80-Something – Shaking It
Zooming with the Aces #16 was scheduled for Thursday, April 19, but difficulties of one kind and another interfered, leaving our Zoomers talking to themselves, their Internet providers, and each other. More than a dozen people contacted Fred, Marilyn, and Diane, worrying about what had happened. We sincerely apologize to those of you who tried unsuccessfully to connect with the Zoom. Our next Zoom will be May 18, and we hope that Glenna Stearman Park will be back in action to moderate the discussion of Health and Wellness.
And where was our moderator, Glenna? In the ER again. She sent an email entitled “Sleeping Holiday.” She said —
“The best part of being in the hospital is that life calms down. I have not seen TV since Tuesday, and it has quit distracting me from
thinking. Silence is pretty good, and I bet it would be wonderful in Lee and Shelley Ayres’ garden or the woods at the edge of Calvin and Nancy Ross’s place. It seems Diane and Dick Zinn are fully involved in creating their own sanctuary. I am sure Marilyn Bellert is having thoughts of spring planting, as am I.
“Fred, are you moving? Somehow I got the idea you were moving to new digs! That can be exciting and bring renewed interest in gardens.
“I am into my fourth day of liquid diet. For the first time, I am hungry. Jello cubes, clear Ensure, tea and 4 oz of clear juice for every meal makes me think of when I was the art teacher at Bexar County Jail in San Antonio. That experience inspired a performance piece that related the color white to chicken feathers, eggs, and white powdered donuts. We were talking about visual rhyming and had an excuse for remembering it! Now, I would gladly take an egg and a donut!
“Alas! The jello comes.
“I do not know what is wrong with my gut or when I get out, but I am ready!”
Glenna’s husband Joel tells us that she is expected to go home on April 25.
And where was our Zoom host, Fred Elder? Having indeed just moved
to a new home on the day before the Zoom, Fred had been optimistic about his electronic readiness for the Zoom. “Alas” may not be what he said when the Zoom did not happen. He is working with his Internet provider to get his service working. He was also distracted by a health issue that afternoon, but the news from his doctor was very good. He thanks everyone who wrote and called to make sure he was OK last Thursday. He was and is.
Glenna’s email prompted Diane Rusch Zinn to write back about
her own recent encounter with nutrition in the hospital. “At least you are on a liquid diet. After 10 days in the hospital with nothing but a pikk for nutritional feeding, I celebrated the first cup of warm chicken broth I was finally given with a toast to all my kids. It tasted so good! Next day came some mild noodle soup and mashed potatoes, also very welcome. I couldn’t believe I had gone that long without my multiple cups of coffee each day, and I didn’t even miss it!”
Marilyn Tompkins Bellert responded to Glenna’s question about gardening. “Yes, I am thinking about spring planting. Due to health-related issues of my own, I can’t dig, plant, prune, and spread mulch
as I once did. I can, however, write checks Our dedicated crew of gardeners with disabilities and developmental delays does a beautiful job. This week, I decided that a big shrub on the corner of the house had to go. I have coddled that wretched-looking thing for 16 years with pruning, fungicide and antibiotics. The garden crew is bringing three large roses that require minimal attention to replace it.
“Then, there are the yard security issues. Last winter, neighborhood rascals whacked the limbs off an ungainly sumac and left the pieces for our teeming rabbit population. I selected a new sumac that will have lovely tangerine-colored leaves in the fall. How to protect the new plantings, including the perennials being placed in garden bare spots? We are hiring the boys next door (Usual Suspects, ages 12 and 14) to care for our yard while we are in France next month. They have agreed to water new plantings, use the live trap to capture rabbits (which they will take across a river to a nearby forest preserve), and mow the grass. If they do a good job, we will double the handsome advance payment. What could possibly go wrong?
“Meanwhile, on a supervisory tour of spring action in the yard, I cut an armload of daffodils and tulips for the house. It’s definitely spring! Outdoor pleasures like this make me feel well and happy. I slipped and slid back inside the house just in time, as heavy snow has started to fall. Here’s hoping an egg comes your way, Glenna. You may have to forget about a donut.”
Feel free to send your greetings to Glenna by commenting here. You can also add own comments here on health and wellness or save them for May 18. Thanks again to everyone who checked up on us, especially Gerry Fry, Mert Lancaster Curtis, Skip Granger, Dan Tontz, Calvin Ross and Linda Soderberg McKay. Talking to you all on the phone is always enjoyable.
We look forward to seeing you soon in person!
