Piano and medical matters

I was on the way to the post office today when my phone rang.  It was Gail.  Gail's mother-in-law is staying at Gail's house due to her (the mother-in-law's) fragile nature.  Gail invited me to her house to practice piano duets today.  She wanted to stay close to her phone (landline) since she was expecting a call from her doctor.  I said I would be there at 1 pm.

I showed up at the Storey residence at 1 pm.  Gail's mother-in-law, Ruby, was there, along with a caregiver and Gail's husband Glenn.  We talked some about my father's condition and about the trips we have been making back and forth to Springfield.  While I was there, Gail's doctor office called with the date of an appointment for Gail.  This is the phone call she has been expecting for the past few days.

Sometime ago, we, the Storeys and the Nerrens, took a road trip to Ponca City for the purpose of eating at a world-famous restaurant at the Ponca City airport by the name of Enrique's.  It is a Mexican restaurant.  We talked about doing the same thing again this year.  We might even search for a geocache while there.  There is a labyrinth in the city which I have never walked. 

If you would like to search for geocaches in your area, go to www.geocaching.com and type in your ZIP code and take a look at your area.

Poetry Sunday

Back to my blog.  I’ve been away for a while and have neglected to update this blog for several days.  It’s time for an update.

We returned home from Springfield after another extended stay.  In some ways going back to Missouri is like returning to civilization after a period in the wilderness.  After all, Oklahoma did not become a state until 1907, decades after Missouri became a part of the union.

I went to church this morning, having missed the last two weeks.  As part of the revised Sunday service procedure, I now play piano in the minutes before the service starts, while the church pianist, Edna, makes her way to the church.  Edna is also the church pianist for another church which has an earlier service time.

Today was Poetry Sunday.  Several of us read poems for the service.  I read “O, Kharma,
Dharma, Pudding and Pie” by Philip Appleman.

There have been a couple of big changes in my life this month.  The first involves my parents in Springfield.  I’m afraid I can’t say any more about this at this time.

The other big change involves a health scare for Gail, my partner of some eight years in playing piano duets.  She is undergoing medical tests.  We have not played together since March.  She had lung cancer two years ago.  We fear it is coming back.

To Springfield and back

We took a trip to Springfield, Missouri and stayed eight days.  We got back home on Monday, April 8.  The reason for the lengthy stay will have to be withheld.  Suffice it to say that both of my parents are still alive.

Monday evening was the date of the Methodist Book Club.  We uniformly agreed that the selection for April was a dud, with the exception of Kat.  I found the humor of the book to be juvenile.  The author of the book is Jenny Lawson, and I think her favorite word is "fuck."  The book's title is Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir).   Next month the selection is by C. S. Lewis.  The title of the book is The Great Divorce.

I have had to miss the last two duet practice sessions.  Maybe I will be home next Monday.

I got my hair cut on Tuesday.  I was a bit overdue for one.

The Jesus Diet

On Maundy Thursday, we gathered at the Family Life Center about a mile from the house.  The meal was the kind of diet that Jesus ate: nuts, raisins, apricots, dates, grapes, and fish.  The beverage was water.  Soft drinks were not around in that time.

This morning, I went to the worship workshop held at Restoration.  For almost three hours we went over every aspect of the morning service.  Joy was asked to volunteer to be a greeter to greet visitors.  The church pianist, Edna, also plays for Vernon AME church, which is down the street from Restoration.  She usually arrives just before the service starts.  It was decided that it would be nice to have some piano music for about ten minutes prior to the service starting.  I volunteered to play during that time.

The "Welcome" which had been coming around the middle of the service was moved up to the top.  The children's offertory was eliminated, in favor of having a collection bowl for coins which can be used at the beginning of the service.  The service used to end with the extinguishment of the candles.  Now music will be added as we exit.

Photos

 

This is a picture of the exterior of the library in Springfield, MO. 

 This library was not here when we moved from Springfield in 1986.

 

 

 

Here is a view inside a coffee shop within the library.

 

 

Here we see a couple of the stacks.  To the left is the teens area.

 

 

Inside the periodicals area is an exhibit on Route 66.

 

This picture and those below were taken on a volkswalk in Tulsa. 

Here we are looking at the 23rd St. bridge.

 

 

 

  

There are two paths along the west side of the river. 

One is for pedestrians; the other is for bicyclests.

 

 

This is the view underneath the 23rd St. bridge.

 

 

 

Here we see the west side of the 23rd St. bridge.  The two paths

become one, but the two areas are separated by stripping.

 

 

Here is another view of the 23rd St. bridge.

 

 

The tall cylindrical building is the University Club tower.  On election night in 2008, we watched news coverage from Barbara Frey's apartment on the 20th floor.  The building has been in the news recently as it was the scene of a murder.  A woman pushed her husband through a window, and he fell 17 stories to his death.

This is a view of the Arkansas River.  Due to the drought,

the river has dried up considerably.  Tire tracks are visible in this view.

 

 

 

 

Here is another view of the University Club tower.

The week in review

Last Sunday I went to Church of the Restoration at 10 am for the Religious Education hour.  Following that was the service at 11 am.  Vanessa was in charge of the service.  I had no meetings after church, and I came on home.

The next day, Monday, was duet rehearsal day.  We looked at some of the new music I bought while in Springfield.  Some of the pieces we played were The Pink Panther, Raiders of the Lost Arc, and I Got Rhythm.  (I'm leaving out the quotation marks to save time  because I'm lazy.)

On Tuesday evening, we went to the southeast campus of TCC to hear two concerts: the TCC Band and the TCC Symphony Orchestra.  We have a friend, Patty Mandrell, who plays percussion in the band.

Piano practice

Last Monday we were in Springfield and I had to miss my weekly piano practice with Gail.  We rescheduled the practice for Friday.  Because Gail had a tight schedule, she invited me to come to her house for today's practice.  I put my music in a canvas tote bag and drove to her house, about 20 minutes away in Tulsa. 

I bought some new music while in Springfield, some of which I took with me.  We also played the piece we are hoping to play at the next Humanist Sunday service.  We played from a new book some pieces by John Williams.  We finished up with Dvorak's Slovanic Dance No. 4.

Gail has three dogs who were excited to see me.  They sniffed and licked with abandon.  After a while, they settled down.

Nick got back from Colorado today.  Ayla is spending the night with us.

A trip to Springfield

Last Sunday we drove to Springfield, MO and visited my parents and my sister.  We came back to Sand Springs on Wednesday.  We took Paula out to Wal Mart where she did her grocery shopping.  My parents are still doing well at age 90.  Dad no longer drives due to macular degeneration.  Well, almost no longer drives.  He gets out a little bit, now and then.

Tonight we went to the Oklahoma Observer Discussion Group.  There were five of us there.  I asked that between now and the next meeting that the participants contact a person in government and express the view on some issue.  I read two letters I had written in the last month -- one to my Congressman and the other to the Governor.

A volkswalk and a HAT meeting

The title above pretty well sums up what I did today.

First we drove to the River West Festival area which was the start point for the monthly volkswalk sponsored by the Tulsa Walking Club.  After registering, we proceeded south along the west bank crossing the river on the 23rd St. bridge.  Then we went north to the 11th St. bridge where we crossed back over to the west bank and came back to the start point.  In all, it was 3.1 miles.

In the afternoon, we went to the HAT meeting at the Genealogy Center.  There were eight people present for the meeting.  It lasted for two hours.  Afterwards we ate dinner at the nearby Villiage Inn.

A Concert at TCC

Tonight we went to the TCC Southeast campus for a concert.  We heard the TCC Madrigal Show Choir, a Jazz Combo, and the Jazz Band.  The program began with two French madrigals, followed by two English madrigals.  Next was Hava Nagila, an Israeli folk song.  Last was Joyful, Joyful by Beethoven.

The TCC Jazz Combo performed Paul Desmond's Take Five.  Also performed was Charlie Parker's Yardbird Suite.  The TCC Jazz Band played music by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Count Basie.

We drove on the Creek Turnpike, avoiding the traffic of Tulsa.

Quoted

“We atheists lead happy lives, never concerned with the-dying-and-burn forever-in-hell nonsense. We know better. We enjoy happiness with our friends and neighbors and ignore all the greed and rituals that pay the parasite priests. Let them wallow in their medieval superstition while we enjoy all the wonders of our God-free universe.”

—Harry Harrison

Will you support research for Life Extension?

It seems that achieving a method of stopping and reversing aging is not out of the question.  If you would be willing to sign a petition to make research on aging a priority, then click on the link below and add your name to the petition.

 

http://signon.org/sign/presobama-fund-life-extensio

Day's activities

Today J and I went to a Lutheran church in Tulsa which was hosting a Hyechka performance.  First an organist played a few pieces on the church's organ.  Next the Hyechka chorus sang three or four pieces.  Closing out the program was a performance by Vicki Smith on harp.  Our reason for attending was our friend Gail Storey was one of the singers in the chorus.  We also saw and sat with Gail's sister Shirley and their friend Patti.

This evening we went to TU and heard Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow.  She spoke to a full room at the student center.

Week in Review

This week I saw my neurologist and got the results of the scans I had taken recently.  All is well.  There was no change since the previous scans taken in 2011.  My next scans will be in 2015.

We drove to Springfield on Wednesday and drove back on Thursday.  Paula said that after my parents are gone that she might want to move to Sand Springs.

Ho-Hum

One day has been pretty much like the next recently.  I noticed it has been just over week since I last posted anything, and lest anyone think I was missing, I decided to type something.

The big news lately has been the weather.  A cold front is moving through, and it appears we might get a little bit of snow.

Gail came over for our weekly practice today.  We usually play at 10 am, but this morning Gail came over at 2 pm.  She had a visit with her oncologist in the morning.  She got a good report from her doctor.

Tomorrow I will get the results of the scans (MRI & CT) which I had done about two weeks ago.

Yesterday, we had lunch at the Cracker Barrel.  We had a gift card we needed to use.

This and that

This past week was a washout, from my point of view.

Things started well enough with Gail coming over for our Monday piano rehearsal.  I had scans scheduled for Tuesday at 7:40 am.  I needed to be there at 7:10.  That meant we had to get up early to get over to Tulsa.  I had both an MRI and CT scan done.  About halfway through each procedure a contrast agent was inserted into a vein.  I have had this done before, but this time a contrast agent was introduced with both the MRI and CT.  I wasn't feeling at 100% prior to going to the hospital, I might add. 

We ate breakfast at the Crescent Cafe afterwards.  Then we came on home.  This was Tuesday the day Pres. Obama gave the State of the Union speech.  Being the political junkie that I am, I was looking forward to watching the speech; however, by that evening I was in bed feeling miserable.  I skipped hearing the speech in favor of trying to get more rest.  As the week wore on I regained strength.  I curtailed my activities and stayed inside to get rest.  Here it is Sunday, and I am back to where I was prior to getting the scans.  I was unable to make the Wednesday morning appt. to get the results of the scans.  That will have to wait another week and a half.  The scans are done to see if the tumor which was removed from my brain in 2007 is growing back.

On Saturday, I heard Dr. Stanley Rice of Southeast Oklahoma State University give a speech on Charles Darwin and Oklahoma.  While Darwin's ideas have been accepted throughout the world, here in Oklahoma he is still thought of as controversial.  There were around 40 people present to hear Dr. Rice.

Contemporary U.S. history was the topic for discussion in R.E. today.  The service was led by Rosemary Powell.  After the service three of us talked about chapters 7 and 8 of Zinn's A People's History.  Edna told me she would have to be absent on Mother's Day and asked me to fill in for her at the piano.

Another update

Last week we drove to Springfield on Tuesday and came back on Wednesday.

On Friday we attended the Tulsa Town Hall at the PAC.  Ann Compton of ABC News spoke.  She told about being with President Bush on 9-11.  She was the only news correspondent with Bush on the trip.

Friday evening at 7 pm was a meeting of the poetry group.  We are using the book How to Read a Poem by Burton Raffel.

Saturday I spent several hours reading The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.  That is the next book we are reading in the Methodist Book Club.  I finished the book today.

Today was Sunday.  Normally I attend Church of the Restoration; however, today I stayed home since I was not feeling 100%.  I drank lot of orange juice, hoping that it might have some salutary effect on me.

This evening we went to the Family Life Center (Methodist) for a chili competition.  Many kinds of chili were available as well as desserts.

Back from Springfield

Last Saturday night we were set to go to Randy's for Movie Night.  Randy called about an hour before the movie was to start and said he was at work and would have to stay there until they got a problem resolved.  Randy is a computer programmer.  I called Marilyn to let her know Movie Night was cancelled, but she had apparently talked to Randy and was aware of the cancellation.  She invited J and I to go with her to see a play being performed at the Heller Theater.  The play was Time Stands Still by Donald Marguiles.  The theater is small with seating for about 100.  The play contains much shouting and quarreling.  It was not my cup of tea.

The next day was Sunday.  We had RE at 10 and then the service at 11.  It was Humanist Sunday and the message was delivered by Larry Roth.  He gave a brief history of Humanism in the U.S.  There were about 15 people present.  Gail and I played "Cleopha" by Scott Joplin as the special music for the service. Afterward we shared a potluck dinner.  There was a young man there who played a drum that is often kept in the sanctuary.  I struck up a conversation with him and told him I used to play in a drum circle.  He expressed interest in getting into a drum circle.  I told him I would talk with Vanessa about starting a drum circle at the church.

On Monday, Gail came over and we worked on "Simple Gifts," a Shaker hymn.  That will most likely be our next selection to play on Humanist Sunday in March.  We also worked on Dvorak's "Slovanic Dance, Op. 46  No. 4" and Brahm's "Hungarian Dance No. 5."

Monday afternoon I went to St. Andrew Lutheran Church where a blood drive was in progress.  I donated a unit of blood.  They were short by two people and had to double up on the tasks.  It took longer than it usually does to donate blood.  After making the donation, I drank three small cans of cranberry juice.

Tuesday we drove to Springfield.  Dad's macular degeneration has affected his eyesight to the point where he does not get out driving like he once did.  I drove Dad to the barber shop.  Paula needed to be driven to a few places, so we took her around to those places.  We came back to Sand Springs today.

2013 Oklahoma Legislative Primer

If you ever wondered how state laws are made, the primer below can answer your questions.

http://okpolicy.org/resources/2013-legislative-primer

Randy Pausch addresses student

I just finish reading a book titled The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  The book is about Pausch discovering he has pancreatic cancer and only a few months left to live.  Below is a link in which you can watch a video of Pausch as he speaks to students at Carnegie Mellon University.  You will have to scroll down a little to find it.

http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=randy+pausch&v_t=comsearch51&b=image%3Fenabled_terms%3D%26s_it%3Dcomsearch51%26q%3Drandy%2Bpausch%26oreq%3D204a92aaa2ff4fe6941c692e847c1f85&img=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cs.cmu.edu%2F%7Epausch%2FRandy%2FRandy%2FwithMickey.jpg&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cs.cmu.edu%2F%7Epausch%2Fnews%2Findex.html&width=118&height=89&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fimages-partners-tbn.google.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcSX0FowKzHeDYhRMT7U3MSUZD5nbGLmr4gngJQnVm74RCOoVgrm-7a12AM&imgWidth=2848&imgHeight=2136&imgSize=1477529&imgTitle=randy+pausch