It’s time to visit the girls (Emma and Georgia) and the Minnesota State Fair where the most popular booth is the one where they stretch your belt a few notches to accommodate the unique Midwestern style of state fair foods. Hopefully things won’t come to that.
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August 25, 2015
Ellen/Reid: Nice job by the stock market the past few days. Can you say ‘tanked?’ Holy smokes. Talk about putting a dent in retirement plans. I guess it’s only money, but man. How the markets operate and the international influences that drag it down are beyond me.
Can’t wait to get to St. Paul with you guys. I wonder what the new “deep fried on a stick” thing is this year. It can’t be much more fattening than whatever they’ve had before; butter, candy bars, etc. Actually I’ve never had anything deep fried on a stick and am not about to start now. I volunteer to push the stroller(s) and watch everyone on rides. Reid, you and Liz ought to go with us. If nothing else there will be incredible people watching.
Had my physical yesterday. Short of blood test results, everything appears to be in good working order; weight, blood pressure, lungs, that sort of thing. Talked to the doc about the sore left knee, but he basically said surgery has its own complications beyond any surgery itself. His advice boiled down to ‘live with it’ unless it’s debilitating. Played tennis last night and it’s sore but not debilitating this morning so that’s a good sign. Ellen, the story of Tim pulling out your stitches sounds hilarious. How come you didn’t go back to the doctor for that even though it’s a simple process?
Not too nervous about the Sept. 14 surgery. I’ve been forewarned it might be a tad disfiguring, at least for the near term, since it’s on the cheek close to the left eye. I’ll keep a low profile until the swelling is down and the bandages are off. It won’t bother me to miss golf for a little while, a week or so, maybe longer. All that matters right now is what the results are. A good friend in my golf group just had similar surgery a week or so ago and I’ll check in on him at Macs tomorrow night to see how he’s doing. He’s a veteran of multiple skin surgeries, too. Ah, that damned sun.
Loved Tim’s photo of your garden produce, Ellen. Hopefully all the raspberries won’t be consumed by Emma by the time I arrive. You sure have good dirt for growing healthy things. Gardening is just such a good thing in terms of produce and relaxation. What I wouldn’t give for a little plot of land to do the same thing. The pots out back are a good substitute but it’s not quite like working the good earth with your hands.
Reid, last Friday’s reunion with our Wyoming crew was fun. You should see the photos Vince took.
Our band of Wyoming hikers (Rebecca, Katy, Vince, Tom and me) cleaned up pretty well. We had our reunion (minus Reid) at Birdsong Brewery south of Noda.
He put together a little show that ran on his laptop. There were a lot of nice shots of you in there. Speaking of photos, be sure to send me a few. Rebecca sent me such a nice ‘thank you’ note. We got to meet her partner, Anna. She’s well along with her pregnancy and she made the right decision to skip the trip. It would have been really hard, especially some of the more taxing stretches on the inward half of the trip.
Went to a meeting of folks who have walked, or intend to walk, the Camino de Santiago in Spain. The momentum is building for that jaunt. My expired passport is sitting on the kitchen counter and I need to get off the snide and turn that beast in for a renewal. Looks like a new photo will be needed but not much else. Tom speaks so very highly of the trek. It would be fun to mix in another little taste of Europe during the visit to Spain. Reid, you can give me your impressions of places that are worth visiting.
It’s time for another visit to Charleston. The weather is moderating and I’m a little miffed that a couple of months has slipped by without a visit to Bowens Island. Reid, wish you could go. And that goes for Tim, too.
Love, Dad
The Weight of a Single Page 