A Good Day

            Thursday was a good day, because:

 

·      I found my kindle. I’d been searching for it, off and on, for a couple of days, muttering in frustration. I contorted myself to look under the seats of my car and came close to phoning my dentist in hopes that I’d left it there. I’d poked through the roughly two square yards of surface on my desk a dozen times, and ditto for the two desk drawers. The frustration was not because of my entirely replaceable kindle, but rather because losing stuff just might be a sign of mental deterioration. If so, then finding it means I’m fine, thank you. Where was it? Well, my primal guideline for finding lost stuff was pretty much on target: where you thought, but under something. It was on the small shelf under the footstool in front of my reading chair.

 

·      Kim found her ring, which was a gift from my mother via her estate. We’d been looking for weeks. I’d gone through all the couch crevasses, under the car seats (before I lost my kindle), inside the vacuum cleaner, under the bed. We figured she may have lost it gardening and searched her tool bag and gloves, and I tried to keep an eye open for it when doing yard work. Where did she find it? In her jewelry drawer – the real one, not the one burglars would look in – under something. Kim is organized and rarely loses things – except for her phone, and we know how to find it. This was a great relief, on many levels.

 

·      Kim, after hours of research, successfully identified a Bog Silver-bordered Fritillary she had photographed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We sent it to our friend, butterfly expert Jeffrey Belth, who confirmed Kim’s conclusion and, in a few welcome emails, added to our education. Kim felt validated.

 

·      My trip to the dermatologist had good results: The two new blotches on my face, one next to my melanoma scar, were not cancerous. I also learned that if I wanted to be seen soon, say the magic word “melanoma” – much like saying “chest pain” at the Emergency Room. So, I can slip back into denial for a while.

 

·      Kim’s headache went away, though after driving very bumpy dirt roads in search of butterflies, her sore surgically reconstructed back remained sore.

 

·      While we were in the city, Kim got her hearing aids adjusted so she did not feel like she was under water. This can improve the quality of your life.

 

·      We did a major grocery shopping. This was not really a pleasure, except for knowing that we don’t have to do it again for a while. We did find the cabernet that Genne’ introduced us to, and it cost $.50 less than we had been paying.

 

·      We picked up a pizza to eat for dinner, but after smelling it in the car all the way home, we ate it (not all of it) at 2:30 in the afternoon. It was a good meal, paired with some leftover salad but no wine. Some hours later, “dinner” was improvised.

 

·      Later that afternoon, while drinking iced coffee on the beach, we saw our neighbor Rick taking out his paddleboard, and he invited me to join him, which I did. I struggled (again) to stand, eventually deciding to kneel. It was a beautiful outing on the lake, capped off by good conversation over a beer made by another neighbor, Rob.

 

·      Kim and I talked about the good friends we are blessed to have in our life here. Yes, some will go away in September, but some will not, and our lives will continue to be enriched by these friendships, whether in person or not.

 

            When Kim and I went to bed, we briefly recounted the day’s successes. Kim said, “This calls for a celebration,” so we got up and fixed ourselves cocktails, which we enjoyed by candlelight.