968, Andrea and her daughter lived in an apartment on 14tth Street NW, in Washington, DC. They had lived there for several years and they liked it. Her daughter walked to school and public transportation allowed Andrea get to work. They lived over a store. Then Martin Luther King was killed shortly after lunch. Riots broke out in DC. Andrea was afraid because her daughter was home by herself. Andrea immediately took a Taxi and had the driver get her as close as possible to her place. Then she walked through the mobs to get home. Andrea is a little lady, not ever five foot tall but she was feisty. Her daughter was in grade school. She found her daughter, Mary Beth, was safe at home but scared. They took only a backpack each and they left the apartment and walked until they could get public transportation and they stayed that night with a friend. Remember this was pre cell phone so they arrived at the friends house unannounced. And they watched the riot on TV. Fortunately, they got out because the whole block where they lived was burned. Businesses were looted and cars set on fire. By the time Andrea told me that story she was still frightened. The area before the riot was a pleasant, vibrant community but after the riot was over, the whole place was boarded up and stayed boarded up for over two decades. Andrea never went back to that apartment. A friend with a car removed anything of value. She worked cleaning my house for several years and I enjoyed her company. But since her experience with the riot, she will not go into crowds of people. And she lived in Bethesda. It was not as convenient but it was safer. And that is the true story of the 1968 DC riot as told to me by Andrea..

May 29, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Getting Old.

Most of the time I know I am old. I am careful when I walk, even around the house. I never move fast. I get a decent amount of exercise everyday. And I try to eat a healthy diet. For the most part I eat no sugar. So I am doing pretty well now that I am old. But every so often I forget how old I really am. My friends Joyce and Robbie sent me frozen meat for Christmas. Now that I have no cook, I have enjoyed having the good meat in the freezer. When I ran out of the gifts, I ordered meat for myself from the same company, Omaha Steaks. While I was ordered, I noted that they were having sales, so I ordered more than expected, knowing that my freezer was empty. The frozen meat arrives in styrofoam cases so I knew what to expect. But when the boxes were left outside, I realized that the boxes were bigger than anticipated. I had over ordered. When I first went outside I noted one large box and another about twice the size. I tried to pick up the smaller of the boxes and decided it was too heavy to lift for me, so I went inside to call my neighbor for help. But when I went back in the house, I decided that I was being a wimp so I went back outside and picked up the smaller box and brought it to the counter. Then I went back outside and dragged the heavy box to the kitchen. Next I opened the boxes and put the frozen meat away. Fortunately it all fit into the freezers. But the next afternoon I had an aching back which surprised me because I do not have trouble with my back. I thought about my back and decided that carrying and dragging the boxes caused me to have a bad back. Also bending over to empty the boxes did not help. So I took a shower and ran hot water over my ailing back. Two days later, my back no longer hurt. And I learned a good lesson, that I was not a wimp, I was merely old. Next time when heavy boxes arrive I will call my neighbor, whose son will cheerfully give me assistance. I must remember that I am old 100% of the time.

May 28, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Odds & Ends.

I misunderstood. I merely need to have blood drawn on June 17. So I am pleased. No PET scan. My friend Sara Lou knew all about the story long before I figured it out. Joey and Rory Feek married in 2002. They were successful musicians. She died of ovarian cancer in 2016 when their daughter was 2. Rory started a blog when Joey was diagnosed with cancer. it is "This Life I lead.com." The TV show is taken from his blog and just started in March, 2020. One other part of the puzzle is that I had seen Rory playing on a TV show called Muletown, a Saturday evening music show featuring country musicians. He is also an associate producer. N0w I think I know the whole stpry. And one other thing: Rory raised his first two daughters by himself. When Joey and Rory married the girls were 13 and 16. Now they are young adults. A friend asked me recently about the Salvation Army bellringers at Christmas. She was told that the bellringers get a tip, a percentage of the take from the red kettles. I had no idea but I doubted it. Saturday evening, for 30 minutes I watch "Ray Stevens Cabaret" from Nashville. He is older but still good. I knew nothing about him or his history in Nashville but since I have been watching his little show, I see him on TV all the time, here and there on many programs. Interesting what I learn from TV.

May 27, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Doctor Appointment.

I was hoping my appointment today with my Oncologist would be the last before leaving for Nova Scotia. But no such luck. I have learned that one doctor appointment leads to another. Dr. Sheehan wants to have another PET scan before I leave which means more blood drawn after the scan followed by a tele conference with Dr. Sheehan. They will be done the week before I depart. As predicted, my blood work has deteriorated. My white cells are 4 where they were 9.5 three weeks ago and my red cells are down too. That is what happens to the immune system with Ibrance, which is why I keep my social circle very small. This test result is a good reminder to keep away from crowds and public places. The last two times I used Ibrance I got no infections because I was careful to keep away from anyone who could have a cold or flu. So in Nova Scotia I will not be able to attend concerts or big parties which I enjoyed last year. But I did it before and I can do it again. Because of the shutdown in Canada the whole year of The Reader's Festival has been cancelled so at last I will not be missing those events. With any luck I will be able to attend in 2021. So one more appointment before I leave. I was hoping I would be finished today. I should have known better.

May 26, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Covid Virus Deaths.

US deaths from the current virus are high, at this point over 100,000. But the method used to calculate who died from the virus is astonishing. I picked this information up a month or so ago when the NY Governor told everyone that the reason so many people died the day before was because 3,000 people were switched from dying from other causes to having died of the virus. What has happened is that if a person dies and test positive for the virus, they are counted as having died of the virus. Clearly, that is not accurate. Over 50% of virus deaths in the US occurred in nursing homes, so these people were in the homes because they were already sick. But when they died, and tested positive, they died of the virus. Yesterday this fact came to my attention. A man died at age 24. He tested positive and was called a virus death. Except he had been in an accident and subsequently died but as he tested positive, he was on that long list of virus deaths. Many people had heart attacks and strokes but because they tested positive for the virus they are added to the long list of covid virus deaths. So now I take the number of US deaths with a grain of salt. "It ain't necessarily so."

May 25, 2020. Madison, Mississippi. Puzzle Solved.

Saturday evening, my puzzle was solved. Finally, the pieces fit together. One evening, I saw a couple singing gospel songs. She was beautiful with a lovely voice while her husband played the guitar and sang. She was holding a young child, perhaps 18 months. The child had Downs syndrome. I did not know the names of the singers. But I remember the image. Next a few months later I heard a young man sing on TV. He made his living singing country and gospel songs. Bill G. was interviewing this young man in between the singing. They young man had a wonderful voice. He was very disabled but he sang like an angel. One thing they talked about was when the young man sang at the funeral of a young lady, Joni, who was a professional musician and who had just recently died. I did not know the lady. The next piece of the puzzle was when I spotted a 30 minute TV show on the Rural Channel, called "The Life I Live'. The show is charming. It tells about a young man who is trying to make a difference with his life. He is raising his daughter by himself living in the country, surrounded by his sisters and their family. The child has Downs and his wife had recently died from cancer and is buried in the family property. The show is current. I just watched episode 6, which refers to the virus. Finally I got the whole pieces of the puzzle. Saturday evening, Bill G.was interviewing the same man from the TV show. When I was flipping channels I recognized his name. Unfortunately I missed the first half of the program but I found out the whole story. The young couple were professional musicians who made their living singing. They decided to stop touring and build a little house alongside his family. And they did. They converted the barn into a music hall and they held concerts with visiting musicians. It was a success. And his wife got pregnant which pleased everyone. The baby whose name is Indiana, was born with Downs. 18 months later she was diagnosed with cancer and she died six months later. The reason the the man was being interviewed by Bill G. was that a new disc was released with Joni and Rory singing so I got to see lots of pictures of both of them singing. She had always wanted to record her favorite hymns which they did shortly before she died. Now I know the whole story. The little TV show is one I look for because you see how Rory and Indiana are doing, which is well. Finally I patched together these four facts. Now I know the whole story. Whew.