My pew

"If I were called in to construct a religion, I should make use of water"

-- Phillip Larkin (1922 - 1985)

As my regular visitors know, I am currently in Tennessee. My mother suffered a serious break of her left femur this past Monday. Tuesday night she underwent surgery and had a rod inserted to stabilize the bone and begin her long journey to recovery. Wednesday morning she received a transfusion due to the amount of blood she lost during the operation. On Friday, however, she was improving enough to be moved into the rehabilitation wing of the hospital.

While not at the hospital, I'm also taking care of my elderly father who is not doing very well himself. In fact, I'd prefer to bring mother home and drop my obstinate daddy off at rehab. The nurses, however, did not offer that option.

I would like to thank each of you who have left encouraging comments on my blog. They mean a lot to me. It was quite a surprise when I finally had a chance to log on and read them all.

JoeB, thank you for the compliment, but I was never a teacher, just an only child who hid out in my room and read a lot. You don't even want to know about the summer I fell in love with Sherlock Holmes and really used the ol' flashlight-under-the-covers trick to get through the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Terror at the post-midnight shrieking of a neighbor's peacocks during Hounds of the Baskervilles, eventually ended that routine .

Mimi, I am SO disappointed that I missed your visit to Pensacola Beach. I was hoping to meet you and the whole Froot Loop team! Next year, for sure, okay?

As it appears now, I will spend the majority of the next three months in Tennessee. Mother will be restricted from weight-bearing on her left leg for three months. Hopefully, after the first month, I will be able to come home for at least one week and return to Tennessee for one or two -- at least until she is able to be totally independent again. Until that time, there are miles to go before I sleep.

Although I have no new photos, I went back and found my favorite shot and am re-posting it. It is the one which gives me the most peace and sense of well-being -- no insult to little Chipper, of course! My mother has dial-up Internet service, so I rarely have time to log on and even check my e-mail. This photo will get me through the rough times.

Thank you again to all my friends and blog visitors.

DJ - Barrier Island Girl

Leave of Absence

I would like to thank all the visitors who have left compliments on my Barrier Island Girl blog regarding my photography and other postings. I appreciate each and every one of your comments and have enjoyed getting to know some of you as friends.

I fell in love with this island when I first visited it five years ago, and nothing has changed one iota since. I have been happier since moving to Pensacola Beach than at any other time in my life and I started this blog to share those feelings with you. The best way to show you how I felt was to let you see the island through my eyes -- or, in this case, through my camera lens.

This afternoon I received a call that my mother suffered a bad fall and will have to undergo surgery tomorrow. Consequently, I am heading back to Tennessee tomorrow for an unspecified period of time.

I do not know how long I will be absence from my blog. Although I'll keep my camera near, I will not have access to my computer and software to edit and post photographs. Depending on how long my mother remains in the hospital, I may have enough material to write a few columns now and then. But somehow, I think I will be so sad, missing my beautiful island, that my heart may not be in it.

I hope you will check back occasionally to see if I've returned. I would expect to be in Tennessee off and on for approximately six weeks -- or until my parents get tired of my cooking. Then again, being an only child, daddy would be quite willing to wrap me in cotton and lock me away in a pink bedroom full of dolls and stuffed toys, forcing me to eat a Hardee's steak biscuit for breakfast every morning. His greatest disappointment in life was that I grew up.

However, with your well-wishes and good thoughts {{{"There's no place like home; there's no place like home."}}} I will click my ruby slippers together and return to my emerald island very soon.

Sincerely,

DJ - Barrier Island Girl