Tuesday, December 25, 2012

as the snow falls

It's been looking like a blizzard coming our way for about 12 hours now with a cold northerly wind and heavy clouds hanging low in the sky just waiting to let it rip. Blizzardmageddon 2012! I think we should declare a war on weather events and spend lots of government money trying to repair the parts of our earth that are a result of being bad greedy stewards of Big Ernie's gifts. I'm gonna be really REALLY mad when a chunk of Artic permafrost from the other side of the world washes away the beach at Sandestin. Just sayin'. Our thermostat reads 55 right now and it will probably be dropping in spite of our best attempts to hang blankets over ancient windows and doors. Simply put, propane is a necessity for basic heating needs. That I owe my firstborn to the man who floated me for several years is not something that I take lightly. If so, I'd have done the BK thing a long time ago.

I love living here, and it's so handy just to jump in the Camry and make some noise on Samaria Bend Road to check on my parents. We're there almost daily now so yesterday's visit to do a bit of cooking and cleaning since their friend and housekeeper has been off. After we popped the ham in the oven with a glaze, BG and Mom chatted and did a crossword puzzle while I proceeded to clean off the bar area where they eat. I'm talking sticky like Waffle House, ya'll. I had to move all the "stuff" that was strewn from here to yon and spray it a couple of times before the big wipe off. I could tell Daddy wasn't too happy about it, but he seemed harmless enough. As soon as I lifted up the rag, he proceeded to slam back down every thing that I had just moved. Of course my mama cried and the last thing BG shared with her as we took a quick leave was how proud we are of her for maintaining her dignity in life, hard as it is sometimes. We had to go back and check on a burner about 15 seconds later and by the time we got there the alarm system was on. The time? One PM. Merry Christmas.

This whole journey with their last years seems like a blur from the time she had her last wreck due to blindness and quit driving. He was about two years behind her and spent most of that time taking her everywhere she wanted to go. From that point on when he was in a "hit and run" that HE ran from, it's been one challenge after another. As an extremely OCD dementia patient, his routine is everything. As long as he has the remote in his hand, he is master of the universe. I remember one Christmas when they called me to the mall because Mr. Bruce had found Daddy wandering and she was lost somewhere only not really. I know better now than to drop and run unless it involves EMS.

I drive through the business district of South Dyersburg on my way to and from work simply because it's easier and less hectic. Since the back to back floods, many businesses and structures have been demolished with the Hindu hotel being the final exception. The Dairy Queen is a smooth slab as is the lot on which the Plaza Food Center operated for years. Many houses have been razed and some folks have rebuilt, but not many. Without significant work adjacent to the Forked Deer it will happen over and over again.

I'm already in a rearview mirror mode remembering what I've learned this year from life in general. One small detail that occurred to me is how weather events like Katrina, Sandy and every other flood or tsunami could be so much less catastrophic were firm building codes enforced in vulnerable areas. Of course that's not a moneymaker so, there you go. I'd hate for some Wall Street bank executive to have to miss out on his bonus while the rest of us are dying out here. Yeah..us. The 99%. Thank you Occupy...your solidarity has given me a reason to believe in honor and commitment. Thank you Mitt Romney for "not wanting to be President more than anybody I've ever seen" per his own son. If Obama and the evil one will just not hit us with less $$ in the paycheck than before this whole mess started, that would just be swell. We shall see. My most humbling lesson has been that of compassion and empathy as a way of life. My problems are just like yours and hers and his in some form or fashion. Everybody's got drama. Never in my life did I think I'd be living this kind of lifestyle as one who is not nearly as close to retirement as I'd like to be. I'm gonna have to figure out some reliable transportation to even get to that gold watch!! I have a feeling it won't be from the sawmill either.

Merry Christmas peeps ^j^



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