Legacy

Last Friday, my husband and I attended the funeral of a dear man who had lived to be 98.  He had been in reasonably good health most of the time.  I wish I could have spent more time with him.  He was such a pleasure to be around.  He had left a legacy of love and kindness and positivity.  He had been a hard worker and a loving family man. 
It gave me pause to think of the legacy I'm leaving.  I'm sure I won't measure up to the man who just passed from this life, but I'm certainly inspired by his legacy. 

Snow pics

We got snow on Wednesday.  Today I went out with a ruler and measured about 5 inches in a few spots.  It was pretty, though it makes for a tough time for those who have to be on the highway, especially when it thaws a little then refreezes overnight.
Here are a few pictures of the snow.

An answer for the doctor...

...who wants to know why I haven't come to see him before now.  Simply put, it's your hostile environment.  To elaborate, it starts in the front office.  As rarely as I go to the doctor, the last 2 times I've been, I've managed to schedule when there was either a winter weather event going on or coming soon.  That's probably because I've scheduled in January, a time I'm not bogged down with summer yard and garden work, and a time when the demanding pressures of the holidays are over.  I'm sure a receptionist who is worried about the road conditions or who has had a rough morning trying to reschedule patients might not be happy, but at least greet that poor lady who is already apprehensive about being there with eye contact and a warm smile.  Don't give off bad vibes when the patient says she says she is self-pay; she's not thrilled about it either, but it's not contagious.
Then your blood pressure cuff is a menace.  Is it just me, or do other patients also get marked up with broken blood vessels or pinch marks from that cuff?  Here is a pinch mark on my upper arm from yesterday.  When I showed darling husband the mark, his sympathy consisted of reminding me I had gone to the doctor on purpose.

(Trigger warning--a "TMI graphic")

 

I once heard a phlebotomist claiming to be vindictive to patients who complained or who were scared of needles.  I am not scared of needles, but I think I will start being scared of mean phlebotomists.
Then there is the doctor.  If you aren't willing to listen to my concerns, we have a problem.
Then there is the spiel.  Okay, this part is just tongue-in-cheek, but my husband requested our good friend Matt Nelson sing this song at a jam last night.  It seemed appropriate to the occasion.  I should record Matt Nelson doing the song.  Here is a rendition done by Little Charlie and the Nightcats:

 

Then you charge me for the aforementioned indignities and wonder why I don't want to see you more often.

Invasion of the gumballs (and pic from snow)

There are a few sweetgum trees at the back of our lot.  Most are not actually on our property, but the gumballs do fall on our property.  One limb in particular that originates in the neighbor's yard and has grown horizontally over our yard as it reached for the light is loaded with gumballs.

 

Quite a few have fallen already, and I raked up some yesterday and burned them.  The raking was peaceful, but I'm thinking a leaf blower might have made shorter work of the project.

 

There are more to come:

 

In other news, our record breaking cold streak has ended.  The Raleigh Durham Airport recorded 201 consecutive hourly readings of below freezing.  One of the local meteorologists who usually is a straightforward "just the facts" kind of guy, used the word "mercifully" to tweet that the freezing weather had "mercifully ended."  I was amused at his use of the word, but I agreed with his assessment.  Here is a picture of the snow last Thursday while we were still frozen.







Palmettos in the snow

Of all the times one might have to travel southward, ours coincided with a unusually cold spell.  I imposed upon darling son to take a picture of the palmettos in the snow.

Planning for a new year

I admire people who are good planners.  There are a couple of vlogs that I watch regularly in which the posters share their long-term plans for their homesteads.  I like watching how they look at the big picture and implement the actions needed to reach their goals.  The beginning of a new year seems to be a great time to evaluate where you are and what you want to accomplish.  It seems I get bogged down in the day-to-day routine.  But I still like the optimism a new year brings.
I did make some traditional dishes for our meal today.  We had collards, black eyed peas, cornbread, mac and cheese, and green beans.  The collards were from our garden, and they were good.  My son and I also had some pickled beets that my brother made from his garden.  Boy howdy, they were good with the collards and peas!
Even if I can't get accomplished the things I'd like to see done, I know life is good when I'm eating that well.
I hope 2018 is a good year for you.