Weekly Ephemera #151

The last three weeks have been quiet, and my Weekly Ephemera posts reflect this.  This last week was just as quiet as the last.  I'm OK with this as I know there is some travel coming soon.  Anyway, this is what my week was:

• We have a vole (or possibly a mouse) living in one of our succulent pots.  Every time I water, it jumps out and nearly scares me to death.  Earlier this week, I spread some vole poison in the pot.   Yesterday, when I watered the pot, it jumped out again, and this time I swear I saw six legs.  I'm guessing it was mama vole carrying baby vole. More poison will be going into the pot.  I suspect when it's time to bring the pots in for the winter that succulent pot will be getting dumped out.
• College football has started up again so Saturdays, the Wife will be in the she-shed, enjoying some sports ball.
• My walking streak is continuing.  I walked three times this week, totaling 23.8 miles (38.3 km).  The walk on Wednesday nearly killed me.  Not sure why but I suspect it was a combination of the high humidity and the fact that the sun came out after several days of overcast.  This coming week will have much nicer weather for walking.
• This week we subscribed to Apple TV+.  I have at least five series to catch up on and a couple that I may start.  This week I watched "For All Mankind" season four.  All I can say is I wish this was the timeline I was living in.  I then watched "Severance" season two, which I also liked, though not sure I would like to live in that timeline.
• A while back I promised a Camino pictures post.  I'll try to get that done this week.

The Wife's Camino - Part Two - Getting To The Start (Burgos),

The Wife's Camino is starting on a good note.  Our Lyft driver was early, our flight to Chicago and Madrid were on time, and we managed to get on an earlier bus which got us to Burgos two hours early.  On top of that the weather is over 80℉ (27℃) and while there is rain in the forecast over the next few days, it is afternoon rain which means we have plenty of time to get to where we're going before the rain starts.

I definitely didn't pack well this time.  It seems I have more stuff and not enough stuff sacks.  I also think I have a lot more weight which doesn't make since.

We are both strangely sore and stiff after getting here which I'm sure will not make tomorrow very fun.  We are walking just under 8 miles (12.8 km) which isn't too long but will surely kill us.

I hope we don't look and feel like this guy in Burgos.

After today, WIFI will be sketchy at best and cell data will be slow, if not non-existent.  Posting will be unpredictable.

Weekly Ephemera #144

• Since I will be walking close to three hundred miles starting next Friday, I decided to be lazy this week and did not walk at all.  Instead I watched eight movies including: "Knives Out", "Her", "MI 7", "The Tomorrow War", "Smile 2", "Multiverse", "The Visit", and "The Mandela Effect".  The first four were pretty good.  The last four were a mix of so-so and ok enough.
• We are slowly getting things together for the Wife's Camino later this week.  I insect-proofed our sleeping bag liners with Permethrin in case of bedbugs.  One of the Wife's ex-co-workers brought his kids over to check out our yard – they will be mowing and watering plants.  I went around locating where various things we will need are – things like dry sacks, rain jackets, my pocket knife, compact flashlights, etc.
• Not sure if I will be posting while on the Camino.  Since we are walking shorter stages this time I will have more time at the end of the day but that doesn't guarantee I will feel like writing posts.  I may post some pictures ... or not.  It will be a surprise for everyone.

The Wife's Camino – Part Two

Next week, we'll be returning to Spain to finish the Wife's Camino.  We're flying to Madrid and taking a bus from the airport to Burgos, where we left off two years ago.

To bring everyone up to speed, we started walking the Camino in May 2023.  Our original intention was to walk the entirety of the Camino.  With hindsight, I planned stages that were too long and pushed both of us too hard.  When we arrived in Burgos, we were planning to take a day off – our first after eighteen days of walking.  Along with the difficult stages we were walking, the Wife was having very painful foot issues.  When we arrived in Burgos and we were recovering from two long walking days, we decided the Wife's foot issues weren't going to get better, so we ended our attempt.  Before we even got back home, we decided to split the remaining two-thirds of the Camino into two legs: one in 2024 and another in 2025.

In 2024, just days before we were supposed to return to Burgos, my Mom's health issues led to us canceling our return to the Camino.  After some more thought, we decided we weren't getting any younger and had to try to finish the rest of the Camino this year.

Over the last two years, the Wife has worked on her foot issues.  She got a pain-relieving cream prescribed by a foot doctor.  She combined this with wider shoes.  She hopes these changes will fix the foot pain she was experiencing.

On my part, I have put together a plan with much shorter stages.  We will also take days off when necessary.  This will lengthen our Camino by quite a bit but it will also be easier on us both.  The only thing I worry about is potentially losing the social aspect of the Camino.  Our slower pace most likely won't sync up with other pilgrims.  This sort of happened during my second Camino when G_v and I walked longer stages than other pilgrims did.  It did diminish the experience somewhat.  On the other hand, this is the Wife's Camino, and a slower pace will make it more enjoyable, allowing us to linger longer at more places along the way.  In any case, it's likely the plan will change as we go, depending on how we're feeling.

We are both looking forward to returning to the Camino.

You can read about the first part of the Wife's Camino starting with this post from 17 June, 2023.

Weekly Ephemera #140

I hope everyone had a happy Easter.  We spent the day at the Wife's niece's place with family.

• I put up the new magnet display.  I will talk more about it later this week in another post.
• It's been a dry winter and early spring, so we turned on the sprinklers earlier than in the past.  I also spread weed and feed a month earlier than I normally do.
• On Wednesday our roofers came in and repaired the hail damage from last summer.  A screen guy came by to take three of our window screens to repair the tears.  New gutters were put in on Friday.  The only thing we are waiting on is the window wrap repairs which will probably happen sometime in the next two weeks.
  
  We watched as bad weather and hail blew through the next day. Fortunately we only got rain and wind.  North of us saw softball sized hail stones.  Dodged a bullet there.
• Our air conditioner was inspected on Thursday as well.  Everything checked out.  The day before, the roofers had noted that the chimney for the furnace and water heater was severely corroded.  Our HVAC people will likely have to replace it.  We are waiting for an estimator to come by.
• On Thursday I had a follow up ultrasound of my kidney.  Everything looked good (yay).
• I hiked once this week.  On Monday, I didn't feel like walking, so I worked on the magnet wall. Friday was cold and windy, so I skipped my walk to finish the magnet wall.  My one walk was 8.6 miles (13.9 km).  I probably needed to rest my legs a bit but next week I need to get back at it.
• I finished "Daredevil: Born Again".  I liked it.  It was a more low key Marvel show with more intrigue and less fighting.  I also watched "A Quiet Place: Day One".  I liked the original two movies and I enjoyed this one as well.  It sketched in a few plot points left blank by the other movies.
• I started planning out the stages for the Wife's Camino.  It may take us longer to finish than I expected.  I planned out shorter stages which lets us hit more interesting places but adds to the length of the walk.  These plans, naturally, will be subject to change.  Fortunately I paid a little extra for airline tickets that can be changed.

Weekly Ephemera #139

• This week we had our sprinkler service turn on/adjust our in-ground automatic sprinkler system.  Normally I would just turn it on myself but there were a few sprinkler heads that I wasn't sure how to adjust.  Watching the technician I realized I could have done it myself.  This was the first and last time I will pay someone to adjust my sprinkler system.  They charged way too much – over double what the service was worth in my opinion.  Another expensive lesson learned.
• Spring is solidly here.  The AC has been turned on and probably will stay on until the fall.  This week we will have it inspected to make sure everything is working properly.
• We received some sheet metal that will become our new travel magnet display.  The metal will cover part of a basement wall in the She-Shed.   We will have another thirty-six square feet of display space soon.  Not sure exactly when as I have been in a major procrastination mode lately.  I'm going to try to get it done sometimes this week.  It really shouldn't take much time to put up, but my brain is still dreading it.  Heck, I still haven't photographed our magnets from our Great Britain trip last September.  I am a master procrastinator.
• I walked three times this week for a total of 26.4 miles (42.5 km).  Each time I walk I go a different route.  I think I've done most of my longer routes so this week I'll have to start repeating.
• We started watching the final season of "The Handmaid's Tale".  That show hits too close to home.  We are balancing that out by watching the latest season of "The Great American Baking Show".

The Beginnings Of An Escape Plan

Ever since the current administration was (re)elected, we have wondered what we would do if the worst-case scenario played out.  The Wife was adamant that we needed to have at least a concept of a plan.  I was hesitant, thinking we should stick it out.  I felt that leaving the country would be wrong when so many people do not have the luxury of that option.  The last eleven weeks, especially the last one, have shifted my way of thinking.  I still think we should stay, but I am now a little more amenable to making a contingency plan.

First of all, we can't stay in America so we have to consider where we would go.  During the COVID pandemic the Wife put in the time and paperwork to become a citizen of Luxembourg through her ancestral connections.  This means she, as a European Union (EU) citizen, can live anywhere in the EU.  I, on the other hand, am not an EU citizen but, As I am married to an EU citizen, I can become a permanent resident of Luxembourg, similar to having an American green card.  Residency allows me to live in Luxembourg indefinitely, but I cannot move to other EU nations.  I would still be restricted to 90 to 180 days, depending on the country's rules, just like any tourist.

I still need to investigate how to transfer our American retirement funds to EU/non-American financial institutions. I don't think there is a way to do this without incurring a large tax bill. Currently, this isn't an issue as the money can stay in America. However, if things really go all authoritarian, I could see restrictions on moving funds out of the country becoming a problem.  Until then, I have moved all our stock holdings to cash to protect our assets.

There is still a lot more to plan but let's hope this stays a hypothetical plan that never needs to be exercised.

Weekly Ephemera #134

• On Tuesday I went in to have a kidney stone removed.  Recovering from that procedure pretty much knocked me out for the rest of the week.  To clarify, one of the drugs I am taking to facilitate passing of any small stone remnants easier, has a side effect of reducing your blood pressure.  This has resulted in me being a little dizzy and lethargic.  I have to take it for two weeks and I'm sure those will be a fun, lethargic, and dizzying two weeks.
• It snowed overnight after my procedure.  I would have loved to clear the snow but couldn't so the Wife had to.  This Winter is turning into a bust for me.  Barely any snow at all and the most we've had happened while we were in Guatemala so missed the fun.  It doesn't feel like we had a Winter at all.  Next week we're hitting 75℉ (24℃).  Phewy!
• On Friday I purchased plane tickets, bus tickets, and made a hotel reservation for the Wife's Camino part two.  We are flying into Madrid late May and will take four to five weeks to finish.
• Hope you sprang forward today.  I had a hard time getting to sleep on Saturday night and I woke up a zombie today.  I don't remember Daylight Saving Time hitting me this hard before.  I wish we would just stay on standard time.

Back From Guatemala

We are back from our two week trip to Guatemala.  It was an interesting return to my old stomping grounds.  So much has changed.  I will be posting about the trip and posting pictures over the next few weeks.  I'm not sure of the frequency of posting as I have a medical procedure next week which may or may not interrupt my post writing.

A photo sneak peak: Lake Atitlan

Weekly Ephemera #132

• This week was preparation for our Guatemala Trip.  As you are reading this it is very likely we are winging our way south to Guatemala City.  In preparation we cleaned the house and did laundry so we had all the clothes we needed for our trip and could come home to a clean house.  I also started piling things I needed so that I wouldn't forget to pack them.
• During my prep I reread my Mom's travelogue entries from 1972.  I wrote so much better back then.  I feel like I rush my writing now and do it with minimal thought.  I would like to get back to that more relaxed form of slow writing though the real world is interfering with my stress levels.
• I was going to walk twice this week but, due to sloth, I only did one.  It was 13.1 miles (21.1 km) - not bad.  It was longer than I expected and nearly killed my legs but I survived.
• We bought tickets for Bob Dylan at the Orpheum theater in April.  We sort of saw him once before when we lived in California.  I'll have to tell that story before we go to the concert.  Suffice it to say, I don't remember anything about that concert not because of my crappy memory but because I was completely distracted.
• We have not really had any 'real' snow this winter season so far.  I've missed it and I was looking forward to seeing the first snow.  Naturally it's supposed to snow this coming week when I'll be out of the country.  *sigh*  

A Return To Guatemala

I grew up, from age nine to eighteen, in Guatemala.  I documented our travels to Guatemala back in August 2009.  I graduated from high school in August 1981 and left for college soon after.  I returned to visit my parents during Christmas/New Years 1981-82.  I have not been back since - just over forty-three years ago.  The Wife, who has never been there, and I will be going to Guatemala next week.  It will be interesting to see how things have changed.

When I was there I saw the first fast food place open (Hardees).  Many of the amenities we took for granted in the USA were missing or not quite 'there' yet.  Looking at Google Maps I can see the western world has completely moved in with a Starbucks not far from our hotel.  We will be on a tour - Guatemala is still not a very safe place to be.  When I graduated in 1981 you often heard gunfire in the distance and going out at night was never a wise thing to do.

The two week tour will be taking us to several places I visited as a pre/teen.  The market at Chichicastenango.  Lake Atitlan.  The old capital city of Antigua.  The Pacaya volcano. Tikal.  There are a few places I've never been to including Mayan ruins in neighboring Honduras, Copán, and Rio Dulce, among others.  I was not a good traveler when I was a pre-teen.  I'm sure I didn't get as much out of where we visited as I could have.  This trip will be a second chance for me.

As I entered the trip information into Tripit.com and drafted this post I began to feel excited.  It's been a while since I've been excited before we travel.  Usually I don't get excited until we've started on the trip.  I think this is a good thing.

As usual I probably won't post about the trip until I get back.

PS: The picture above was AI generated using Google's Gemini Imagen 3.

Weekly Ephemera #131

"I will not give into the lies.

I will not give into the fear."

      - Jim Acosta

        ex-CNN correspondent/anchor

• I have spent most of this week doomscrolling.  I have spent too much time on Bluesky watching our great nation starting to corrode and crumble in darkness.
• On Tuesday I had an MRI taken of my abdomen to check for lesions in my prostate.  None were found (yay).  I am not a claustrophobic person most of the time but after nearly an hour in the tight spaces of the MRI machine, I was getting antsy.
• Wednesday was the Lunar New Year.  Happy year of the snake everyone!
• Saturday was the first day of February which is kinda blowing my mind.  Where did January go?
• I walked three times this week for a total of 30.8 miles (49.6 km).  Next week I plan to walk twice.
• My television watching this week was of a scientific nature.  Namely, I watched episodes of "Nova".  I watched one on Quantum discoveries, one on Astrophysical discoveries, and several on the different planets, moons, and other objects in our solar system.  In my early years I had most of this type of knowledge memorized.  I was fascinated with it.  But over the last few decades I have not kept up with the cutting edge research.  These episodes helped bring me up to speed.
• In a week the Wife and I will be traveling to our next international destination.  It's somewhere I've been before - Guatemala.  I intend to post about the upcoming trip later this week.  Stand by.

Another of the old pictures my cousin sent me:

My cousin's sixth birthday.  She is on the right.  My brother is left of her.  I am the three and
a half year old covering his face on the left.  My Mom is standing behind me.
1967, our house, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.

Weekly Ephemera #129

• This was a medical week as I mentioned in this post.  This coming week I have a dentist appointment which I expect to go smoothly as I have no issues with my teeth at the moment - yay!
• The Wife and I went to the REI outlet on Tuesday to get some stuff for the Wife's Camino this summer.  The Wife is looking for shoes that will work with her bunions.  While they didn't have a shoe in her size she did confirm that she should be wearing a wide shoe.
  
  I broke one of my backpack tie down connectors during the Camino section back in 2023.  I finally purchased a replacement and my backpack is back in working order.  If we finish the Camino this summer my backpack will be retired.  It looks like it's been through a lot ... which it has.
• Even though we haven't left for Guatemala yet, we started planning our fall trip.  The trip will include Greece, Albania, Macedonia, and Malta.  We are still working out the details so I will have to post more detailed plans in a later post once things are finalized.
• Due to the doctor's appointments early in the week I only walked twice this week.  I did 21.9 miles (35.2 km).  I am trying to change up my routes going places I haven't walked before or have walked for a long time.  I still don't understand why a 10 mile walk one day feels terribly hard but two days later it feels merely difficult.  I was hoping, over time, these distances would get more consistently easier.  They are not.
  
  I am considering walking Monday when the high temperature will be 9℉ (-12.8℃) with wind chills in the negative double digits.  This would get me out of the house so watching the inauguration would not be a perverse temptation.  Hypothermia or depressing anguish ... thems the choices.
• I watched a couple of shows this week.  The Wife suggested "The Contestant" about a Japanese game show contestant.  It was weird, fascinating, and cringy cruel at times but in the end it was an uplifting story.
  
  As a light palette cleanser I watched the "Goosebumps" series on Disney.  It was aimed at a younger audience but it felt comforting to me.

The Eleventh Caminoversary Of The End Of My Second Camino

Today marks eleven years since I completed my second Camino.  I still remember sitting on the rocks and watching the sun go down.  At that time I doubted I would walk it again but now we are planning to go back to finish the Wife's Camino.

Originally we were to walk about three weeks this year and another two or three in 2025 to finish it. Circumstances got in the way this year so the Wife and I are now thinking about finishing it all next Summer.  It all depends on how the Wife's feet behave.  We are both getting older and we both think we need to get it done sooner than later.

I can't wait to see the sunset over the Atlantic once again ... this time with the Wife at my side. 

Weekly Ephemera #114 - Post Travel Recovery

• It's been nearly forty-eight hours since we got back from our Great Britain trip and I think I'm starting to recover.  I keep waking up around 4am but that will change with time.
• Our trip was fun.  We only had a couple deviations from our original plan I listed here.  We saw and did a lot over the twenty-four days of our trip.  It was odd to be in an English speaking country for once.  I expect to start documenting our travels later this week.  I have to look at all the pictures the Wife and I took and I need to draft the posts.
• I haven't maintained my low carb diet as I traveled so the next few days will be consisting of trying to walk off some of the carbs and detoxing my diet.  I hope to continue my walking where I left off before our trip.  Fortunately we did a lot of walking on our trip including some six to eight hour walking tours and walking around several of the cities we visited.  I didn't keep track of how far we walked but there were a few days with multi-mile hikes.
• This week will be full of catch-up.  While Fall weather really hasn't kicked in yet I need to start prepping for winter.  Our furnace needs to be inspected.  Sprinklers need to be blown out.  Sadly, I am still wrangling with the insurance company about the hail damage from July and that wrangling will restart this week.  Homeowner life goes on.

Travelling The Isle Of Great Britain

Our one and only international trip this year - after cancelling our Camino trip - is a twenty-four day trip to Great Britain.  It will be a trip filled with friends, history, and English literature.

This is our first major international trip that will not involve being on a tour.  (Iceland wasn't on a tour either but it was an easier trip to plan as everything was out of one city - Reikiavik)  Our travel agent arranged flights, lodging, and train passes for us.  We will arrange local day tours (guided or self-guided, walking, bike, or bus) in some of the places we will be visiting.  We opted out of renting a car as the arguments about driving on the wrong side of the road and directions would likely have ended our marriage.  Here is the itinerary the Wife has put together for us:

• We fly into London and are picked up by NH and JH, friends we met on our Amazon Cruise back in 2016 and who visited us in 2023 for the Sandhill Crane migration.  They will take us to Stonehenge and Bath.
• We take the train to Brighton.  We will be meeting another friend we met on the Camino in 2023 here.
• Next we go to Canterbury because the Wife taught literature.
• Onward to the White Cliffs of Dover.
• We train to Rochester, spend the night then taxi to Cooling.  Here we will be spending the night in Saint James' Church.  The 13th century church is no longer active but you can visit it and spend the night there - this is known as Church Camping or 'Champing', by the way.
• We taxi back to Rochester and train to Wrexham where we will see a Wrexham home game (Check out "Welcome to Wrexham").  This is our only stop in Wales.
• Train to Stratford-upon-Avon.
• Train to Oxford.
• Train to Berwick-upon-Tweed.  Here our friends NH and JH will join us on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.  We have to time this right as the island can only be driven to during low tide.
• We leave England and head into Scotland.  Our first stop is Edinburgh.
• We train to Glasgow.
• We return by train to London for a couple days before we fly home.

I'll be taking pictures and will post about the trip after we return home.

A Misnamed Weekly Ephemera #110

On Sunday Mom's visitation and funeral service were held.  I was pleasantly surprised how many people came to pay their respects.  I saw aunts and cousins I hadn't seen since the 1980s.  Mom's Pastor led a wonderful service.  The whole thing was very heartwarming.

Other highlights of last week:

• The week was filled with meetings about Mom's funeral preparation.  It was not as hectic as I expected it would be but the Wife and Mom's stepsons took a lot of pressure off me.  Not being Mom's executor kept things to a minimum.  I did a few things to help the executor.  I'd been dealing with some of Mom's accounts when we were trying to get her on Medicaid so it was easy for me to handle the closing of some of those accounts. 
• On Saturday we attended the Tim Walz for Vice President rally that was held a couple miles from where we live.  It was our first political rally and we were happy to see how positive it was.



The non-AI generated crowd in the Astro theater.  You can see us in this photo if you look closely.

(Photo 'borrowed' from an Alex Cole - @acnewsitics - Xitter post)

The line going in stretched for a long ways.  We got in the theater that has a 2,400 capacity and the outside amphitheater was used for overflow held another 5,500.  There were speeches by Congressional/senate candidates, music by a very talented twelve year old Jayde Dorsey, and speeches from Tim Walz and his wife.  It was an interesting ... and exhausting ... experience. 

 

Photos of the rally can be found in my 2024-08-17 Gov Tim Walz Rally, The Astro, La Vista, NE Google Photos album.

• Keeping in the political realm I started watching the fourth season of "The Boys". 
• This coming week I hope to return to my 'normal' routine and to start walking again.  I can't remember when I last had a 'normal' week.

Weekly Ephemera #107

• Most of the week I spent chasing after documents needed to get Mom qualified for Medicaid.  Mom's piling system is not much better than mine.  At one point my head was buzzing so much I just laid down on the floor and stared up at the spinning fan for a while in an attempt to clear my head.  I still don't have everything but I'm getting closer.
  
  We are also spending Mom's money down on some essentials.  It's kinda sad that, to qualify for Medicaid, you have to be poor.  Our medical insurance system is a freaking disgrace.
  
  Mom had a visit with the neurosurgeon.  Everything looks great.  She no longer needs to wear the cervical collar.  The bond fire will be glorious (JK).
  
  Met with the Comfort Keepers, a home aid company, to organize someone to visit Mom to help her with tasks around the house.  We expect Mom will be returning to her home early this coming week.
  
• I called our homeowner's insurance agent to get a second adjuster out to look at our hail damage.  They want a report from our roofer before they do that.  Our roofer, not happy to be doing the insurance company's job, will be stopping by this week.
• The car insurance adjuster called and our car is officially fixable.  Yay!  I was worried it would be totaled and I would have to go car hunting.  Now it's a waiting game to see when I get my car back.
• On Friday the Deacon (formerly known as The Altar Boy) and his family stopped by on their way to a family vacation.  They were a nice distraction from all the mess we've been dealing with.
• As for what's on the boob tube, we are an all Olympics, all the time household.
• I'm hoping to go see "Deadpool & Wolverine" this week ... time willing.

Weekly Ephemera #105

I totally forgot about my weekly post this weekend.  I have to say that my brain has become a quagmire lately and I'm lucky if the right things bubble up at the right time for me to function.  It didn't help that the news exploded on Saturday.  Here is what happened last week:

• Last Monday a roofer stopped by to evaluate the hail damage.  Despite having hail resistant shingles, our roof had significant damage.  I filed a claim with our homeowner's insurance and an insurance adjuster will be here this week to inspect the damage.
• Thursday was our twenty-seventh wedding anniversary.  We celebrated by visiting an elder care attorney, setting up durable power of attorney for my Mom, and eating delicious burgers at Stella's Bar and Grill.  The elder care attorney is putting together options for how we can fund the services Mom needs to be happy and safe.  The follow up of this meeting is scheduled for next Monday.
  
  One benefit of all this is, when Mom's situation is all settled, we will know what we need to do to prepare for our future care.
• I walked three times this week for a total of 19 miles (30.6 km).  I was going to walk today (Monday) but it felt like 88℉ (31℃) at the time I normally would have started and it was just heading up from there.  The humidity is a bit stifling to say the least.  Fortunately temperatures are supposed to moderate after today.
• We caught up to the current episode of "Alone".  We are still catching up with "Alone: Australia" and discovered today that there is an "Alone: UK".   We should be totally caught up this week.
  
• At the end of this week the Wife and I are going to Minneapolis to celebrate birthdays.  I think I need the break from reality.  Next week's Ephemera post will likely be late as well.

Weekly Ephemera #100

This probably shouldn't be an ephemera post as it's pretty significant but I'm afraid if I dedicate a whole post to it, it would become a rambling 'poor me' screed.  Anyway, here is the week that was:

• My mom's back and sciatic leg pain is progressively getting worse and it is getting harder for her to get around.  She is scheduled for surgery on the 8th of July but tomorrow we are going to contact the neurosurgeon to see if it can be moved up.  The surgery may help ... or it may not.  The only way to know is to have it done.
• Due to Mom's worsening condition, I decided that I would not be going on the Wife's Camino.  After consideration she too decided to cancel the Camino for this year.  We are both, to say it mildly, a bit bummed but neither of us would have enjoyed it if we were continuously worrying about how Mom was.  I also think me being close by gives Mom a sense of comfort.  The Camino has been around over one thousand two hundred years.  It will still be around next year.  We just need to hold our aging bodies at bay a little longer.
• Before we postponed the Wife's Camino we deep cleaned the house.  The Wife's Aunt and Cousins were/are going to use our house while we were away but now we will be hosting them.  They will be going to the College World Series and visiting old friends in Omaha next week.  I have never seen the Wife clean so deeply.  Three plus hours for just one room.  I did my part but my piddly attempts at deep cleaning paled in comparison.
• One of the things I did was clean the windows.  A day or so afterwards a robin flew into the window so hard it left a splat of ... something disgusting ... before dropping dead to the patio. When I removed the carcass it left a bloodstain on the concrete.  I will have to rewash that window.
• Between cleanings I watch some more "Doctor Who" which, after a very sloppy start, has gotten better.
  
  In the evening the Wife and I have started watching "Alone".  There are ten seasons (the eleventh season starts this week).  I'm pretty sure I would tap out before I even got on the boat.