Greensboro – Day Five of the JRP

It’s been an eventful few days here in Greensboro. The daily thunderstorms have been a real surprise for me, having lived in the California aridity for more than thirty years. Last night, as we were beginning to watch Lena Dunham’s “Too Much,” there was a simultaneous lighting/thunder crash that sounded like it was about 100 yards away from the front of the house, rendering an instantaneous loss of power. Scared the bejeezus out of me. Los Angeles had experienced a gentle earthquake while Caroline was with me after my surgery, so it was only just that North Carolina should provide me with an equal scare. Just part of the protocol.

Caroline has been the ideal patient; her post surgery instructions are so much more complex than mine were at this phase of recovery that it is a little dizzying. In addition to the torture pillow, which she has to do every thirty minutes three times a day, she has to do virtually the same exercise I’m doing once a day after months of recovery twice a day now on Day Four!

Howie and I have bonded despite his current propensity to pee (PTP). Though I was instructed to close my door, the one time I neglected to do so, he christened my carry on with a spray which rendered it defunct. I didn’t like that carryon much, so I was happy to replace it with a new one which will arrive today, in time for me to return home on Wednesday. Howie is very vocal, squeaking (Lucy’s term) when hungry and expecting instantaneous service.

It is so great to be spending time with Caroline and Lucy in their home this week. We’ve been enjoying good meals courtesy of the New York Times Saturday recipes and the days have taken an easy flow. I’ve tried to take a walk (or swim through the unfamiliar humidity) each evening after 6:00 p.m. when there is a little more shade.

The neighborhood is full of mature trees, in which the cicadas are roosting. So far I haven’t seen any up close which is fine by me.

Caroline is a collector of wonderful things, art and mid century furniture, and her guest room is filled with a fascinating collection of Carnival Chalkware. On day four, I now greet the collection with “Hi, kids” when I awaken. For the first three nights when I was waking at 12:15, 3:15, 6:15 to assist Caroline with meds, the collection seemed menacing, but later in the afternoons when I took to doing my squats in front of the cabinet, the demonic Kewpie doll either scared me down again, or motivated me with their black spray-painted eyes. Either way, good thing. Gets me to finish the squats every time.

Caroline has a much more romantic take on the chalkware carnival figurines than I. She imagines a young sailor home from WWII in the 1940s at a carnival winning one of the figures above for his sweetheart; hand in hand, they carry it home cradled in their arms to add to their collection. Always contrary, I think the kewpie doll at right is probably the last such prize won by that couple. They arrived back at sweetheart’s bungalow and she slammed the door in Charlie’s face, leaving him holding the demonic doll and looking incredulously down at it’s diabolical little face. But Caroline’s romantic take on carnival chalkware seems to be supported by an inscription on the bottom of one of her collection.

The rain and thunderstorms keep coming here in Greensboro. I’ve been fortunate to not have to go out in the rain, but last night Lucy had to drive home from her job at the riding barn through that sideways rain with the thunder and lightning.

Did I mention that Lucy is an equestrian? I slipped away on Saturday for an hour to drive to the equestrian center where Lucy had a lesson, and got to see her in action. She loves the sport and horses in general so much and works at the barn diligently as her job. After part of her lesson, she came over to the fence where I was watching her jump, etc. “Who’s with my mom?” she quite reasonably asked. I only stayed a few minutes before driving back to their house. But the farm in Summerfield, North Carolina, is beautiful.

It’s easy to see the appeal of Greensboro after living in LA for more than thirty years. So many trees, not so many people, and great medical care for the insured.

Yesterday was Caroline’s first day of PT. She’s an overachiever, with 90 degrees of bend in her knee on day four, a feat which took me about a month to accomplish. Home with even more exercises to do, things are coming along in the healing journey. We are already sad that I will be departing on Wednesday. We joked that the JRP is perfect at one week of time in length. Just about the time the pain block wears off, the caregiver walks out the door waving over her shoulder. Good luck!

Monday night we had another good meal courtesy of the New York Times Cooking section. Salmon with corn and tomato salad. And a side of the couscous and snap pea salad from a recipe I found a few weeks ago. Yummy!

All along this week, I’ve been delighted as friends have snapped up copies of my book. I’m chomping at the bit to get home to autograph and send out the fifty or so copies that folks have ordered from me. I’m also grateful to the folks who have taken the time to write a review on Amazon. If you don’t know, it is really helpful to writers to have reviews or even just comments to utilize to promote a book. Thank you!

Much more ahead on that as I settle into the business of promoting the book, which is available from me directly, or from Archway Publishing or Amazon.