Friday, August 31, 2012

THE STRUGGLES TO STAY HEALTHY (update)

Number One Son

We got a call at 2:00 this morning. Not the usual time for phone calls. (OK, make that yesterday morning — I see it's already Saturday.) Normally, I am not awake at that time of the morning; it was a "lucky call," insofar as I was awake.

Our daughter-in-law phoned saying T was sick and needed to go to hospital. So I pulled on some clothes and headed over. 

When I got there, the ambulance and fire engine had already arrived. (Standard plan is to send a fire crew to a health-related call, as support for the ambulance team.)

So, it was off to local hospital for T and A (our dil). She took my car; they don't have one.  I stayed with the grandkids, who slept through the whole mis-adventure. 

Three hours later, they were back. T had been checked out, and nothing particularly wrong. Most likely problem was a reaction to some medication he had taken. (Whole family there has been fighting off cold-like symptoms for since mid-July.)

So, it was fortunate that there was no serious problem. Grandkids spent the day at our place. They are sleeping here tonight, too. All the adults are tired.


Bear's Medical Challenges

Thursday, Bear saw his doctor.

We had a "productive" chat.

Bear will be taking more medication. More anti-depressive medication. (That's a depressing thought in itself.)

Bear will also be trying to find more creative things to do with life in retirement. As in, the creative things Bear is doing are good, just that he needs to be doing more of them. 

Bear supposes this means becoming more creative and intentional about blogging. And poetry writing (on Bear's other blog).  

We will find out soon enough.


~     ~     ~

Thank you for Bearing with me while "indisposed." Bear's disposition will improve in due course. Hopefully, at least. Lest he be disposed of. (Particularly for ending that last sentence with a preposition.)

Blessings and Bear hugs! 

Thursday, August 23, 2012

IN WHICH BEAR EXPLAINS (APOLOGIZES)

Bear  had hoped by now to have published three items on which he has been working.

However, Bear finds depression and creative writing do not go hand in hand. (It has been an "interesting" summer in that regard.) So the posts will be delayed. Next week, perhaps.

:((

Thursday, August 16, 2012

IN WHICH BEAR OBSERVES AN ALTERATION

One day the high temperature is 25°C (or 77F). The next day, the high is 17°C (63F).

Good grief, Charlie Brown. Is the ghost of Allen Funt back to haunt us?

A careful look at the trees shows another tell-tale sign. There is just the slightest tinge of yellow showing up in a few places, amongst the green leaves of the trees.

And the wind is blowing everything all over the place.

Say it isn't so, Irving Berlin!

But the truth is there for everyone to see. So I got out my trusty candid camera. Behold.




(Sorry that the trees are a bit blurred; I did say the wind is blowing. 
Currently 24 k/h, meaning 15 m/h.)

As well, the clouds are hanging low over River City.






There is still a bit of blue sky behind the clouds, so things aren't all that bad. But we're starting the change of seasons. Time to get out the snow shovel.

Livestock Report

When I was out for my daily walk, I heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch. I haven't seen one of those for a while. I usually think of them as being winter birds, and they are. Although some made a nest in our apple tree a couple of years before we sold our house. Watching that process was fun.

Bear's Wit and Wisdom

If you think about the world, life becomes very depressing. 
If you don't think about the world, nothing gets better. ~ Bear

To which my sagacious and loquacious friend, Da Blog Fodder, replied: "Yup! The Catch 22 of living with your brain turned on instead of off."

Everybody should have a friend like Da Blog Fodder.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

IN WHICH BEAR TRIES TO SOLVE A PROBLEM . . .

and gets nowhere in the process.

Picture This

Yup. It was one of "those days." You know, don't you.

To review. Bear could not get good pictures of the parade while standing the "Corporate Box." (There were pictures, but not good ones.) Bear was embarrassed to show them to friends (showed only two, so friends would understand the specifics of the difficulty). 

The solution, of course, is not to buy a new camera, but to get a new lens for the camera.

Easier said than done.

Bear went to local camera store. Found the lens he wanted. A mere $1,500.00 (give or take a bit).

Which is about Bear's total "discretionary spending" for a year. Or two.

Very depressing.

Decision time. 

Defer decision-making; Bear is depressed. 

Ask for help. 

The question is:" Should Bear get a new lens for his camera?"



OK, folks. Have at it. Please let the Bear know what you think. Thank you. 


Elsewhere in Bear's World

I know that some of you go through times when Life gets in the way of Blogging. That often happens during the summer. When folks go on holidays. Or at other holiday times. Or family emergencies.

In Bear's case, that happens when life gets busy.

September 17, 2012 marks the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street (and the similar occupations in over a thousand cities and towns around the globe). That was an event which changed some of the public dialogue in the world. The 99%, you say? Indeed. Etc. 

Well, that was too good an event to forget. So this year. . . .

More on that, another time.

And while I'm not planning on leading our congregation again, any time soon, I have been asked to take on responsibility in a couple of ministry projects with the congregation. (Am I too easy, or what?)

So, if my presence seems a bit limited, I haven't gone away mad, or anything like that. I'm just "otherwise occupied." 

Blessings and Bear hugs, friends.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

SATURDAY BITS AND PIECES (2)

Good afternoon (morning, evening; whenever you read this).

One of my favorite bloggers is packing it in, at least for the time being. That would be The Blog Fodder, himself, of  The Blog Fodder. This, after 1129 posts (his count).

He's apparently changing some medication, and life is getting a bit challenging. Tiresome, perhaps. It's the medication that he claims keeps us from being crazy. As he explains:

I find when I take [my medications] that other people don't act like complete flaming assholes all the time just to piss me off.  If THEY would take Prozac, I wouldn't have to.

Well, um, yes. Best wishes in getting through whatever, Blog Fodder.

Bear and J were out of town in the afternoon. Back to our prior home, about half hour's drive south of River City.  Friends of ours for the last 30 year, R and N, were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Well done, friends. Congratulations!

On our way to the party we stopped to check on which Birds were around:

Crow, Magpie, Coot, Black Duck, Mallard, Blue-Winged Teal, Canada Goose, Yellowlegs, Black Tern, Western Phalerope, Mew Gull, Avocet, Cedar Waxwing, and Harrier (as in Marsh Hawk, not as in British fighter jet). I also saw what might have been a Shrike, but I couldn't be absolutely sure.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loggerhead_Shrike

Wonderful field trip.

The cubs (i.e., grandchildren) are with us on a sleepover, while their parents celebrate their own anniversary. Hard to believe 17 years. But when son and dil are 40, that can be expected. (If you think turning 40 is "interesting," wait until your children turn 40.)

We're going to watch a movie, about Hairy Potter, the Bear who worked in the greenhouse.

What's that?

Oh. Excuse me. It's about Harry Potter, the child wizard at Hogwart's School. Something about a firey goblet. Bears of a certain age need to be continually updated on modern literature and all.

I'm making a small change to my blog. NO; I'm installing word verification. (It is getting more readable, but No; I'm not doing that.) 

But I have decided to live dangerously. I'm giving up comment moderation (at least in part), and will see what happens. That change will let you see that your comments have been posted right after you click "send."


I don't have any people with Open ID, so that will be fine. But I won't be allowing Anonymous bloggers to leave commercial comments (or non-meat spam). I actually met a nony Moose a few years ago; boy, was he surly, eh. So he does't get to make comments. I know him and his kind. Not here, thanks.

I have no idea of how this will work; if Bear starts to have problems with pesky blogger, I already have a fall-back position.

Turning to the weather, sunny with a high of 23°C in the afternoon. In the evening, clear with a low of 7°C. Tomorrow, 23 and sunny.

And that's the news; I'm Rob-bear.

Blessings and Bear hugs. Eh?

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

I LOVE A PARADE . . .

but only when I can see it. 

Sadly, neither Bear not Bear's camera got a very good view.


It's the beginning of our Exhibition week (OK, most of a week). How can you begin an annual Exhibition without a parade?

Precisely!

But, from our "Corporate Box" (attached to our apartment), the view wasn't so great.

What to do? What to do? Think; think; think.

Hmmmm.

Maybe if I play with the photo a bit.

A real steam-driven Calliope

Not so good. Very fuzzy. Very out of focus. Not acceptable! (Sorry about that.)

You know, of course, what this means, don't you?

(If you don't, then stick around for a few days.)