Category: family

SoCS: Joyce’s chickens

One of the substacks I read regularly is Joyce Vance.

She is a lawyer and legal scholar whose commentary I hear often on television. She writes long and thoughtful posts about the current legal issues in the United States, of which there are many.

To lighten things, she also posts about her hobbies.

She will show us what her latest knitting project is, for example.

The thing other than law about which she posts most, though, is her chickens.

She and her family keep a coop with several varieties of chickens. She posts about what she is feeding them. Their interactions with the family’s dog and cat. Their new coop. What they are doing around the yard. How they hop up into her lap sometimes.

She will also occasionally post photos of their eggs. Because there are different breeds, the eggs are various colors and sizes.

The chickens bring Joyce comfort and joy, which she shares with her readers.

I admit that I have no desire to care for chickens myself, but I appreciate Joyce’s sharing her love with all of us.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “chicken or egg.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/06/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-29-2024/

grossly unremarkable

Ugh! I’ve been putting off writing a health update post, hoping to get to a more definitive place before sharing but it’s taking long enough that I figured I better try.

Regular readers may recall that I started having trouble with tinnitus on my left side a few months back and wrote more about it on Mother’s Day. An MRI had been scheduled for June 21 with a hearing test to follow the next week.

Unfortunately, I was accumulating more symptoms on my left side, some visual difficulties in my left eye though the eye itself was fine, pressure or headache behind that eye, discomfort on the left side of my neck, intermittent tingling behind my left ear, a tendency to get lightheaded and feel off-balance, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating, perhaps caused by having to divert conscious attention to things like vision and equilibrium that are usually unconscious. I had been to my primary care provider several times but they needed the information from the MRI before we could proceed further, so the plan was that, if my symptoms worsened, I would go to the emergency room at our local hospital.

In early June, things did get worse. The most alarming part was that the tingling on the side of my head started spreading into my face and toward my neck and became almost constant. I also was having increased problems with my thought processes slowing down as I spent more and more brainpower remembering to move my head and body slowly so that I could keep my balance.

So, B took me to the hospital emergency department, arriving a bit before 9 AM. It was very busy, partially a result (we found out later) of difficulties at a neighboring hospital due to a cyber attack. It was so busy that I spent the first six hours based in the waiting room, going out for various tests and then being returned there. They did a brain CT relatively quickly to make sure I wasn’t having a stroke or some other acute thing. The results came back as “grossly normal” with some aspects being labelled as “grossly unremarkable,” which quickly became a favorite phrase for me, thus, the title of this post.

The waiting room became so crowded that they asked non-patients to leave shortly before noon, unless they were needed for patient care, such as parents of children or people who were acting as translators. So, B had to leave me; he waited at the hospital for most of the afternoon but eventually headed for home.

Mid-afternoon, there was finally a space in the treatment area for me, albeit on a gurney in the hallway, and the decision was made that I needed an MRI – which I already knew because I had one scheduled – but it was too late in the day to fit me in. I got to eat supper and eventually was moved to a room with hospital beds where several of us were on observation for the night.

Or so I thought.

Around 3 AM, I was moved upstairs to a unit that houses neurology patients. Somehow, they seemed to have missed all the stuff that happened in the ER and I had to prove to them that I wasn’t having a stroke all over again. I did have the MRI with contrast in the morning, which also proved to be grossly normal. This was, of course, good news in that it ruled out any tumors in my brain or sinuses, as well as other brain diseases or strokes. However, it didn’t tell us what was causing my symptoms.

The most useful thing that happened was a consultation with physical therapy. Dianne detected that my eyes weren’t tracking as well as they should be. She also did an evaluation for inner ear problems, where crystals in the inner ear loosen and migrate and cause eye and balance symptoms. While I don’t have the most common form of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, I may have a variation of it with the crystals in a different part of the inner ear canal affected.

The maneuvers that Dianne did with my head and neck during the evaluation did help relieve some of my symptoms. The constant discomfort on the left side of my neck went away and I could move my head more easily. The tingling on the side of my head, which by then was constant, disappeared. Dianne recommended that I see a physical therapist who specializes in vestibular therapy and I have an appointment scheduled for next week. She also gave me an eye exercise to do at home in the meantime and some tips on posture. Additionally, a neck X-ray revealed some arthritis, which will be useful knowledge for the physical therapist.

I was discharged from the hospital that evening. There are supposed to be appointments for follow-up with a neurologist and a referral to an ear, nose, and throat specialist but I haven’t heard when those will be. The tinnitus is still constant and I may or may not have answers about that from my hearing test next week.

Over these last couple of weeks since my hospital visit, the severity of symptoms overall has been creeping higher. The current heat dome that is parked over us here in the Northeast US hasn’t been helpful; I’ve been feeling worse despite staying in our geothermal-heat-pump-cooled home as much as possible.

I’m looking forward to my vestibular therapy appointment on Wednesday, hoping that their experience will make more sense of my situation and maybe even arrive at a diagnosis that will explain some of my symptoms. It’s possible that there is more than one condition going on. For example, the tinnitus could have a cause not related to the possible inner ear issue.

Meanwhile, I’ve had to clear most of my usual activities from my schedule. My lack of concentration is making reading and writing more challenging, which is a shame, given that that is what I usually spend most of my time doing. I will try to do a quick update late next week after my vestibular therapy appointment and hearing test.

Hoping for some good news to share.

Other than being grossly unremarkable.

losing Joan

(Photo by July on Unsplash)

I got news yesterday of the death of a college friend.

Joan and I met in Ron Perera‘s first-year music theory class. Like me, Joan was a western Massachusetts native and a Catholic with close ties to her family. She was a talented violinist. I remember her giving a demonstration to our theory class, showing us all the techniques used to create different sonorities for us to use in our compositions.

For junior year, Joan went to the University of Michigan and decided to transfer there to finish her education. However, “once a Smithie, always a Smithie,” Joan remained a member of the Smith College class of ’82.

Joan went on to a successful career playing in orchestras, concluding with a long tenure with the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra in Washington, DC. Her performance schedule kept her busy but, two years ago, she was able to attend our 40th reunion in Northampton, visiting family in the area which hadn’t been possible during the height of the pandemic. While we had been keeping in touch over the years, it was the first time in decades that we had seen each other and it was great. We started speculating where we would each be living post-retirement when our 45th reunion rolled around.

Right after reunion, Joan developed COVID. Fortunately, she wasn’t very sick but she was bummed about missing some of her opera performances.

It was a shock when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoma that fall. She immediately began chemotherapy. Due to the intensity of the treatment and her weakened immune system, she had to stay at home, where her husband Paul was her loving and capable caregiver.

In summer of last year, Joan was able to resume performing while her treatment migrated to a maintenance regimen. This January, she was posting about the orchestra.

And, sometime since, her remission ended and the cancer came back with a vengeance.

I didn’t know.

Early this month, I had emailed her some new photos of my granddaughters and Joan sent a reply about how beautiful they are. Sending photos had been something I had done during her home-bound period and continued to do from time to time. I am grateful that I was unknowingly able to add a moment of love and beauty to her final weeks.

Hearing the news of Joan’s death from our Smith friends was a shock and brought waves of tears. It’s also brought to mind this recent Washington Post article, raising the disturbing prospect that SARS-CoV -2 infection may play a role in the development of cancer, particularly rare or unusual ones. It will take years of research to determine whether or not this is the case but the mystery of it all is disquieting.

The final commendation at Joan’s funeral will begin, “May the angels lead you into Paradise.” May there be a beautiful violin waiting for you there, Joan.

Father’s Day in absentia

Photo Credit: Andrea Eastman

Today is celebrated as Father’s Day in the United States. My dad, known here at Top of JC’s Mind as Paco, passed away in 2021. My spouse B, father to our daughters E and T, is visiting with extended family in Maine; T is with him but I wasn’t able to make the trip.

Because of all that, I wasn’t really planning to observe Father’s Day today but I got an email from my younger sister, asking if I had a hard copy of the photo above. Nana and Paco had this portrait taken at Eastman Studios in Binghamton, New York, after they retired here. I don’t have an exact date, but I’m guessing it was taken in the late 1980s-early ’90s.

I went upstairs to look for it in the two large bags of photo albums and framed pictures that we had taken home from Paco’s last apartment. The first album I picked up was one that my sister had put together for one his last Father’s Days.

Of course, this photo was part of the album.

I spent some time going through it. It begins with photos from Nana and Paco’s youth and their wedding in 1954. There are photos of my sisters and me growing up, our home, extended family, and travels. Later, there are photos of them with their grandchildren and finally photos of their great-granddaughters.

So, I did get to spend time with my dad today and see his smile – multiple times.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad.

Miss you.

D-Day Anniversary

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

On June 6th, we observed the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the D-Day invasion, in which Allied Forces landed in France, beginning the campaign that ended World War II in Europe.

President Biden spoke at a ceremony honoring the anniversary and the United States veterans of D-Day, now all in their upper 90s or centenarians, held at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Earlier in the ceremony, after his address, French president Emmanuel Macron, had presented each veteran with a commendation with President Biden by his side.

I appreciated President Biden’s address, which recalled individual stories of that day while lifting up the democratic principles for which the war was fought. Biden spoke about NATO and the commitment to international alliances to protect and defend freedom and democracy. He also spoke about the bravery of Ukraine in defending their democracy against the invasion by Russia. He called on the current people of the United States to defend our democracy today.

After Biden spoke, a service member read “The Watch” symbolically relieving the honored veterans and all World War II veterans of duty.

And I started crying.

I was thinking of my father, known here as Paco, who was a World War II veteran who passed away two years ago at the age of 96. Paco served as a Navy SeaBee in the Pacific. Seeing the veterans in attendance and hearing these tributes to them made me miss him so much more.

He didn’t speak very often of his service in his younger years and, with so many veterans of his age, it wasn’t much noted as the majority had been in the service. In his retirement years, though, he often wore a SeaBees or Navy veteran cap and it was sweet to see store clerks or random passersby thank him for his service.

He would have loved today’s ceremony.

He might have cried, too.

SoCS: scones

I just finished eating some yummy apple cinnamon scones that B made.

It’s a recipe that he developed starting from a Bisquick base, so it is quick to put together. Less measuring than working totally from scratch, which he also does.

One of my favorite scratch recipes is his pumpkin scones, for which we often use frozen honey nut squash. Well, you do have to thaw the squash first. In the fall when the farm stands are about to close and are selling winter squash by the box, we often buy a bunch of honey nut squash to bake, mash, and portion out to freeze so that we can use it for recipes for months to come.

But today, the apple cinnamon scones hit the spot.

Starting from the Bisquick base, it’s easy to make lots of variations. Besides fresh fruits, like apples, peaches, or plums, we use dried fruits, such as cranberries, currants, or raisins. There are lots of variations for the recipe, depending on what you have on hand.

We also add a bit of sugar, white or brown, and spice, often cinnamon but possibly nutmeg or cardamon, depending on what we use for fruit.

I hope I’m not making you hungry….
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “recipe.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/05/31/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-1-2024/

No-Mow May

In the United Kingdom and parts of the United States, there is an initiative called No-Mow May, encouraging people not to mow lawns (or a portion thereof) during the month of May in order to encourage the blossoming of wildflowers which provide food for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.

In the spirit of No-Mow May, we have limited our lawn mowing in our front yard and left most of the back yard to grow on its own. The front yard starts things off with dandelions, which we let blossom but then wind up having to mow for propriety’s sake. B leaves the lawnmower on the highest setting, though, so that the spent dandelion stems get cut while sparing the violets and white clover that follow. Even though white clover is not native, our bumblebees seem to enjoy it. It’s also helpful that we use a battery-powered mower so that the plants don’t have to contend with the heat and exhaust of burning gasoline.

Besides those, the backyard has waves of additional flowers, including wild strawberry, bluets, forget-me-nots, speedwell, buttercups, celandine, ground ivy, and fleabane. While these help our pollinators, they also provide food for other animals, including rabbits.

Besides the lawn, we have other spring-flowering plants, including bleeding hearts, PJM rhododendron, dwarf daffodils, lily-of-the-valley, brunnera, amsonia, and our heirloom rose bush.

Although not all the plants are native, our native pollinators frequently visit them, which is important to us, especially our bumblebees. When we had a landscape plan drawn up and planted in fall 2020, we requested native plants, but some of the plants that grow wild in our yard are non-native species that are now considered naturalized in our area, though not invasive. If we do find invasive species, such as garlic mustard, growing, we try to pull them out so that they don’t spread. It is also helpful that we have had wildflowers growing as part of our lawn for decades. We never use herbicides. The mix of plants and not mowing it too short also make our lawn drought-resistant. We never have to waste water by spraying it on our lawn.

We may stretch No-Mow May into early June in the backyard so that the daisies that have started to grow up but haven’t blossomed yet have a chance to do so. Perhaps, B will do what he has done in some past years and mow around the daisies until they have had a chance to flower.

Do people observe No-Mow May – or some variation better suited to your geography, like Low-Mow May or No-Mow April, where you live?

Memorial Day

(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)

Today is observed as Memorial Day in the United States, set aside to honor all those who died in the armed services.

One of our neighbors has turned their front yard into a memorial for the day with small flags in rows and a sign listing the last names of those killed in recent US military actions, starting with Iraq and Afghanistan.

Remembering them and all who have died in service of the United States today and hoping for peace and comfort for the families who grieve their loss.

Also, praying for peace so that no more deaths will be added to those already suffered over the centuries.

Hearts 1st anniversary + Goodreads!

Today marks the first anniversary of the release of my first poetry chapbook, Hearts (Kelsay Books, 2023). It is available from either of those links or directly from me by emailing jcorey.poet@gmail.com. Bonus: I can sign or inscribe for you, if you wish.

The poems in Hearts center on my mother, mostly in her final years when she was living with heart failure. It is a chapbook, so it is only 21 poems. (Chapbooks are generally under fifty pages and are organized around a central theme or device.) One of the blessings of having the book out in the world is that so many people have told me that my experiences with my mother reminded them of taking care of their own loved one. I appreciate that my poems touch people’s hearts and minds and give them an opportunity to reflect on their own lives.

As many of you know, I returned to my childhood love of writing poetry in my fifties and my education in the craft has come largely through my poetry community, which includes the Grapevine Poets, the Boiler House Poets Collective, and the Binghamton Poetry Project, recently re-named the Binghamton Writers Project. At times, I’ve felt the learning curve has been steep, but I’ve managed to keep learning and growing as a poet.

What I didn’t fully realize before the publication of Hearts was how daunting the whole publicity enterprise is and how little I understood what it would entail. Kelsay provided a helpful packet of information and I initially sent out some queries to get reviews in journals, but no one responded, life intervened, and I dropped it. The thought of entering contests was bewildering. I made some attempts at getting my book into local bookstores but there was a persistent problem with listing at a distributor. I’ve gotten several cold calls from a scammy publicity company, even though I’ve asked to be removed from their call list. I’m grateful to have had a handful of signing and/or reading opportunities locally but I can’t wrap my head around what it would take to organize an actual book tour.

When my first annual royalty payment arrived, I realized that a good percentage of those sales through Kelsay or Amazon were from people that I knew who had ordered from them. I had sold more copies personally than had been ordered online, which was simultaneously a pat on the back and a stark reminder of my responsibility for marketing my book.

While I have (repeatedly) posted about Hearts here at Top of JC’s Mind and cross-posted on Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram, I’m pleased to report that, as of today, I am a certified Goodreads author. Many thanks to poet Samantha Terrell, whose review of Hearts on Goodreads led to my claiming an author page there!

Are you on Goodreads? If so, I’d be honored if you would follow me, Joanne Corey, there and follow Samantha Terrell, too. While it’s no longer National Poetry Month, it’s always a great time to support poets and poetry!

One-Liner Wednesday: “First Grandchild” on Silver Birch Press

Sharing that my poem about my mom, “First Grandchild,” is now part of the ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER series on Silver Birch Press; my blog post about it is here.

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/05/22/one-liner-wednesday-let-the-confusion-commence/ (Check the link to learn about “up commas”!)