Tales from Pentoga

Let the fun begin!

May 11, 2021 - Tuesday morning

32 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It amazes me what kind of conversation several (obvious) senior citizens have in an ophthalmologist's waiting room while waiting for their monthly eye injections. It reminds me of those of prison inmates I've seen on television.

"How often do you come here?"

"Once a month. And you?"

"I was hopin' they'd cut me back to every six weeks, but he says it's not good nuff yet."

"Yeah, I hear ya. No matter what I do, it's never good 'nuff. Oh well, best thing is to not count the days until the next shot and enjoy what little we have.

"Boy, I hear ya there."

Silence encircles the waiting room as each inmate, oops, patient, is lost in his own thoughts.

Suddenly, you hear your name called. It's like they've come to get you on your final morning on Death Row. Any conversation in the room ceases while everyone watches you slowly rise and walk away.

Each pictures himself lying down in a sterile room, while preparations are being made for the injection.

You assume the lady who meets you at the entrance to the narrow hall is smiling under her mask, but is she really? At least she's bubbly.

"HI!!! How are you today?"

Yesterday, I was tempted to answer by saying, "How would YOU be if you were about to get a needle shoved in YOUR eye?"

Thankfully, it wasn't all that bad and the various techs who assist the doctor are all sweethearts. For what the procedure is, they make the experience as pleasant as possible.

The doctor is a young guy, very pleasant and extremely empathetic.

Two positive outcomes from yesterday's appointment:

I don't have to go back for six weeks rather than the usual four. The doctor is establishing a test time line for regular injections and wants to see what waiting an extra two weeks will do.

He also gave me instructions about hiking next year on how to go about getting needed injections while on the trail. He'll be in touch with any ophthalmologists I may need to see, call, write, text, or otherwise use sign language, to ensure my trek is as smooth as possible.

So those are good things. The not so good is that the eye hasn't improved, but it's not any worse.

We're doing okay.

Sargie picked me up at the clinic. She spent the previous hour and a half at Walmart purchasing treasures far too numerous to mention.

We made the usual stops at Aldi Foods, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, and Menards Lumber, before coming back home.

We saw it at the same time. In the wilds of northern Wisconsin, walking alongside the woods, was an albino deer.

Try as we may, I couldn't get a frontal shot, but was happy with what I could get.

I saw an albino moose in Alaska years ago. Riding along a river on snowmobile, all that was initially visible was her breath. I stopped and looked, then looked again. The cow moose blended in perfectly with the snow and looked more than a little weird, even spooky. I'll have to see if I can find that photo.

We arrived home shortly after noon, had a huge lunch, then continued onto Iron Mountain to get our completed taxes. While in town, we stopped at Boyd and Jeanne's to pick their brains on the art of laying pavers. We'd like to build a patio by the garden house for Sargie's new table and chairs.

While there, we got to see nieces Aria and Marley. What sweethearts, both of them.

Marley and Me
Sounds like the title of a good movie

Last night was a quiet one. After getting out of bed before 5 yesterday morning, Sargie and I were all done in.

Today's a brand new day and promises to be near perfect. In fact, with temperatures forecast to reach into the 70's later on, the entire week looks fantastic.

I hope to play in the garden all week, make another raised bed or two, possibly construct a patio, transplant a few seedlings, haul some wood shavings from the plant. Why, the world is our oyster! (Whatever that means.)