What Strange Weather!

Shelley and I went to a beauty demonstration for skincare.  We met Leslie and her sister while attending the cooking with herbs demonstration.  Leslie had all the fixings for tacos which were great. A short thunder and lightening storm with heavy rain started. It seemed like it would go on and on, but that is not what usually happens here.  When we went home on the east side of town, everyone on this side said they did not have any of this. We are talking like 10 miles away!   We are having more humidity than we are used to these days.  Ugh!  Very uncomfortable.  I would rather stay inside.

I guess my fellow classmate Wayne is dropping out at least for a while. There are two other women in the class now. I have seen them before. We will continue with flowers in the next 6 week period. We worked on roses.  The next flower will be a sunflower.  I'm still working on my rose in watercolor. I felt I did a poor job of it.  Though it is not finished,  I will start over.   Below is one I did with color pencils. 

Unfinished Yellow Rose

Rose Done in Color Pencils

Well I had my final visit to the doctor for my wrist (I broke it a year ago. He was impressed with my mobility. It is good to move on!

Janet and I met at Mexicali's. Esther who was the last of three sisters to own and manage the restaurant died and the service was the day before. Her son was there checking on things like he has done for years. Kenny runs the California Avenue location.  We expressed our condolences. He had a cold and said "I haven't had a cold in years". I thought his immune system could be down with all the stress. He said "I've  shaken a lot of hands". That certainly could have been an issue too.  

I received a message from my endocrinologist. She said my cortisol level is on the low side of normal and I needed further workup.  She said a nurse will contact me to come in for a Cortrosyn Stimulation Test.  If this is related to being exhausted, I hope we can fix it.  I’ll see another doctor at the end of the week.  I take a type of water pill used for high blood pressure, though I don’t take it for high blood pressure.  It seems to have a side effect to keep you from peeing out the calcium in your body.  So my blood pressure is running quite low and this can cause this type of fatigue.

My friend Martha had a pool party at her home in the country.  I saw three tents and there were five RVs staying overnight. My granddaughter couldn't come so my friend Susan let me stay at her home. There was fabulous Mexican food, including homemade tamales (my favorite).  There was also a DJ who played a lot of music I liked, except for later, it was not appealing to me.  It was dance music and though I don't dance now, I made the moves sitting down. It was 103 degrees at its hottest and there was more humidity than usual. I found if I dangled my legs in the pool, it helped to keep my whole body cooler. I did take a few dips too. There were several people I knew from working in the prison. And, while there, I got a call from a fellow social worker, Victor, from the same setting. Amazing!  We will set up going out to lunch in the near future.  

Martha's Pool Party with Lots of Shade!

Martha with her Grandson

And here is a short video of people dancing to a Disc Jockey at Martha's party.  Fun!

Martha's Pool Party June 2015

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Here is a lovely way of looking at life and death by Buffy Andrews who writes for the York Daily Record in Pennsylvania and has written some books.  Check her out!

Every year, I look forward to the fringe tree blooming in our front yard. Its white, fleecy feathers hang from the branches and dance in the wind. Along with the gorgeous pink weeping cherry tree that blooms a few weeks before, it’s one of my favorite spring-flowering trees. The dogwood, saucer magnolia and Bradford pear can’t beat its beauty.

Check out my books

The other night, a wicked storm rolled into town. The wind whipped, pea-sized hail fell and a torrential downpour soaked the ground. When I walked outside the following morning, the fringe tree was naked, and its soft billowy blooms blanketed the ground. All that beauty gone in a flash, ripped from the branches before I was ready to say goodbye.
As I picked up some soggy blooms and held them in the palm of my hand, tears pooled in my eyes. I was reminded of beauty cut short, of parents and family and friends, tassels torn too soon from the tree of life during one of life’s raging storms.
Why must things die? a young child asks, unable to understand that all life is organized in such a way that it has a limited lifespan.
Flies might live for days, tortoises and whales for hundreds of years and trees for thousands of years. But eventually, they all die. No living thing, no animal or plant, can escape death.
So often in life we witness beauty too short-lived. Why can’t the fringes hang forever? Why do the cherry blossoms fade and fall?
What perhaps we should be asking is, Why didn’t I enjoy the beauty when I had the chance?
It’s human nature, I think, to believe there will always be another day. But sometimes there isn’t. Sometimes wicked weather slams us unexpectedly and we’re caught off-guard, standing in the drenching rain and rising water.

I know that everything in life has its own season -- a time to be born and a time to die. But that doesn’t stop me from wishing the seasons could last longer.
• • •
After seeing how the storm undressed the fringe tree, I walked around the yard to see what else had been affected.
I found the dwarf English boxwoods were growing and turning a healthy green. The azaleas were popping with pink.
The barberries were budding and stretching in all directions.
The hydrangeas were beginning to peek out, and the hosta, which had only poked through the ground a couple weeks ago, had taken over the side of the house.
Yes, everything has a season. I hope you enjoy yours.

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Here is an article published on NPR called How to Let Go When A Loved One is Dying

How to Let Go When a Loved One is Dying

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And check out TheGriefToolBox.com for stories, poetry, etc. which may help you in dealing with a loss. The one below came from this site. 

Thank you for reading my blog. There are many people discussing this issue also. We all may say it in a slightly different way. Talk to your friends and family about death and dying, grief and bereavement. These are normal events and will become a part of your life if you have not already dealt with it or dealing with it now.   I'll see you next Sunday.                              Rachel