All in the family

Some 16-ish years ago my older son, who at the time lived in Dallas, asked if he could entrust to Wife and me his 2000 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, the one we had bought when he was in college. 

He loved that truck, but with a job that required a fair amount of driving around the Dallas metropolitan area at the time, it had become impractical for him. He was going to get something more economical. However, he did not want to part with his truck, affectionately known as The Green Machine. 

He would like us to keep The Green Machine, pictured here, at our house on a temporary basis and at some point, he would get it back. I told him I would be glad to do that. 

The Green Machine

I hardly remember details, but somehow, he got the truck from Dallas to our house just south of Nashville. 

Having never been a truck owner, I had not known how much I would enjoy having one. Whether it was picking up bags of mulch, a piece of furniture or the year's Christmas tree (when we still bought a real tree), its uses were many. (My friends quickly learned how handy it was too.)

Older Son eventually moved to Atlanta, about a four-hour drive from here. I figured it would only be a matter of time before his truck would be going back to its original owner. 

During the time I had the Green Machine, it developed some quirks typical of aging vehicles. I put some money into it to keep it maintained since I was the one using it. 

A few years ago, Younger Son bought a 2016 Chevy Silverado for himself, a much-updated version of The Green Machine. He said he planned to retrieve The Green Machine someday, but said he was still happy with the entrustment arrangement if we were. 

Our housekeeper told us some years ago if we were ever interested in selling The Green Machine, her husband would be interested and asked if we would give him first shot at it. We explained we did not have the authority to sell it but would keep that in mind. 

After some discussion and negotiation, the following recently occurred: 

Older Son upgraded to a later model GMC pickup. 

Green Machine was purchased by our housekeeper's husband and driven from our driveway.

I am the proud owner of the above described, formerly-owned-by-Older-Son 2016 Chevy Silverado pictured here. 

My new-to-me wheels

While things do not always go as planned, they work out nicely sometimes. 

SIL update

My son-in-law had his surgery February 27th here in Nashville at the Vanderbilt Cancer Center. 

To recap, he was diagnosed with colon cancer in November 2023 at age 37. He is now 39.

He soon began a treatment regimen that included radiation and chemotherapy. That took him to spring of 2024. Scans showed some shrinkage, but he would need to have surgery to remove all of the cancer. 

He had that surgery in late June last year and recovered over a period of about six weeks, after which he went back to work and lived a fairly normal life. 

He continued to have scans, however, and in late October one of those showed some "activity" in the area of his previous surgery. He was referred to a surgical oncologist at Vanderbilt (up to this time, all of his care had taken place in Huntsville, Alabama, where he lives). She referred him for a biopsy which took place in December, and it confirmed that there was a new tumor. He would have to have surgery again. 

This surgery was extensive, taking a little more than nine hours. At the end of the surgery, the surgeon was encouraging, saying she felt confident she had removed all the cancer and confirming there was no spread of it anywhere else in his body. 

Post-surgery has been brutal with a number of complications. Over the past couple of days, however, we have seen signs of improvement and have reason to be encouraged. 

My daughter has been staying at the hospital with him but has gotten a couple of breaks in which she has driven home (about two hours away) and slept in her own bed, the most recent of those breaks being last night. 

Their three children have been with us part of the time, with their other grandparents and with other friends in Huntsville. My daughter is bringing them back here today and they will be with us this next week, which is their spring break. 

When discharged, my son-in-law will likely come here. There are many moving parts to this ordeal, and we are as prepared as we can be to assure he is well cared for while he is with us. Of course, our daughter will be right by his side and for at least part of the time our grandchildren will be here. 

I have explained this rather factually, not incorporating the emotion, fear and stress that have been major ingredients. Perhaps I will elaborate on that another time. 

For now, I want to thank you all for your support, concern and prayers which are greatly appreciated. I will give another update soon. 

Flu, anyone?

It seems the flu has been especially bad this year where I live.

Knocking on every piece of wood around me, I can say I am fortunate enough not to have had to deal with it. I've had my chronic sinus stuff, and I will spare you the details. I'm seeing my allergy and sinus doc March 17th, an appointment I have had for more than two months. By then I am sure I will be symptom-free, but I'll see her anyway. 

She determined two years ago, after sticking all kinds of things in my back, that I do not have allergies, but boy do I have "chronic sinusitis." But there I go with the details I promised to spare you. 

Overall, health-wise, I am doing fairly well for a man of my advanced age. I have two bad knees, but I have an excellent orthopedic office that helps with me with physical therapy and a wonderful steroid injection until I can get the first knee replaced, hopefully around May or June. 

If that one goes well, I will have the other one done as soon as I can. However, my anecdotal information suggests folks who have the first knee replaced wait at least a year until they go in for their second one. 

My doc who will perform the surgery said I can expect not to like him for about three weeks post-surgery, and after that I should start to see some improvement. So, we will see. 

Back to the flu. I'm not sure everyone who says "I am down with the flu" really has it. Some of them recover way too quickly to have had what I think of as the flu, or influenza, which lasts about ten days if I remember correctly. 

I am not judging, I am just speculating. If you're sick, you're sick, and who am I to make a diagnosis? 

Anyway, I only remember having the actual flu, in which it was diagnosed as such, one time. 

It was February 1984, and I had just returned from the jewelry store to select the diamond that would go in the engagement ring I would give my soon-to-be fiancé on, yes, Valentine's Day. 

Before you start rolling your eyes at how hopelessly romantic I was, let me say it was as much a coincidence as anything else. We knew we were ready to take the big step and I thought, well, why not do it on Valentine's Day? It could have just as easily been July, and I might have chosen Independence Day. Now that I think about it, though, it was a nice touch, wasn't it? 

Anyway, I do not remember the exact date, but sometime in early February I had gone to the jewelry store and picked out the diamond and paid for it. I left it there to be set in a ring. I would go pick it up in a week or so. 

I had this queasy feeling when I got home from the jewelry store, and I told myself that was to be expected considering the big purchase I had just made and the purpose of said purchase. 

Later that night, however, the chills came. I called into work and said I would not be there. I went to visit a walk-in doc who diagnosed me with the flu and told me to stay in bed for at least a few days. 

I had the typical cold symptoms, fever and achiness. Not to be dramatic, but it hurt to move. 

Wife (who was not Wife at the time, but you know who I am talking about) wanted to help. I told her I had plenty of food and water and it would be best that she stay away. I don't remember how the conversation went but somewhere in there I think I hurt her feelings, even though it was not my intent. 

(I have heard men, in general, are grumpy when they are sick, but that's an unfair stereotype and I will not promote it. But in my case, it was probably true.)

I tried going to work one morning before I was truly well. It was my first job out of law school, clerking for a circuit judge. The case coordinator who ran the place took one look at me and told me to go home and come back when I was over it. 

That same day I went and picked up the ring. I could not stop looking at it, and hoped its intended recipient would receive it graciously when the time came. (We had stopped talking for a few days.) 

I finally got better and called the person who would be the recipient of the ring. She was on the cool side, but I managed an apology, and I suggested I would be feeling better by Valentine's Day and maybe we should get together. 

The rest is history. She came over that night. She forgave me. She said yes.

That was 41 years ago. We married in August of that year. 

I hope those of you reading this are in good health and have avoided this year's flu outbreak. 

If not, get plenty of rest and tell your Significant Other you'll see him/her in about ten days. 

Southern weather

People are going to think this is the most boring blog ever, with the last two posts being about the weather. 

I'll try to do better. Most of my friends here follow me on Substack where my writing is more interesting. I keep things a bit more light-hearted here. 

But back to the weather. This past Sunday afternoon, when it took a warm turn, I was sitting outside in shorts and a tee-shirt. Wife, on the other hand, was inside in sweats sitting by the fire. She either had not received the memo or was in denial. 

Blog friend Becki (Field Lilies) has recently written about the approaching change in seasons (it will be spring in about six weeks) and the ambivalent feelings it stirs in her. She looks forward to springtime but is not sure she is quite ready to be out in the yard with the plants, garden, etc. (I hope I paraphrased accurately, Becki!)

I posted a reply to her blog telling her I have some mixed feelings also because when spring comes, I feel guilty that I am NOT out in the yard with the plants, garden, etc.! About ten years ago I worked a yard service into the budget, and I enjoy being outside looking at the fruits of their labors! But I feel a little guilty about it. 

As you know from my last post, we had a big snow here in January and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We do not have particularly harsh winters here in Middle Tennessee, and snow is always a big deal. It helps that I usually don't have to get out and go anywhere in it, but after a day or so of snow, even it has not begun to melt, the plows and salt trucks have cleared things enough that I can drive if I need to. 

I have some friends who have begun to go to Florida for at least part of the winter months, choosing to opt for the warmer climate. I think Wife might enjoy that and, in the coming years after I retire, should she wish to do that, I would try it for a season. But I would never want to do it every winter. I like the changing seasons. 

Personally, I would sooner go to the mountains of Colorado for the summer (escaping the heat) than the beaches of Florida for the winter. But, of course, to each his/her own. 

And Wife and I do have a little trip to Florida planned in a couple of weeks. We are going down for opening weekend of MLB spring training and will see three games. When we get back, it will be almost time for our son-in-law's surgery. I'll post more about that later and humbly ask for your continued prayers for him. 

Hoping you are enjoying the weather wherever you are. You might as well because you can't do anything about it! 

Snow Day

We had some of our coldest temperatures of the winter last week. The TV weather folks kept promising a "winter storm" Friday. Schools announced they would be closed and all kinds of events were canceled. 

We were prepared. We had plenty of provisions so did not join the crazies at the grocery stores clearing the shelves of bread and milk. We made sure our outside faucets were covered and kept water dripping at night. 

When we woke Friday morning, there was little more than a dusting and Wife said it had ended up, typically, being a non-event. But she was premature with that. By the afternoon snow was falling steadily, and I think we ended up with somewhere between 5-6 inches. 

We are far enough south that snow is a big deal, but we get enough snow and ice that our local governments have, over time, become prepared for treacherous road conditions. They get the plows and salt trucks in operation pretty quickly. By mid-day Saturday we were able to get out without any problem. Truth be told, we could have probably driven Friday had we needed to. 

By mid-morning our adult children and grandchildren were sending pictures of their own snow days in Atlanta, Birmingham and Huntsville. Not to be outdone, Wife and I ventured outside ourselves for a brief period of time. 

While it is sad to have a snow day without children to enjoy it with, it is nice to have one we can enjoy without worrying about having to go somewhere. 

These pictures were taken after most of the snow had fallen, out our front door and on our back deck.