We Just Lost an Hour

Greetings from Happy Meadows. We had a mild winter and I got to go out every day until yesterday when it was so cold and windy that only my black nose made it past the threshold of the front door. Neither Mike nor Judy walked to the end of the driveway to get the mail, not that much worthwhile comes anyway. Mostly advertising. Mike’s late wife, Gena, still gets mail. She just was offered an opportunity for free hearing testing. She also gets emails, the latest offering her a supposedly good rate to refi the house. It’s a crazy world where a person can be deceased for 30 years and still be seen as a prospective customer.

Mike continues to work part time and seems to enjoy it. He sees a few patients every week on zoom. I think it helps keep his mind active. Oh, and he just bought a new car, a hybrid SUV (Hyundai Tucson). It is by far the nicest car he has ever owned. Drive it in good health, Mike!

I may have mentioned that Mike has been restricted in his activities because he has no COVID antibodies. This is because of his chemo. His doctor at Emory told him that there is a new product called Evusheld which is a combination of 2 monoclonal antibodies against the COVID virus which is available on an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the FDA. However, Emory didn’t get enough product for Mike to get immunized. However, a friend from his Men’s group called to let him know that Wellstar was well-stocked, and another friend from the group helped him to get in to see a doctor there. A third friend called Mike to tell him he read about the product in the New York Times. Happily, Mike was immunized 2 days ago, and he should be good to go for 6 months. However, he will continue to mask and use good judgment about where he goes. He gets by with a little help from his friends.

Mike is also still working on his book proposal. Michelle came over yesterday to help Mike celebrate his recent birthday (79). She teaches English and excels at teaching writing. She was a big help to Mike yesterday. Thank you Michelle!

We just lost an hour and missed out on our weekly family zoom with the family in Israel, who didn’t lose the hour. Speaking for the cats of the world, this makes no sense.

Shayna Maidel has been found to be in the early stages of renal failure. The Extreme Vet has her on a special diet, which creates a whole new order of feeding in the house. She can no longer have access to the kibble which used to be available 24/7. We are all getting used to this. She also gets subcutaneous fluids. At first it was twice per week, but now just once. Mike and Judy are working out a method to do this with a minimum of trauma to all concerned, and I am optimistic. Maybe eventually this can be managed by diet alone. I hope so, and so does everyone else.

I will continue to post the news from Happy Meadows when we have such. I do think it is worth mentioning that it was so warm that a few days ago that the frogs started singing their love songs. Remarkably, after temperatures 2 nights ago around 19 degrees F, I heard them singing again today now that it has thawed. The tendency for life to persist is remarkable. May all of you persist joyfully in your lives as well as do our amphibious friends. Until next time, be nice to your cats, dogs, and kids, and So Long from Happy Meadows!