My North Carolina Trip

(I know this post seems really long, but if you hang in there, it gets better, and there are lots of pictures!)

Earlier this month, I was supposed to run the Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte, North Carolina. My daughter was going with me, and it was supposed to be my 27th marathon. I had already bought the plane tickets and arranged for an organist substitute.

I would have preferred to run the Outer Banks Marathon earlier in the fall, but the timing worked out better for this one. Also, I have a brother, Holden, in North Carolina, so I could combine it with a visit to see him. (He lives in Lumberton, but is often in Raleigh.)

Now with a stress fracture, I was obviously not going to be able to run the marathon. But I was determined to go to North Carolina anyway. Maybe it could be a trip like normal people have. You don't have to run a marathon every time you travel. I could be a tourist.

On crutches, it would be more difficult. I was going to have to plan activities at places that were handicapped-accessible, and I knew I would have to rent a wheelchair, because there were going to be some distances involved.

I got a tourist book and started planning the trip. Our flight was to Charlotte, but I decided that we'd rent a car and drive 170 miles to Raleigh, and start our tour of North Carolina from there.

There was trouble when we arrived in Charlotte. A bad omen was that there was no wheelchair waiting for me when we landed ~ airlines usually provide that service if you ask. I could not have walked the mile through O'Hare airport to our connecting flight, if there had not been a guy with a wheelchair in Chicago. But the Charlotte airport is not O'Hare, and I managed ok. I sent Audrey to get my suitcase at the baggage claim, and I crutched myself over to the rental car counter, and got a car.

I waited and waited, but Audrey did not meet me with the suitcase. It had never arrived in Charlotte!

When we finally found the United Airlines baggage claim guy, he assured us that my suitcase was on its way. I told him that we were planning to drive to Raleigh, and wondered how long we'd have to wait for my suitcase to arrive. He told us to go ahead to Raleigh ~ he would put my suitcase on the next flight, and someone from the Raleigh airport would deliver it right to my hotel, "maybe tonight."

He seemed so confident about that. Like it was no big deal, they do it every day. So I left for Raleigh without my bag. We already had a full day of activities planned in Raleigh, and it would be good to get there. I hoped that my bag would arrive. Certainly it would be there before we checked out the next day at noon.

I was given an 800 number to call, which was another bad omen. I know 800 numbers are useless. I was uneasy about this, but I called the 800 number immediately when we arrived in Raleigh, to let some guy in India know where we were staying, so that the Raleigh airport people could deliver my luggage to the Ramada Inn. The guy in India told me that my suitcase was en route, and what time it would arrive, but he could not tell me what time it would be delivered to the hotel.

I slept in my clothes, but I did not get much sleep. The bag did not arrive. I called the 800 number again, and got another guy in India. He said my bag had been sent from Charlotte to Raleigh, and that it had arrived even before the flight from Chicago to Charlotte. I found this to be rather implausible. I was beginning to doubt that I would ever see my suitcase again. I made sure the guy in India had my cell phone number, because I didn't feel like waiting at the Ramada all day for a suitcase that would never arrive. The problem was that the cell phone battery was almost dead, and the charger was in the suitcase. I wrote "buy a new charger" on our list of things to do.

We were meeting my brother at the art museum, but first I had to go to the wheelchair rental place, and also to a Rite Aid, to buy some toiletries. (The baggage claim guy in Charlotte had not bothered to give me a toiletry bag, because he was so sure I'd have my bag that evening.)

Finally, something went right. I was not excited about being in a wheelchair, but considered it a necessary evil. At the wheelchair store, they had a scooter-type thing. That would be so much better! You put your knee on this padded platform, and hold onto the handlebars while using your good leg to propel the scooter. It is easier to move around, and you are at eye level with able-bodied people. It kind of felt like a kid's toy at first! I thought, I could even run the marathon, with this thing! (It would only count as a half marathon at most, because I'd only be using one leg. So maybe not.) After a while, it did take a toll on my knee, but the rest of my body much prefered the scooter over the wheelchair. I was like a kid with a toy scooter and a bruised & skinned knee.

I scooted over to the art museum in Raleigh, and toured that with my brother and Audrey. I was so upset about the luggage, and the lack of sleep, and my overall grungy condition, that I can't say I fully appreciated the visit to the museum.

By mid-morning, I was angry that we would have to stay an extra night at the Ramada, because there was no word about the luggage. I called the guy in India and screamed at him. I don't scream very often. The 800 guys are trained to listen to screaming luggageless women, but this guy did not know where my bag was, and I knew it. The poor guy. I almost added "And I'm having lunch with a lawyer today!" Although it was true, I knew it was an empty threat.

The lawyer was my brother's friend, Laura. She told me she could not help me with the luggage, because she is a personal injury lawyer. I argued that I am obviously injured ~ I have a broken leg! She did not agree with my logic (of course, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on!), but it was nice to meet her, anyway, and we had a nice lunch. She is very smart, and a yoga practitioner. She was extremely calm. I needed that to rub off on me.


After the lunch, and a stop at Radio Shack to purchase a new charger for my cell phone, I still did not receive word about my bag. I was not going to spend another night in those clothes! I knew if I didn't take matters into my own hands, I would never get my luggage. All my attempts to speak to a real person who was not in India had failed. We declined Holden & Laura's invitation to attend a Shakespeare play with them that evening, and drove to the Raleigh airport.

After crying and complaining to the United Airlines baggage claim lady, I learned that my suitcase was in another terminal, at U.S. Airways baggage claim. United said that it was U.S. Air's responsibility to call them. U.S.Air said that it was United's responsibility. I said "My phone number is right there on the bag ~ why couldn't someone call ME?" They all said that was not within their responsibility.

I know that there is a lot of luggage that is never "claimed," and it goes to a store where it is sold, along with the contents. When I saw this on T.V. one time, I wondered how there could be so much luggage that is never claimed. Now I am beginning to understand. I never would have gotten my stuff back, if I had not spent the day being persistent.

Sigh. That was the bad part of the trip. The rest of it was more positive, I promise. So if you're still reading, here is the fun part of the trip...

After I got my suitcase, and took a shower and got into clean clothes, I fell asleep by 6:30 pm and woke up at 1 am. We had to leave Raleigh at 4 am, to make up for lost time and do the rest of our trip. We drove to the Outer Banks, and had breakfast at this wonderful little cafe.


In mid-December, a lot of the tourist attractions are closed, but that is a good thing in many ways. There was no traffic, and no crowds, and the prices for hotel rooms were very cheap. We lucked out on the weather ~ it was clear and cool ~ in the 50s, which is balmy, for us!

Our first stop was the Wright Brothers National Monument, where we listened to a talk about the first flight.



We learned a lot about the history of aviation, and the origin of lost luggage. An often overlooked facet of this narrative is that after Orville's famous 12-second flight that day in 1903, his luggage was nowhere to be found!

I tried on a suit to go with my astronaut boot.



With my scooter, I recreated Orville's flight, in the parking lot alongside the original airstrip. I was able to do it in 12 seconds, as well.

After the adventure at Kitty Hawk, we drove up to Corolla. In North Carolina, you have to be careful how you pronounce things ~ it's not like the Toyota, but it's "Co-RALL-a." It's a little town way up north on the Outer Banks, near Virginia. We had scheduled a "Wild Horses Adventure Tour," and we got there a little early, to see some other sights, which were closed.

Here is the lighthouse at Corolla...


...and here is the Wild Horses Museum. It is too bad that it was closed, but on the bright side, it saved us some time!


The Wild Horses Adventure Tour was the centerpiece of our trip. It was AWESOME! It was so much fun, that it deserves its own post, so stay tuned! I'll write about it later!

After the Wild Horses Adventure Tour, we had the most delicious meal at the Outer Banks Brewing Station, and got a very good rate at a hotel right on the beach.

In the morning, we collected seashells and flew kites.


I had to buy a kite with a monkey on it, of course. All of my monkeys have names beginning with "S" and ending with "-ly," so we were thinking this monkey would be named "Soarly," because he would soar through the air.


He turned out to be not so well-behaved, though, and we found out his name was "Swervely." Audrey had to do most of the work in getting this monkey to fly.

Part of the problem was that I did not have him assembled correctly at first. Once we got that figured out, Swervely had a short flight. It lasted longer than Orville's, so I'd say we did pretty well.


The other kite was so easy, it was almost boring.


After the kite-flying capers, we left the Outer Banks. On the way out, we wanted to visit Roanoke Island, where the Lost Colony was last seen. They had a Lindsay Warren Visitor Center, so we went inside to visit with Lindsay Warren. She showed us a video about the Lost Colony.


There were some remnants of a fort, although this was not exactly where the Colony was Lost. They're not sure where that was. It was Really, Really Lost. Even their luggage was lost.

There was also a place called the Elizabethan Gardens, so we visited that, too. Even though it was December, there was a lot of beauty to see. They had one of those electric wheelchairs I've seen in commercials ~ the "Hovaround" ~ and I was able to ride that all through the gardens, like a queen on her throne.

Here is a statue of some rival queen ~



This is the gnarliest tree I've ever seen!


The rose garden still had a few blooms, even in December.






Although we looked and looked, we did not find the Lost Colonists' Lost Luggage. All we found was beauty.

After we had seen enough beauty, we hit the road again, and made our way west across North Carolina. I did buy a souvenir at Fort Raleigh ~ this lighthouse puzzle. I thought I had solved the puzzle, but after I took the picture, I saw that I didn't quite get it. Do you see the parts that don't match up?


Later in the day, after much driving, we arrived at New Bern. It's pronounced "NOO-burn." (Holden says that's how anyone would pronounce it, but I think he's lived there so long he's just used to it. I would've said "Noo BAIRN, because I am corrupted by speaking German. I'd expect most people to say "Noo BURN." After all, you don't say NOO-york, do you?)

I had hoped to see the Fireman's Museum, because my friend Jim is crazy about firefighting stuff. Unfortunately, the museum was closed.

So we went to the Tryon Palace, which was open, but not handicapped-accessible! So we were only able to watch a short film about the place.

After spending the night in Goldsboro, we finally arrived in Lumberton, where my brother lives. We went to his daughter's indoor soccer game.



I now have a lot of video of Nikki running around the soccer court. (Is it called a court?) The camera is focused on her the whole time, whether she is anywhere near the ball or not. Because that is what a kid's soccer game looks like to a parent or an aunt.

Holden and Audrey cooked dinner, and we got to visit with two of his three daughters while we were there.

I had bought him a Kansas City Chiefs shirt, and then found out that he no longer liked the Kansas City Chiefs. But he seemed to really like the shirt anyway. It came with a recipe for pink underwear.

Recipe for Pink Underwear

Ingredients: One new Kansas City Chiefs shirt
One package new white underwear (not included)

Wash in hot enough water until done


After spending the night in Lumberton, we drove on to Charlotte. We spent the day at the Mint Museum. (The building used to be a mint, where they made money, hence the name. Art museums probably do not make a lot of money, so there is always a box for donations, even at the Mint Museum.) I had intended to take us to the Mint Museum of Art, but we got there and discovered it was the Mint Museum of Craft and Design. So we visited that, and then drove across town to the art museum. They were both very nice. I think there is a fine line between art and craft ~ there were pieces in each museum that I thought could go in the other museum!

We got to the airport in plenty of time, and because of bad weather in Chicago, both our flights were delayed. So we got home at three in the morning. Fortunately for United Airlines, my luggage arrived at the same time. I think I would've killed somebody if it hadn't. Probably that guy in India.

I am So Dense

When I had my first stress fracture (four years ago), one of the tests that the doctor ordered was a bone density screening. He advised me that my insurance company, Blue Cross, did not like to pay for this test, so I might have to pay for it myself.

I thought it would be a good test to have, so I hoped that the insurance would cover it. Who wouldn't want to know about their bone density? Maybe I had a bone density problem, and maybe that was why I had the stress fracture! Knowing this would help me choose actions that would avoid problems in the future, saving Blue Cross many thousands of dollars.

So I went for the test. And it made me Scared Straight. My bone density was not good. The doctor at the lab said that I was "on the verge of bone loss." But the good news is that this can be reversed somewhat by eating properly and taking calcium supplements.

He also said that I had a "hip axis length" that put me at considerably increased risk for hip fracture. There is nothing I can do about this, but I could take extra measures to keep my bones strong, so that I don't incur any more risk by having low bone density on top of it.


So I became a calcium junkie. I learned that the body has a hard time absorbing all the calcium you try to feed it, so it wouldn't hurt to take extra. Caffeine, especially, can interfere with the absorbtion of calcium. Well, I'm not going to give that up, so add more calcium.

From that day, I have taken 3 calcium pills a day (600 mg each), in addition to my multivitamin. I've been pretty religious about it, too.

I also learned that there is calcium in food ~ go figure! So I started eating real food with calcium and other good stuff in it, rather than the nutrient-poor foodlike substances I had been getting at the drive-thru restaurants. I haven't been quite as religious about that, but most people think I am a healthy eater. At least I eat healthier than I used to.

At the time of my Reformation, I thought "wouldn't it be nice if I could have this test again in a few years, to see if I reversed my bone loss?"

Well, I got my wish! All I had to do was break my leg again, and the doctor sent me for another bone density test, warning me that Blue Cross would not want to pay for it.

Guess what! It worked! My bones are now solidly in the "average" category for my age, and improved since the last exam. Taking calcium and eating right really did help.

I think sometimes we dismiss the importance of eating right, thinking it can't have an effect. So we go along eating our McDonalds and our pizza, and don't bother taking vitamins.

I have heard that strength-building exercise also improves the bones. That is the next thing I need to make a habit of, because I've been dismissing the importance of it. I'm determined to do everything I can to make up for having a long hip axis, so that when I am older, I will not break my hip, and I will save the insurance company so much money!!

Blue Cross needs to send me a thank you note.

I Got the Boot

I've been AWOL in my posting lately ~ but I've had an excuse. The screaming pain in my right leg led me to a misguided attempt at a solution, which resulted in every runner's worst fear ~ a stress fracture.

This is not my first stress fracture. Four years ago, when I first started running, I got one by overtraining. This one is in the same leg, but I am fairly certain it was caused by trying to run a marathon in a do-it-yourself orthotic. It was desperate, moreso than stupid ~ nothing was working, and it was the only thing I could think of to try.

I ended up running a half marathon instead of a full ~ I could tell at mile 2 that I was not going to make it 26.2 miles. It was at about mile 8 that it started to feel like the sharp, localized pain of a stress fracture, instead of the generalized, twisty pain I had been experiencing due to my biomechanical problem. When it did not get better after a couple of days back home, I knew what it was, and anticipating the doctor's orders, I dug the astronaut boot and the crutches out of the closet, and hobbled over to see him.

"I concur with your diagnosis," the doctor told me, and ordered me to be on crutches for the next month.

I immediately started negotiating with him. Last time, the crutches caused my arms and hands to become numb after two weeks, and I ended up using a wheelchair to save my hands from long-term injury. (Being a musician, I cannot afford to sacrifice my hands!)

I think he could see that a wheelchair would be overkill, so he said the boot and a cane would be ok some of the time. The idea is not to put any weight on it. I negotiated that, too. So he said 10 pounds. I don't know how to measure how much weight is on my leg, so my strategy is just to try to be as good as I can.

I think I've been about 93% compliant. There are times when you just have to put some weight on your leg. I am sure that using a cane and the boot does not make me entirely weightless on one side, even if it is an astronaut boot. I can use crutches (zero weight), but when you use two crutches, you can't carry anything, and there's that aforementioned problem about the hands. You can't really use crutches in the shower. And I am not going to crutch myself across a stage to sit at the piano during a concert!

So I have chosen my sins carefully, and then I've made up for them by lying around on my tush whenever I'm not carrying or showering or under the spotlight.

I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it. It takes a great deal more time and mental energy to go anywhere or do anything than it used to. Just getting my coffee in the morning is a challenge. I have to have coffee before I can function. I use the two-crutch system to get to the kitchen, because I have to have coffee before I can boot up. Once the coffee is made, there are a couple of ways to get it to the table. My preferred method is the "bucket brigade" ~ my furniture is lined up to pass the bucket of life-saving liquid to where it is urgently needed. I set the cup down, take a step, move the cup to the next surface, take a step, move the cup, etc.

Of course, when people see me ~ even strangers ~ they give me a look of pity, and often ask me how it happened. I pinned my race number to the boot, to help put a positive spin on the story. My usual response is to smile brightly and say "It's a running injury ~ from running marathons!" (and then, sheepishly,) "I'm kinda proud of it." If they insist on frowning and telling me that it's a bad thing, I try to console them, and remind them that it's only temporary, and could be worse.

That's what I say to people. But just between you and me, I have only had a limited amount of positive attitude. Just enough to get me through the day, and then I come home and wallow in self pity. That is why I haven't blogged. My hands are numb. Frankly, this sucks, and I've just had to get my work done, and limp through Christmas, ... I haven't felt like I wanted to go online and blog about it. It has taken this long to get the whining restricted to this one paragraph here. A paragraph which is coming to an end, so that's it for complaining.

I have a lot of fun stuff to blog about ~ I've been saving things up whilst awaiting a break in the activity (I just wish the break didn't have to be in my leg!) ~ Now that I have a week off, and happy thoughts, more or less, I'll be writing a lot of posts.

The first week in January, I go back to the doctor. I assume he is going to take another x-ray, and my mobility in the immediate future will depend on what he sees. If he sees his shadow, it will mean six more weeks of crutches. So I'm hoping for a cloudy day.

Trying New Foods

Last week, I went to a haunted house that my friends put on every year. It is an extremely elaborate production. They get a kick out of scaring little kids (and big kids). The can adjust the scariness level for the visitors' sensitivities ~ Level one (not very scary) would be for a three-year-old; I suppose Level Infinity would be for the typical middle school boy.

I did not know what level they were going to use on me, so I put my hands on my daughter's shoulders and walked her in front of me, using her as a human shield. I got teased about it later, but hey, you do what you need to do.

I do the same thing with new food.

I had heard all kinds of good things about Ezekiel Bread. It's supposed to be so much healthier than regular bread. So I bought some a while back. When I got home, I stuck it in the freezer. It was unfamiliar to me. When I am hungry, I tend to reach for the familiar.

Yesterday, my daughter stopped by, and was about to make herself some peanut butter crackers, but she forgot to bring the crackers.

I said, "I have some Ezekiel bread ~ you ought to try that ~ I hear it's really good for you!"

She waved it off, knowing that my bread would probably have freezer burn. But I persisted, pushing the bread on her. "Try it ~ if it has freezer burn, you don't have to eat it."

It turned out to have only minimal freezer burn, so she ate the bread. Now I feel like I can eat the rest of the loaf. It's in the fridge right now, and I am going to make a peanut butter sandwich in a little bit, with my new kind of healthy bread. Now that I know it's safe.

I need to get in the habit of trying new foods. My eating has gotten boring lately, and I have even fallen back into eating more convenience foods, because they are easy and cheap and familiar.

Recently I was inspired by a blogger who is trying one new recipe per week. The idea has been percolating, and I am ready to take it on as a goal now. (Thanks, Lesley!)

I'm going to start with the crock pot. That's always good this time of year.

Cooking new foods is always a multi-step project, not a simple action, so I'm going to have to be organized about this. Today I will zero in on a new recipe, and make a shopping list. I might not be able to get to the store until as late as Monday, but I hereby commit to having a new food creation no later than Tuesday. And I will do this at least once a week. It's going on my Sciral Consistency right now. I will let you know how it goes! (And I won't make my daughter be the first one to taste it.)

Our Country Finally Has a Leader

I feel a great sense of relief. Over the last few weeks, I had some hope that I would feel this way, and a few days ago, I even dared to start expecting that it would finally happen.

Eight years ago, when our current Resident was elected, I was in despair. I remember saying, "He is going to be a disaster of a president!" I didn't know how true that would turn out to be, and that it would go on for eight nightmarish years.

I've always voted for whom I thought was the better candidate, but there's always been a "lesser of two evils" quality about it. They've always been just "good enough." I approached this election with that same mindset, although I did think this candidate was better than the previous ones.

Now I'm starting to see Obama as more than that. He has conducted himself with dignity, spoken with thoughtful intelligence, and hasn't made any major blunders. He strikes me as someone who is not driven by his ego.

I hope that the people who opposed him will give him a chance. He seems to be very much a pragmatist, who will work cooperatively with people who hold different opinions, rather than pushing his own agenda.

This election is momentous on so many levels. Seeing so many promising signs in the days leading up to the election, I was finally able to relax enough to reflect on some of those.

It is impossible to miss the fact that he is the first African-American president, although I have been joking that I hadn't noticed that. ("He's black??! I thought he was Irish! I thought I was voting for the Irish guy! ~ O'Bama.") What is surprising to me is that "First African-American President" is not the headline. OK, I know it was the headline in some newspapers, but it was not mentioned in most of the headlines, and it is not the headline in the newspaper in my head. (My headline says, "Whew. We Finally Have a Leader.")

But when I do think about it, it is so amazing. Obama is just a year older than I am. Early in our lifetime, he would have had to ride in the back of the bus. I vaguely remember the civil rights era, and have seen our country evolve in its wake, often through violent events and ugly rhetoric. I know there is still racism. I was sure we could elect a black president eventually, but I didn't think it would happen this soon. I am gobsmacked.

But it is not just about how far we've come. Some of it is due to the fact that Obama is not just one of the "good enough" candidates. He seems to be in a different category. It struck me, during his victory speech, that he talked about the 106-year old woman, seeing the past through her eyes, and then spoke about what would be said 100 years from now. He has a vision that extends beyond our immediate lifetime. That is something that has been lacking in the leadership of our country, even in the "good enough" politicians.

I hope that he lives up to the promise of the extraordinary human being that he appears to be. I don't take any stock in the overblown expectations, or "deification" silliness that I've been hearing about. I'm just regarding the way he has handled everything during the campaign. I think if he just continues in the same manner, he will be not just good enough. He could be one of our Great Presidents.

I hope.

I Don't Get Daylight Saving Time

Apparently, the idea is that you can save energy by chopping an hour off the end of the day, and tacking it on to the beginning. (And in the Spring, vice-versa).

I've never gotten that. I don't benefit from the time change. Even in the Fall, I don't get an extra hour sleep. It takes me an hour to figure out how to change all the clocks, and change the battery in the smoke detector. In the Spring, I lose two hours. And both times, I end up feeling like I have jet lag all week. I'm sure I'm losing energy, not gaining it.

But the government thinks it's a good idea.

I don't like it, because it gets dark earlier now. I like to get my running done before it gets dark, especially with the weather getting cooler. I'm not a morning runner, so that's not the answer.

There's gotta be a way to turn Daylight Saving Time to my advantage for running.

So I figure, by a similar kind of logic, maybe I can get more running done, and use less energy, if I cut a mile off the end of my run, and add it to the beginning of my run. That last mile is often the hardest, after all. Might as well get it over with first thing!

In the Spring, I'll turn it around, and put the first mile at the end of the run.

Halloween Scariness

This morning, my cousin sent me one of those "getting to know you" surveys. I enjoy exchanging these with my cousin, so I answered it. One of the questions was "What are you most afraid of." She responded with something about Obama. She thinks that if he is elected president, he will do nothing to protect us from terrorists. I was not surprised by this answer, because I knew she was of that persuasion.

I did not want to give a "turnabout is fair play" answer, so I thought about what scares me most. To be honest, I'm not all that afraid. I'm deeply concerned about certain things, but I wouldn't describe it as fear.

Still, if I had to answer "what am I most afraid of?" I would have to say that it is what might happen if Obama is not elected president. I have a lot of reasons for this, which I will not go into right now.

Today is Halloween, and it's a time to think about scary things. In a fun way, if possible. So here is a fun take on scary things.

My daughter mentioned that the "Joker" from the new Batman movie will be the most popular costume this year.

I told her the Joker could never be as scary as the Penguin, as played by Burgess Meredith in the original TV series.

When I was about three or four, the Penguin scared the living daylights out of me. It was his cackle, I think. I would run to my mommy, traumatized, and she had to limit my TV watching.

My daughter is not familiar with the original Batman show, so I looked online for a video clip of the Penguin. I wanted her to see what a true comic book villain was like.

What I found was this clip of the "Batman/Penguin Debate." It turns out that my childhood fear was prescient. (And I think I need to limit my TV watching, until after the election.)

Tomato Plant Requiem

I am in mourning. Today, I had to face up to the fact that my hydroponic garden was going nowhere.

I had to pull the plug.

I lit a monkey candle, and am grieving the loss of my tomatoes that never were.

It's not Aerogarden's fault. I think I just didn't know enough about how to prune tomatoes. I made some crucial mistakes early on, and the poor buggers didn't have a chance.

I know that not all of this is about tomatoes. I am dealing with some roadblocks in other areas of life, and going through a rough patch. I have known for a long time that my tomato garden was a lost cause. But now would be a good time to make a scapegoat of my fruitless gardening attempt, and throw it all into the dumpster. Maybe that will help me though the other difficulties as well.

I will be sad for a while. I don't know what the natural grieving process is for broken tomato dreams.

Pretty soon, I will try again. I've learned a few things about pruning, and Aerogardening. When the time is right, I'll take all of what I've learned in the process, and try again. Eventually, I will grow a successful tomato.

But now, I will cry.

Banana Salad

On Monday, the community college choir I accompany had a concert featuring a piece called "Aeyaya Balano Sakkad." When I first saw the title, I said "Oh, a song about banana salad!" and from then on, the students referred to the song as "Banana Salad."

So to celebrate their fine performance, today I made a banana salad for them. Judging from what was left (see the picture), it went over pretty well. I forgot to add the sugar, and was worried it wouldn't be sweet enough for most people's tastes, but I think it turned out just fine. There is sugar in the Jello, and also in the Cool Whip. And everyone seems to be eating Halloween candy this week, so I think we have plenty of sugar in our lives.

The song was a traditional Hindu folk song, in mixolydian mode, celebrating the Diwali holiday, or the "Festival of Lights," which takes place this time of year. I am told that it actually started yesterday. So, happy Diwali, everyone!

I am almost certain that a good Hindu would not celebrate Diwali by eating Jello, so do not mistake this for an authentic ethnic cuisine. But the students seemed to like it.

Recipe for Banana Salad:

Dissolve 2 small boxes strawberry/banana Jello in 2 cups boiling water in a 9x13 pan. Stir until the Jello is dissolved.

Add 1/2 cold water, and about 20 oz frozen sliced strawberries (I used the unsweetened kind), and 3 bananas, sliced.

Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, mix 4 oz cream cheese and a package of Cool Whip. You can also add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, but I forgot to do this.

Spread it over the Jello salad. Top with pecan pieces.

Before serving, cut up 2 more bananas, and put them on top.

Recipe for spatula, in case you forget to bring one from home:

Take three plastic forks, and tape them together in the shape of a spatula.



I hope that next semester, we can sing about lasagna casserole.

The Bishop Was Here, But You'll Just Have to Imagine the Visuals!

(I goofed, and posted something that was copyrighted, and my post was removed. I'm not sure exactly what it was that I wasn't supposed to post, but I'm guessing it was a picture. So here is my post without the pictures. I also removed the links to the audio, although I don't think that was the offending content. Who knows? I wish they would have been more specific. Anyway, you'll just have to use your imagination... If I find out that the audio was ok, I'll put it back in later.)

(Later edit: I put the second musical link back in, because I'm pretty sure it's fair use. I'll be ready to stand corrected, if I get slapped again.)

(Edited again ~ I think it was the sound file after all, so I removed the link. Go figure!)

(Edited one last time ~ I added a picture I took on the day I went to practice the organ.)



Today the Bishop, Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, was in town. All of the Episcopal Churches in the Diocese of West Missouri met together at the Community of Christ Auditorium in Independence, in lieu of having services in the individual churches.

I was one of several organists who were asked to contribute seven minutes to the prelude of the service.

This was rather daunting, for several reasons. This is the biggest organ in the Kansas City area, and I am not very well acquainted with it. With four manuals, and all those stops and pistons, I thought surely there would be a button somewhere for switching off the wrong notes, but I never did find one. So I included some wrong notes in my musical offering.

I estimate that there were about 1,200 people there, including a mass choir. This was actually reassuring, though. With that many people present, that means that at the very most, only one twelve-hundredth of it was about me. That kind of took the pressure off.

But another thing did make it very intimidating for me. Some of the best organists in the area participated in this service. I knew that they would be extremely accomplished and well-prepared. Also, I predicted (correctly) that they would select very sophisticated pieces of music that would showcase their skills.

My academic musical training was not in organ ~ I came from a small liberal arts college ~ and that was a long time ago ~ so I am not very well-versed in organ literature. I am a pianist who learned to play in the "close enough" style, mostly on the job. Recently, I've done some extracurricular study, but I am not in the same league with these guys, either in repertoire or skill.

When I made my selections, I knew that they would be "service music," in contrast to the more intricate works that others would be playing. I think this is okay. It was a service, after all, not an organ recital, and service music is where I live. I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not. The prelude would be a time of commotion, as people come in chatting and finding their seats, so I thought it would be nice to have some music that didn't challenge the listener a great deal. Something with clarity and good taste.

I played two settings of a hymn called "All My Hope on God is Founded," both by Michael Burkhardt. The tune itself is wonderfully irregular in its meter, and it is a good, sturdy tune that has become one of my favorites.

I recorded these with a cassette tape recorder at my one and only practice session on the organ, and will try to post the sound files on this blog. I have never posted an audio file, so I hope it works.

The first setting is pretty straightforward, but I did not do some of the things the composer indicated. I restricted myself to the limitations of the organ I usually practice on, and although the auditorium organ certainly does not have these limitations, I didn't feel comfortable doing anything different from what I do in practice. So the organ is huge, but I only played a small fraction of it! (A footnote on the score indicates that the piece quotes Herbert Howells' Psalm Prelude, Op. 32, No. 1. Coincidentally, the organist right before me played Op. 32. No. 2!)

The second setting is festive ~ an ornamented trumpet tune with lots of sparkly stuff and a couple of sudden modulations that could sound like a cheap thrill, but I think the composer did them tastefully. Anyway, I get a kick out of this piece ~ it's kind of a guilty pleasure.

I did feel like I stuck out a little, playing pieces like this in the midst of all that organ literature. But I think they were good selections for the occasion, and for the kind of organist I am. And although I was way out of my comfort zone, I didn't screw up too badly.

The Gospel reading was something along the lines of "whoever is greatest must be the least, and whoever is least shall be the greatest." In that context, I did great!

I Started an Online Running Journal

I had been keeping a running journal in a Word document, but that wasn't inspiring me very much. For some reason, I feel that it would be better to keep a record of my running online. No one except me will look at it, probably, but just the thought that somebody could makes me think "I'd better not slack off too much."

I don't recommend subscribing to it. It's not going to be very interesting. Just facts and figures, mostly, to document my progress toward my goal (5k at age 100). But sometimes I like to look at other people's running logs, and find them informative, so here it is, in case anyone's interested!

I still plan to put the more interesting things (like race reports and philosophical musings and inspirational thoughts) on this here blog.

If you are looking for the training journal blog, you can find it by going to my profile.

1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning Photo is Now a Video!

This iconic photo won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944. It was shot by Earle "Buddy" Bunker of the Omaha World-Herald at the train station in Villisca, Iowa, where my mother lives.

The soldier in the photo is Bob Moore. My mother worked for Bob and his brother Bill at the drugstore one summer. She tells me, "...but I kept asking for time off to go to Methodist youth meetings (I was a conference and district officer). They got awfully irritated, especially Bill. He did not like me using four scoops instead of three for the malts and milkshakes, either."

I think it is pretty cool to have family connections to such a famous photograph.

A lot of people in Villisca get annoyed because Villisca's other claim to fame is that it is the site of a 1912 ax murder, Iowa's most notorious unsolved crime. If Villisca gets any attention at all, it is usually because of the ax murder. An award-winning documentary was recently produced on this subject.

Ironically, five of the victims of the ax murder were members of the Moore family, close relatives of the WWII hero in the above photo. (The other two victims were distant relatives of mine, by marriage.)

Villisca was recently in the news for something really cool, though ~ When that WWII homecoming photo was snapped, Eva Croxdale, mother of the little boy in the photo, was shooting a home video. That video has now turned up in the home of Leyton Croxdale (son of the little boy in the photo) ~ and there is a very interesting article about it here.

My grandmother worked for Dr. Ed Croxdale (Eva's husband) for many years. Dr. Croxdale really liked my grandmother, my mom tells me.

I will try to put the video here on my blog, but I'm not sure I know how to do it. If it doesn't work, please go to the article linked above, and watch the video ~ it is very cool!

Homecoming revisited from GazetteOnline.com on Vimeo.

Celebrate Normal!

I finished my round of annual women's health exams, by having a mammogram this morning.

Not my favorite thing to do. I hate going for these tests every year. Filling out the forms is enough of a hassle. But the whole thing is just uncomfortable. Talk about being vulnerable! There are a lot of other things I'd rather do on a Friday morning. Like working.

And so far, I've always been told "everything's fine!" I used to think, "well, that was a pain ~ glad it's over!" and go on with my day, slightly annoyed that I had to go through all that.

Last year, I decided to look at it in a new way. When you think about other possible scenarios, "everything's normal" is very good news indeed. It's fantastic. It's wonderful! It's the best thing that could possibly happen!

It calls for a celebration, in fact. We should never let these things go uncelebrated. I'm not going to throw a party, but I will quietly exult for the rest of the weekend. There was a Panera on the way home, so I stopped in and let them fix me a tuna sandwich, and I accepted potato chips as a kind of a treat. I don't eat potato chips every day, but with a clean bill of health, I figure I can indulge once in a while.

I won't celebrate with junk food all weekend, though. I started thinking about what kind of food would be appropriate to commemorate another year of good health. In honor of the mammogram, I think I will get some squash!

And the Mystery Runner Is...

...my friend Eddie!!

Eddie is a brilliant man who designs GPS systems for aircraft.

A few weeks ago, he told me that he wanted to start exercising, for better health, and he was thinking about running. Of course, I encouraged him to try it! I told him that there was a couch-to-5k program online, and it would be a very realistic goal to work up to running a 5K this fall. I said, if he wanted to, I would run with him for his first 5k.

We decided on the Kansas City Marathon 5k, which was this morning. This is the second week in a row I have run with someone named Ed.

Many times Eddie has astounded me by doing things that I didn't know he could do. I was one of his music teachers in high school, and then he took my piano class in college. He was one of those students who was better than I was, in some ways (technique), so I had to keep focusing on the things (musical maturity) where I still had him outranked. Nowadays, he outranks me in just about everything!

I told him to go to organist camp (the American Guild of Organists' "Pipe Organ Encounters"), and I even drove him to Minnesota for that, because I thought he should become an organist. Now he plays circles around me.

I didn't think he could sing scat, and then he did. I didn't think he could play Brahms with as much passion as intellect, and then he did. So I stopped selling him short, and now I just expect him to do the impossible. And he does.

That is what I like about running, and since I only became a runner very recently, I am still aware of that phenomenon. When you start running, there is a certain distance or duration that is impossible. Say, two blocks or so, or maybe 60 seconds of running. And then you run it. Then there is another impossible thing. And you do it. It is a succession of impossible things, and you keep doing them! Pretty heady stuff.

So I jumped at the chance to make Eddie a runner. All I had to do is tell him about the training program, and send him to the right store for shoes. He did the rest.

And now he's a runner!

Of course, I take credit for everything he knows and does. That's one of the secrets of great teaching. Have brilliant students.

I had to pick up my packet on Thursday, because I was out of town Friday. While I was down there by Union Station, I decided to pick up my tickets for a train trip I'm taking this spring.

Union Station is the best piece of architecture in Kansas City. It is not very well utilized, but at least they didn't make the mistake of tearing it down, like they almost did!

Inside the station, there happened to be a model train set up ~ I'm sure it is a temporary exhibit. I love miniatures, and when there are trains involved, it is even better!

I saw this cute little train station, and had to look closely at the town name printed on the sign. It said "Marathon."


This part of the display had a replica of the Western Auto building, a Kansas City landmark.



Miniatures are so adorable.


Oh yes, back to the 5k. It was such a blast! The weather was 40 degrees cooler than last week's run in Chicago!

I asked Eddie about his training, and he said the couch-t0-5k was really difficult for him, and he could not keep up with it, if you go by the book. But he did keep running, or run-walk-ing, which is very sensible, and which is what I do. His mile, he said, was about 13 minutes. He was hoping to do the 5k in 4o minutes. I said that sounded very reasonable.

I have run with people for their first 5ks before, and my approach is to try to discern what their goal is ~ whether they are concerned about time, or whether they just want to finish, and have it be pleasant. Then, if they are concerned about time, I try to strike a balance. I attempt to challenge them just enough so that they do not want to strangle me.

We agreed on run/walk intervals of 2:2. I figured this was maintainable. I counseled that it would be a good idea to start out slowly ~ most people go out too fast at first.

When we started out, he was running pretty fast! I thought "He's faster than he said he was!" I actually got out of breath more than he did in those first few segments. But I think the excitement of the race had an effect, because then the pace moderated a little. When it seemed like he was having difficulty at the end of the run segment, I said "let's take the next one a little easier." At one point I said "Just run to the mile marker, and then take a little extra walk break."

I was fairly sure, by the first mile, that we would make his goal, if we could keep the pace up.

The middle mile was, I think, the toughest mentally.

It is an amazing thing, this run/walk method. Doing 2:2, we were walking at least half the time! Yet, I am absolutely sure that Eddie would've had a slower time if he had run the entire thing. Most of the people aound us were running steadily the whole time, but when we ran, we passed people like crazy. The walk breaks give you recovery time, so you are able to run faster. Along with saving wear and tear on your joints, it helps you run at a faster pace.

When I run marathons, I usually do 4:1 or 3:1. When I got my PR, I was doing 9:1 (It just about killed me.) But when I tried 1:1 (that's walking half the time!), my total time was only 10 minutes slower than usual, and I was running strong all the way to the end.

Toward the end of the 5k, the motorcycle cops came up behind us, to clear a path for the leader of the half marathon, who was catching up with us. The half marathon had started a half hour earlier, so this really fast runner was about to overtake us. I think he was Kenyan. As I said in another post, I am often ahead of those guys.

The last half-mile was downhill, and I think Eddie got his second wind, perhaps inspired by the Kenyan runner. As we were approaching the finish line, we had been running for almost two minutes ~ the agreement was to run across the finish line, even if it was supposed to be a walk break. So I turned off my beeping watch, so that it would not beep. That would be de-motivating.

Almost to the finish line, I said, "Sprint, Eddie!" and the lady ahead of me suddenly started sprinting! Maybe her name was Eddie, too.

We sprinted, and finished in exactly the same time ~ 38:32. Woo-HOO! He said "I did not know if I could do this!" (I know the feeling. Also, I know the feeling of getting choked up and almost crying when I finish a running event. He had that, too.)

So it was a big thrill to do this. I felt like this week has been so eventful, and this was the icing on the cake.

As I drove back home, I deliberately planned my route to cross paths with the half marathoners, who were still running. There was a cop, directing traffic.



I ran the KC marathon two years ago. Last year, I was registered for the half marathon, but couldn't do it, because I accidentally signed up for the Sioux City marathon the same day. Oops. Now I've done the 5k, but I haven't done the half. Usually, if there is a half marathon around here, I run it. Maybe next year, I will run the KC half marathon.

The Kansas City Marathon is said to be one of the most beautiful urban courses, and I guess you could say that is true. I can recommend the 5k as well, although there was one thing that marred it ~ the bottleneck going through the finisher's area to get bananas and other goodies. They could have set that up a little better! I don't like standing in a crowd, but I wanted my banana. I earned that banana.

Under a Little Less Pressure Now

The surgery was a success.

Over the past 5 years or so, my mother was having difficulty. She recently retired from her career as a Presbyterian/UCC minister, but of course, as the sign in the novelty store says, "Old ministers never retire ~ they're just put out to pastor." So, like any good retired minister, she kept working, doing interim jobs and supply preaching nearly all the time. And she traveled overseas a lot.

But she was having more and more difficulty. The most obvious thing was that she couldn't walk normally. She couldn't seem to pick up her feet from the ground, so she would shuffle, and her balance was off. It got so she couldn't walk more than a few blocks.

I thought it was mostly arthritis, but that it could be other things that I don't know about. I know about arthritis, because I have it, from running too much. But I went to the doctor, and found out what I could do to make it go away, so I could keep running too much.

I kept telling Mom to go to the doctor. I also asked my daughter and my brother to tell her to go to the doctor. Maybe if enough people told her, she would do it. (She said she was too busy. Until there was a break in all the activity of her retirement. Then she finally went. Audrey gets the credit, because she was the last one to tell her, before she finally made the appointment.)

So she went to the doctor, and was hospitalized that day. They said she might have a brain tumor. In the hospital, they found a diagnosis that we were much happier with.

What my mom had was "Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus," otherwise known as "water on the brain." There are many things that can cause it, but it commonly happens after age 60. In fact, Billy Graham had it, and recently had the same surgery. So I think it is caused by preaching.

We waited a long time to find out when the surgery was going to be. Mom was planning to go to Chicago with us, and even reserved an expensive hotel room in downtown Chicago. But then we found out that the surgery would be a few days after the marathon, so she decided she'd better stay home and rest up. She still helped us with the hotel room, though. (Thanks, Mom!)

So the day after the marathon, Audrey and I drove to Iowa, and took Mom to Omaha for the surgery. We spent a day at the hospital, going to various doctors and anesthesiologists and lab technicians. It was good to meet these people who were going to be messing around with my mom's head.

On the wall, there were photographs of some of the distinguished physicians of this hospital, and my mom's surgeon was one of them. I told her "I'm going to take his picture!" She said I should just leave it there on the wall.

With the help of the doctor and a magazine article in Neurology Now, I think I understand more about this disease.

In the inside part of the brain, we have these cavities called ventricles. There is fluid in the ventricles that helps to cushion the brain, and deliver nutrients, and take away waste. Normally, we produce about 8 oz of this fluid each day, and it gets absorbed into the body as we create more fluid.



But with hydrocephalus, we produce the fluid faster than the body can absorb it. (I think the problem is on the absorbing end, not on the producing end.) So it builds up, and presses on the brain. This can cause headaches, trouble walking, balance problems, bladder control problems, and dementia, among other things.

Since these symptoms can look like normal signs of aging, or like Parkinson's Disease, or other things, the diagnosis is often missed. A lot of people in nursing homes have this, and it's undiagnosed. My mom is lucky, because they got it right away! (To diagnose it, you have to have an MRI or a cat scan.)

The way to treat this, usually, is to install a shunt, to drain off the extra fluid. Mom now has a length of tubing running from her brain to her abdomen, carrying off the extra water. The cool thing is that now they have these adjustable shunts, so the doctor can control how much fluid is drained from the ventricles. They didn't used to be adjustable, and people had more problems with them. (I think Billy Graham had the old kind, and he recently went in to have it replaced with the adjustable kind.)

If you drain too much fluid before your brain gets used to it, you can have bleeding complications. That's serious. So the doctor told me that they set it at a medium-high pressure at first. When she goes in for her visit, he will adjust it downward. (He just turns a dial on a remote control. It takes a few seconds!) If her symptoms continue, they will keep adjusting it downward, but gradually.

After the surgery, the doctor told me that everything went as well as it could possibly go. It went in on the first try, and he wasn't expecting any complications, or anything out of the ordinary. (But he explained what the "ordinary" complications would be ~ infection, or injury caused by overdoing it, or mechanical failure of the shunt.)

I know this guy is a brilliant doctor, because he was operating on one head, and he relieved the pressure in dozens of heads, including mine! That takes some kinda genius.

I think he raised our I.Q.s, as well. I know that Mom was very smart when she woke up. She answered all their questions correctly, and did everything they told her to do.

She was proud of her hair-do ~ she will have a Donald Trump comb-over for awhile. Immediately after surgery, she asked me to take her picture, and send it to my brother, and to her friend Loretta, and ask her to put it on Facebook! So I did. Doesn't she look beautiful?



The doctor said it would be okay for me to go back to Kansas City to work, and come back the next day. The soonest she would be released from the hospital would be Saturday ~ or Friday, maybe. Today was Wednesday. Perfect. I left some of my clothes and things in the room we were staying in (the hospital has wonderful apartment-like accommodations for family members!) Since my aunt and uncle were coming, they could stay with her for the next 24 hours, and then I could come back to Omaha.

The next day, Thursday, I called from Kansas City to see how she was doing. She said "Don't come back ~ I'm going home today!" I was astonished. She said "I woke up at 3am, and said 'I'm gonna blow this pop stand!'"

Audrey and I wondered if she had made such a pest of herself that the nurses wanted to get rid of her. I think that is what happened.

She woke up at 3am, ready for the day. She asked if she could take a shower and wash her hair. The nurses said no, they have things they need to do at that time of night, and there are people who come in (in the day time) to help with bathing. And she really needs to ask for assistance when she goes to the bathroom! She said she could do that just fine on her own ~ she's been coping with this for years, after all, and hasn't ever fallen ~ now that she feels better, she ought to be able to handle it.

By mid-morning, the health care professionals all agreed that she needed to go home, for everyone's sake.

So my aunt and uncle took her home, along with my stuff, and I did not go to Omaha that day.

On Friday, I went up to Iowa to fill her freezer with food. I knew she had no groceries, and this was my chance to sneak some vegetables into her.

I brought all the Tupperware I had, and drove to Clarinda for groceries. Then I took the groceries to Villisca, and spent the day cooking. This is the most cooking I've ever done at one time, and it wore me out! But I filled the freezer, and I know she will have at least some vegetables in the next couple of weeks.