A Tale of Two Views

Writing my last post on July 11, had someone told me that my life might change for a bit, I would hardly have believed it.  But boy howdy, did it ever change! 

I made a loaf of banana bread, and began preparing some things for dinner, however, I felt kind of achy and took a hot shower, hoping for some relief. As there are hardly any photographs to post from the last two weeks, much of this post will include text messages which tell the story far better than I can.

To Cynthia at 5PM: I am yawning at 5 PM! 

Laying down on the couch, I realized that I might have a fever which the thermometer confirmed. Is it Covid perhaps? Both Bill and David suggested testing Monday night, however, I thought it might be a fluke and waited for the morning. Tested negative. All day Tuesday I either slept or stared out the window wondering what the heck was happening. Bruce, of course, was mostly staying away so if it turned out to be Covid he wouldn't get sick as well. 

My view, at least, was a lovely one.

I could tell when the fever was returning after a few hours of relief from the Tylenol; oddly enough I felt it in my lips. 

Meanwhile word was spreading that I was not well. 

From Jane Lou: Gail it’s Jane Lou Bruce told me you were sick I think you have what I have it’s not catchy but it sure is hard to get over gargle a lot drink tea with honey the doctor said I got a Z pack it’s helped he got a really cough up all that stuff I have a good book for you to read that’s a bit there’s something you can do to pass the time let me know I have 1000 questions for you about Nancy and other things I’m not going back until the end of this month or the first week in August I have to wait for my crown I sure hope you’re going to be feeling OK you’re gonna have to rest and I know that’s hard for you it’s been really really hard for me drink lots of fluids let me know if I can do anything if you get stir crazy crazy we can pull our chairs up about a distance apart and talk seriously outside.

As the days passed, I just kept feeling worse and worse. Fallon was urging me to go to the ER, however, as you well know, I can be stubborn especially when health care is involved. 

One day Mary texted me, well she actually did most days, but on the one I am thinking of specifically, she told me we had ducklings and I should go look at them. When I told her I was just too sick, she was flabbergasted. Yup, I was really feeling horrible. By then I had moved to the couch where I spent many days and sometimes nights. My stomach went awry so there was all that to deal with. My darling husband, after my having tested negative several more times, took the most amazing care of me. David kept insisting I try this tea and that along with some immunity boosters. Nothing worked. 

Finally on Saturday morning Bruce took me to Guidewell on 17-92, a place we'd heard about from both Mary and Ann. It did not take long for them to see me and when they did their care was excellent. Seriously good, and coming from me, that is saying a lot! Bloodwork, x-rays, CT scan and fluids, followed by an intravenous infusion of antibiotics, we left with this:

Susan: Hey there my friend. Are you feeling better today, I hope?

Me: Thank you for checking. It’s been a rough week but we now have a reason. I have booth pneumonia and a urinary tract infection. IV antibiotics have helped some and I will be taking oral antibiotics as well.  I hope to feel better soon!

Except I did not get better. My fever went over 103 that night. 

Even Connie's chicken noodle soup did not do the trick although I had high hopes.

Me: Thank you, thank you. We ate early before my fever spikes and both soups were amazing. There is nothing in the world like good home cooking! I haven’t eaten hardly a thing for a week.

Before we left Guidewell they said that they would run blood cultures to make sure it was the right antibiotic for me. As I was not improving, declining actually, I called asking for those results. Bruce called repeatedly and each time we were told a nurse would call. Except they did not. So, on a stormy Tuesday afternoon, Bruce drove over and demanded answers as well as the documentation of my visit which turned out to be so very helpful. 

At the same time I called Dr. Parrillo's office and had to leave a message. My message was that we were at our wits end and did not know what to do.

Here's a few messages with Yvette:

How’s 

Momma Gail!?!? 

I heard you have pneumonia 🤦‍♀️

I hope your feeling/getting better? 🤗

Me: I wish I were improving but I still feel pretty terrible.

Here's an amusing one from Carolyn: So Gail, what seems to be the problem?  You do not have COVID right?  So sorry you aren’t feeling well.  Just found out yesterday that Ryan has Covid! 😫

What seems to be the problem indeed?

Mary texted most days and I had this to say to her: To tell you the truth I still feel like shit. Whatever this is, my gut took a big hit last night. On a different note,Bruce just make me home made tapioca pudding which was so wonderfully soothing. Thank you for checking on me Mary.

A note to one and all, warm tapioca is the best. I have no idea how I thought to ask Bruce for some because it has been years since last I made it. It had been a lifetime for Bruce who, in spite of never having done so before, followed the recipe on the box and it was the best thing I had all week!

Last Wednesday morning, I urged Bruce to play pickleball so that for at least a few hours things would seem normal. What we did not count on and to tell you the truth was a pleasant surprise, our doctor's office called, saying if we could get there in the next half hour, Dr. Parrillo would see me. I called Patti asking for help. Anyone who has had the pleasure of knowing Patti knows she will do just about anything to help a friend in need and she did just that. It is hard to describe how poorly I felt. One thing that had happened in the night was that I think my fever finally broke and it was unreal. I woke up in a pool of sweat with even my hair wet. I was so shaky but after Bruce helped me into dry clothes I fell back asleep. When I next awoke, I took my temperature and it was crazy low, as in 96 degrees or lower. Things were not going in the right direction at all.

When Dr. P took one look at me he ordered bloodwork and a chest x-ray. By now Patti had called Bruce and he arrived in time for the news. My white blood count, thanks to Bruce having the info from Saturday, had gone from 17K to 26K and the pneumonia was worse instead of better. Deciding that Winter Park Advent was our best chance of getting seen quickly, Bruce drove us there and just in the nick of time. 

They put us in a huge room, treating us with kindness and efficiency as I was just about in septic shock. As luck would have it, we did not even wait a minute before being taken to a room. Then, once stabilized, there was an open room upstairs for me where I would spend the next seven days with a very unappealing view from my bed.

Once I was able to get up and move around, it was even worse!

There is lots more to say but to tell you the truth, I am worn out for now. I am finally home and doing very little. We were told that it takes weeks to recover, and who are we to question said wisdom?

The hospital stay will be the subject of my next post when I feel up to it which I very much hope will be sooner rather than later!

your friend,

Gail

Meanwhile Back at Home

While I have been writing about our latest North Carolina trip, it's been busier at home than I can handle anymore. Seriously, I am such a wuss these days. If there is too much going on, oy vey! Nevertheless, I held it together for the last two weeks and I'm fixing to tell you all about it.

Perhaps I have mentioned before our annual Independence Day celebration complete with fireworks shot from a barge in the lake? Okay, so I found it in this post when I detailed how our then property manager got our vendors to agree to donate much-needed funds to make it happen. My great committee, consisting of Susan, Ellie, Sherry, Diane, Patti and Jennifer, all had roles to fulfill and they did so with aplomb. Because it had been so long since we'd had a party due to Covid, the residents bought pre-sale tickets like nobodies business. So, in the week leading up to it, every day I went to the office checking on the count. By Friday, the count was higher than ever before, so much so that I called the barbecue guy and ordered more. Originally we thought 175 tops, but as it turns out, despite ordering more food, we ran out for a variety of reasons. The ticket count was off as well, so when it was all said and done, I think we probably had about 215 people. 

You also might imagine that the weather plays the biggest role of all; planning only goes so far here during our summer rainy season. As it turns out, from the time we returned from NC, every day was dry, that is until Saturday when it rained non-stop, finally coming to an end at 6:10 in the afternoon. Our Sunday party was to begin at 6:30, so al I could think about was what in the world were we going to do? I was more nervous than I probably should have been, but it's the truth. To occupy myself during that long rainy day, I finished making brownie bites for our alternate dessert. Diane picked up two beautiful cakes from Costco and the bites were for those who might not like cake. As it turns, out more people liked cake than we had slices for!

I used a super easy brownie recipe:

Melt one stick butter in pan.

Dump in one cup sugar and stir, followed by two beaten eggs and 1t vanilla.

Combine 1/3 c cocoa, 1/2 c flour along with 1/4 t salt and baking soda.

Beat with wooden spoon until combined. 

I used mini muffin tins, sprayed liberally and baked for 11 minutes.

When cool, sift powdered sugar over all to make them look prettier.

All in all I think I made about two hundred between two Saturday afternoons. Mornings, of course, are reserved for pickleball!

In spite of the very, very dark skies at 4:30 in the afternoon, it never rained! The sun came out, it was relatively cool, we had both a rainbow and a sunset! Had we not run out of food it would have been absolutely perfect. As it was, it was pretty darn close thanks to all of the volunteers.

Click on this link to see the party pics and admire our decorating ladies work.  

I would be remiss if I did not ooh and ahh over the fireworks display, something our committee labored over, as the price, like everything in this post-Covid world was far more than we would have liked. The amount of time was also reduced, but by golly, it was just wonderful. Bill and Fallon were there and she remarked that the length was perfect and I agreed.

We had a dj, and at one point, as you will see if you choose to look at the photos, our friend Leslie, she who taught us all to play pickleball, showed off another talent and that was singing the national anthem acapella.  A lady I met at the pool this past week remarked on how beautiful it was and she was right!

At the same time, as I was worrying about every party detail, our son David had Covid again which was bad in and of itself, however, Bruce had been with him when he contracted it from Eddie. Every single day we worried Bruce would come down with it and thank God he did not!  Poor David tested positive for at least eight days and missed the party because of it. We missed both his and Michelle's energy that's for sure! Bill too, was in the exposed group, but thankfully he also avoided getting sick which was a blessing because he just went back to work for Truist days before. after having worked for Regions for three years.

Our friends Keith and Patty were a great help setting up the tables and chairs, as well as moving the regular deck furniture. Sometimes they come to Dover Shores in the morning and beat us at pickleball! Patty is wearing purple.

Then other days they beat us here at LPV! 

So, there was the party, the Covid scare, AND the annual calendar contest to think about. You may recall, (how could you not), last year I was out of commission and did not enter like I normally would. So one morning after pickleball, I payed a visit to this year's historic neighborhood.

Roaming the streets, there were any number of beautiful old homes to photograph. While I loved the house below, there was too much foliage to use it.

The above is the side of house which faces Hyer, a subject we will revisit shortly. I took the photos, came home and looked at them, trying to decide which ones would work best in the required black and white. For sure I knew I was going to use the one below as one of my three submissions.

Super interesting and different architecture made it, what I am hoping, a good choice. While I was roaming around I heard the familiar screeching of Blue Jays, alerting me to the presence of a hawk. Sure enough, the one below landed on a fence.

Rarely do I see a Cooper's Hawk which made me very happy indeed.

What I neglected to mention, while talking about the party, is Nancy's arrival for the week. As you may recall, she has finally gotten the go-ahead to transfer to Orlando from the Atlanta area. We got through the party and then it was time to turn our attention to finding a place for Nancy to rent. Although Bruce and I thought we'd found a super spot nearby, when Nancy and I visited there we were highly disappointed. What we have been reading about all year long, the high price of rent, not to mention the scarcity of apartments, was brought home in a big way. I even turned to Facebook, asking anyone if they had any leads. Bruce called an old friend from our market days who is a property manager and he did have a nearby one bedroom, however, while it was nice, Bruce and Nancy decided it was too small.

NOW WHAT? It is Friday afternoon and she is slated to leave the following day. 

Let's just say a miracle occurred when we least expected it! Nan chided me on my non-optimistic nature which was entirely warranted! Well, dear readers, on the way home from lunch at Firebirds with her new manager, out of curiosity she decided to take a look at a home Maureen rented on Park Lake Street, probably 40 years ago. Turning the corner from said house, lo and behold, there was a for lease sign in the yard of the adjacent duplex. One of the most frustrating things about this whole apartment hunting business was that no one returned calls. That is, until the gentleman who owned the duplex answered his phone. He said he had a showing at 11 Saturday morning, but if Nancy wanted to come at 9:00 he would meet her there. 

Naturally we could hardly wait and we both went to see if this was the one. BTW, it is across the street from the house pictured in color above!! I had just been roaming that street a week before!! 

The minute we walked in, both Nancy and I knew it was absolutely perfect. Terrazzo floors, great maple cabinets, roomy enough, a washer/dryer in the outside space in the carport. Did I mention the vintage pink tile in the bathroom? No, I did not. What was not to like?? Unlike the one we thought we'd found, this one was in perfect condition and her new landlord even said that he had a few things he wanted to improve upon!

Talk about a Godsend! And you know what? The plot thickens. Turns out he has lived in Orlando pretty much all of his 80+ years and so we began talking about places and people we know. He'd just been to our friend Kim's Mom's funeral a week ago, he lives next door to the woman who was the head of HR at ORMC when I went to work there, and the list goes on. But the icing on the cake is.... when Nancy mentioned that our sister had rented the house behind the duplex and.....you guessed it! He owns that house too and was her landlord!! Both Nan and I almost burst into tears when he reminisced about Maureen.  Paying the deposit with glee, she won't be back in town until her Atlanta apartment lease ends in mid-August. But what a relief to know she has a place to call home once she arrives!

Finally, in all this hubbub, I forgot Matt's 46th birthday! What Mother forgets her son's birthday you ask? This one, or at least almost! Actually, I remembered it too late to send a card to London, however, it will all work out in the end, or so I hope. While Bruce, Keith and Patty were dragging furniture around the pool deck, I called London and we had a nice Facetime chat. You can imagine that first thing I apologized profusely. BTW, it was raining while we were talking and Matthew kept reassuring me it would all be okay with the party. By golly, he was right! And he and Tom are back in the USA for a holiday, visiting friends in Boston, Chicago and Lancaster, PA. 

All is well that ends well. 

May the same hold true for the challenges that you might be facing. 💖

your friend,

Gail

Fun, and Not So Fun, on the Road

 This getting behind on my blog entries makes for some very long posts that's for sure. 

So, here goes....

As seen in a window near Arden, NC. Applies to so many aspects of life in these trying times, don't you think? Then again, what choice do we have?

On a more positive note, before leaving the area near Arden, I noticed a sign for the North Carolina Arboretum and asked Bruce if he thought we had time to stop. Well, stop we did, and it was time well spent. 

Lush and green with mountain views, what more can a girl ask for? We had stopped to take a photo of this amazing planter for our new pickleball friend, Erika, who is a welder. She was duly impressed. One of their claims to fame are Bonsai trees and rightly so as they were very impressive indeed.

I was very smitten by the size and great color of this blooming azalea tree.

Another super cool thing was the model railroad. So cute! There is a viewing platform above for watching it run.

No gardens are complete without cool water features,

benches and sculpture. Shade works for me as well!

After a nice sandwich in their cafe we began making our way home. Adjacent to this place, there is an entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway and once again....please honey!

While I was happy to be on this iconic road, it was probably not my best suggestion because after visiting the BRP visitor center, 

where we learned about the building of the road and that it is actually a National Park,

we had to figure out a way to head South which was no easy feat. However, we were saved by the iPad and Google maps once again. Eventually we made our way back to I-26, but not before being stuck in a mile long back-up on a mountain road that was being resurfaced! Before too much longer we left the mountains behind upon entering South Carolina.

What we did not leave behind was the rain and in the next few hours, this was a screen constant.

No sooner than I would shut it off, it would appear ten minutes later, and so it went for the next two hours.The threatening skies confirmed the warning. In fact, the skies got really bad before they got better.

Our goal was to reach Columbia, SC so we carried on, but it wasn't long before we wished we had not as the rain came down in sheets, making visibility nearly impossible. Add to that, by then we were on a stretch of highway under construction with barriers on either side, something I hate. Soon thereafter, we found out that was the least of our problems! Picture this: blinding rain, way dark skies at 6:00PM, barriers, big semis splashing water everywhere AND puddles that splashed the roof of our car because they were SO deep. Seriously, the clay and rain were pouring off the hillside, making for treacherous conditions, to say the least. At our earliest opportunity we got off, breathing a sigh of relief and although it was till pouring, with the help of the trusty iPad, I was able to guide Bruce the last twenty miles on surface streets. By the time we arrived at the Hampton Inn that I had called earlier, there were only two rooms left, both premium, which we gladly took as our nerves were frayed. Lesson learned, make the reservation when I call, rather than leave it up to chance.

It was an exceptionally nice Hampton adjacent to a lovely park.

After beginning our journey home on the Interstate, we hopped off when we came to Hwy 321, the same road that we took on the way up. With no traffic to speak of, we, once again, enjoyed the small towns we'd gone through before. Stopping for a rest in the tiny town of Olar,

I had some fun taking some artsy photos of an abandoned strip center----if you could call it that.

A memorial to the founding family stands in the grassy area, behind which is a housed an old police car, and I do mean old! According to this, it is housed in the former police station! 

Turns out the name on the handle is an advertisement for an old ice cream brand. Well, who knew?

Peering into the windows remnants of the past remain.

From what I could find, Rock-ola was a jukebox company. When I saw this pile of books and notebooks,

I couldn't help but think that top title says it all. Seemingly everything has a life cycle, including us!!

This highway runs alongside the railroad tracks which is why any of these towns exist.

It is unclear which door actually led to the restaurant!  That said there seems to be a handy ATM in case they only take cash.

More photos were taken along the way, but for long stretches it looked more like this.

Finally the last interesting thing we saw before arriving in Florida was this.

Located in Townsend, GA, how tiny was it? Pretty darn tiny!

The remainder of the trip was uneventful with nary a drop of rain, a pattern that would continue for the next eight days. 

And then it rained. So what Gail, that's what it does in Florida during the summer?

In my next post you will discover why that factoid was so important to us! I will leave you with one of the famous white squirrels we saw on this trip to Brevard. Pretty interesting indeed.

Whew.....you made it!

your friend,

Gail