Monday, May 16

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

Beautiful weather.

A phone conversation with Mom. She seemed happy and comfortable, talking about how nice the weather is, and what she sees for birds at the feeder there.

Managing to get the two blankets (River) dragged out of the wash tub and laid out to dry.

I went to pottery, and it felt so rushed again. I find it stimulating, but not really relaxing. I am trying to finish things up for the end of the official pottery season. I might do some over the summer, but the last firings will be done soon, and getting things ready for raku firing in June. I have a lot of pottery this year.

I hollowed out the owl sculpture from last week, did some carving on an item for raku firing, trimmed two items and put a handle on one, and glazed two of my pieces and two cups of my husband's. Glazing in this context means just dipping them in glaze, and they will be glaze fired next.

Nice to be around other people.

Nice also that it is still light outside when I'm done.

I went for groceries, and actually managed to get there a little earlier so I could do a bigger trip. The last two were super fast trips.

I am hoping to go see family in a few days, and I often bring some food with me because the things I eat aren't always readily available in the small grocery store there. The prices are higher too, for simple things like beans.

I am really feeling weird about this trip. I am not really sure where I am staying, since Mom has moved and her house is not really available, or how hard it will be to make my normal food. Vegetarian and low carb means I can't just eat at the local diner anymore.

I got a LOT of groceries, because I am planning on taking food with me, and making sure my sweetie has enough food that he doesn't have to get groceries (though I bet he still will), and so that I don't have to rush out and get groceries when I get home again.

That also means lots of pet food stocked up too. Medications. Litter.

I am very grateful to be able to buy so much food at once, and to have the strength to get it to the car and later into the house.

Today I learned about the Halifax Explosion of 1917, when a munitions ship blew up in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nearly 2,000 people died and some 9,000 were injured in the disaster, which flattened more than 1 square mile (2.5 square km) of the city of Halifax.

The ship "Imo" collided with another ship, the "Mont-Blanc" (which was carrying an enormous amount of munitions), and the resulting explosion not only killed people because of the massive explosion of the munitions, but also because of the tsunami that swept into the city, destroying 1600 buildings, as well as pushing the "Mont-Blanc" out of the water and grounding it on shore.

Halifax remembers the event every December 6, and holds a service at a memorial bell tower in Fort Needham Park.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Halifax-explosion

Comments

[sherlockishere]

That Halifax event sounds so terribly sad. Thanks for providing the link. And I'm glad you're having pretty good calls with your mom these days. I think it's a reflection of the good work y'all did to get her into a protected environment. Often the elderly are truly happier after this kind of transition.

[gottawonder]

According to Trainwreck, Mom also has times where she remembers her house, and says she would like to go home. I imagine that those aren't easy conversations. I think I have things easier, because over the phone we keep things pretty light.

Overall, I know she is more lucid, because she is getting her medication correctly, and she likely feels less lonely because there are people there all the time, some she actually knows as members of the community because she's lived in that area her whole life, as have other residents.

I know it was the best, and likely the only choice.

[ratunderpaper]

At some point almost all elderly people (in varying stages of lucid thinking) remember a "home" to which they want to return.

I used to look out the window and point to a house sitting in a field not too far from Lois's assisted residence, and tell her that although the street has changed a bit over the years, she could go home (point, point) anytime she wanted, and let's call her dad before we go to make sure he's at home and not tending the horses, et cetera, and we'll bring some cake, because he sure liked his cake, et cetera. She liked that. Not all stories are the same, but for her, this one worked and she'd calm down nicely. I hope you can keep things light with your mom.

[gottawonder]

I think all of us yearn to go back to a home that doesn't really exist for us anymore. It seems to be the human condition.

[ratunderpaper]

There's a word for a yearning or a nostalgic feeling for something that did or does not really exist, but I forget what it is. The song New Slang by The Shins, and Moon by Kid Francsecoli bring about that feeling for a number of people.