Nancy Update

Good Morning Ted and Jody:

While I had my lens on the clouds yesterday, Nancy was in a pre-hip replacement meeting.  I went to both meetings for her knee replacement so she didn’t think it was important that I go with her.  However, she reports some changes.  The first change is she will be confined to the house for four weeks after the surgery.  Even the Warfarin clinic will come to the house during that period to check her blood.  As I recall from the last two replacements we went into have her blood checked every five days.  She obviously will not be able to drive for some time after that.  The issue is getting in and out of a car seat can cause the replacement to pop out of its proper alignment causing the leg to be useless (and probably a lot of pain).  So, I have pushed back my scheduled procedures for which I will need a driver to February.  Nancy informed me that I will have to put her lower undergarments on during the first month.  She is averse to going commando.  I suggested she see about getting some out of work actor to come in and play dresser for her.  She was not amused.  She is in the midst of ordering equipment to make the recovery go smoothly: toilet seat riser, walker, shower seat and canes.  She is also in the midst of getting ready to visit her children and grandchildren pre-surgery.  Given her frequency of teaching and taking classes at Longview Sewing for the past several years, I think the house confinement is going to be the worst part of the post-surgery regime.

I still have not partaken of media new (speculation) reports.  However, tidbits get through.  I was mounting some stamps for posting when The View came on and I heard one person’s (I presume a tweet or Facebook or the like) post of a derogatory nature about Michelle Obama.  However, this was not racist.  One of the woman’s commenters so claimed that she was not a racist.  At this point, I think all the non-racists should button up and spare the rest of us their ignorance.  However, it does highlight the problem of how to get past racism in America.  It is not only a question of acceptability; it is a question of national security.  For the past fifty years, we have had public policy which attempts to eradicate discrimination.  Beginning with President Truman integrating the armed forces and then a few years later in Brown v Board of Education public policy has increasingly been inclusive and disdained attempts to single out race as a reason for non-inclusion.  Yet deep seated feelings of superiority by some (a large number, in this case) still provide individuals with a reason to commit acts and say things that are racist.  I do not feel the public policy is misplaced.  However, I do wonder how we can get past the racism that is still harbored by far too many?

Maybe I need to put my lens back to the clouds rather than facing the down to earth problems that will consume this nation.  To that end a weather front moved through this morning that allowed me to do just that. 

Warmest regards, Ed