2008-10-03

Some days do not go as we plan! This was one of them for me. After Morning Offering, Mick and Gary set out on their Friday lawn care marathon. I was finishing my morning paper's puzzle when Mel called from downtown, needing a ride. She had brought her car in to be repaired, to a Saab repair shop in the west end of downtown Louisville. They expected to turn the car’s rotors by noon. However they found that more trouble lurked under the hood. So she could not simply wait for her car and drive out to Anchorage in late morning.

I went to pick her up, realizing that this was the perfect chance for us to continue right across the Ohio River to Clarksville, Indiana, where there is a particularly choice Goodwill shop. we'd talked last week about going there. So we had a successful search and I came away with plenty of purple and lavender tops for this winter. I could not find any pants or skirts in that color, so one more foraging trip remains before my Purple Winter is prepared.

As it happens, I had just gotten a call from Dr. J’s office when Mel called. They wanted me to pick up the MRI scan from Baptist East Hospital and have it ready for an appointment next week with the Spine Institute. The scan showed disc degeneration and pinched nerves, which is where the pain in my left arm and shoulders originates. Dr. J feels I am a good candidate for epidural cortisone treatments. These will keep the needed anti-inflammatory medicine in the local area and not coursing throughout my system.

Why they could not message the MRI to the Institute by e-mail I do not know.

So Mel wheeled me into the bowels of the hospital to Medical Records and I retrieved their CD copy of the scan. By this time it was after 2 p.m. We stopped to eat and Mel phoned to see if her Saab was ready. There was no joy at the mechanic’s! Her bill for repairing the car would be far more than she could afford. So all she could do today was go back to the shop, sit down with them and create a plan for working on the car in stages.

Unfortunately for getting back to the west end, the Saint James Court Art Fair is occurring this very weekend, in an area around Fourth Street. We needed to get to Seventh Street. It was a half-hour effort to get from First Street past Fourth! And then I had to go back across the same streets in order to get on the expressway back home. I made it to Camelot by 4:15 and by the time I had gotten the consignment tags off my new clothes, Mick was through with his maintenance for the day and proposed an early bath and date, since Romi and Lorena had suggested a dinner out together.

As I said, this was not the day I planned, although it certainly had its charms! Not for me to work on The Alphabet Mosaics today! In fact, I never even got to the Holly Journal, and missed chapel time completely. Some days are just like that! But it was a great feeling to help Mel out, plus i now have purple shirts and do not have to brave the trip to Baptist East Hospital solo. So all is very well.

Meanwhile, Lorena in the morning and Gary in the afternoon kept an eye out for the generator people. They arrived, finally, in mid-afternoon. Supposedly we were to be hooked up and good to go Wednesday. Things did not quite wind up, so they came back yesterday, but while one part worked, another part, a part which must be special-ordered, did not. Back to the drawing board! We won’t have a functioning generator until sometime next week when that part comes in.

Lorena spent her day working on the LOOP newsletter and got a rough draft ready by dinnertime. I will give it a look tomorrow and correct copy. then she'll be ready to print it out and mail it to our 'send' list.

Mick and I had a delicious, life-enhancing energy exchange and then rejoined the rest of the party. Gary, Mel, Romi, Lorena, Mick and I went to Tokyo Restaurant, where I had sashimi, Gary and Lorena had sushi and the rest had more orthodox Western selections of cooked food. It was a lovely evening! As we sat enjoying our full stomachs and satisfied palates, we shared the Gaia Meditation. I offered the closing prayer.