Warm Days, Cool Nights

We’ve moved into the season where the days can be uncomfortably warm and the evenings “sweater cool.” Fall approaches rapidly. As always, it seems the summer was far too short. This summer, with its over-abundance of days unspeakably hot, will be remembered by unnatural phenomena, tragedies, water shortages, floods, and a plethora of other “stuff.” We are paying the price for what we have done.

¶ I’ve long admired the work of Dale Chihuly. I’ve encountered his marvelous glass creations in museums and other places. The one which fascinated me most was the glass ceiling in the Naples, Florida, art museum which holds several of his flat creations. It’s in a hallway, so one can walk along admire the beauty and hopefully not run into another person along the way while looking up. ¶ When I arrived at my post at the Pavilion of Arts and Science on Friday morning, electricians were hard at work installing two strange looking wire cages. Before the morning ended, many boxes were opened in the lobby and the curator and his assistant began installing glass pieces on the aforementioned cages. It was fascinating to see two Dale Chihuly creations being assembled right before my eyes. Now Sioux Falls will have its own Chihuly glass sculptures and they will be in my “office” where I spend my time at the Pavilion. What a blessing! ¶ It’s time for some of the new irises to break forth into bloom. They are large and magnificent. There would have been a new beautiful day lily to show you today but the rabbits beat me to it. I hope they enjoyed their salad.

¶ The sodium situation continued to improve this week. By Wednesday I was back to the normal range thanks to the expensive antibiotic. The drug, by the way, having gone through the gymnastics to get it and pay for it, will now be paid for by my insurance! Life is full of little surprises. ¶ I had my MRI on Wednesday and it revealed some new “spots” on the brain. I’ll be having three Gamma Knife treatments this week, plus another next week, plus chemo next week. That means I’ll be fit as a fiddle or truly wasted by the end of the treatments. But, it will be over.

¶ It’s taken a bit of time to get over last week’s chemo. Nausea strikes at odd times. Fatigue has not been bad. Appetite has not been good. All these are typical side effects which can come and go. About all one can do is complain and wait for the effects to fade away. ¶ Thanks for your prayers and thoughts, your cards and messages. Thanks for all the kind things you do for others. I helped serve at St. Francis House today for lunch. That was a blessing. I also made a trip to the gardens. That was a blessing as well. I have lots of good things to eat. Hopefully, I will be hungry!