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