Jennifer, Hats, Scarves, and Jane Austen

One of several close friends named Jennifer (I once worked in an office full of Jennifers – six in all) was in town late last week and over the weekend. She was kind enough to come over and hang out with me for part of her time here.  Not the most thrilling of endeavors for a visitor, particularly during the first week after a “big” chemo, when I am likely to be even less active and engaged than usual.  She was a good companion and seemed content with the slow pace of things, my occasional lost thoughts, and unfinished sentences – the joys of chemo brain.  We caught up on news, though honestly there was very little news that I could offer, watched Pride and Prejudice (the Knightley version) for the umpteenth time, and she helped the household along on its quest to complete some leftover Sunday crossword puzzles. 

Jennifer also very gamely watched YouTube videos with me of women demonstrating different ways to tie headscarves.  I can manage to tie a decent square scarf, but had not ventured into the realm of oblong scarves.  Jennifer, a very creative and crafty person, in the best sense of the word, adeptly wrapped me in some of the styles we saw, and gave me confidence to give it a go myself.  I even wore one to the local repertory theater on Sunday night where I saw the ever-cheery MacBeth.  It was fun, like playing dress up when I was little.  She even brought me a fabulous fleece hat she had made herself – soft, warm and comfy.  I would post its picture here now, but it went back to Minnesota with her for some slight adjustments  -- my head is apparently quite small, so she will adjust the size a bit. 

It was lovely to have a fresh face on the scene and to have someone here who was comfortable and easy with the snail’s pace of activity at my place.  If one is looking for excitement, this is not the place to be, at least at the moment! (If ever!)  Thanks for spending time your time with me, Jennifer.  It was great to see you!

It Never Rains, But It Pours

After months of extremely dry conditions, we have had an incredible amount of rain in the last three days.  Today, the day before Thanksgiving has been grey and wet.  Tonight, the rain is coming down in buckets and is accompanied by thunder and lightening as well.  At one point, the local tornado warning sirens went off.  After a few moments of debate the dog, cat, my housemate and I headed to the basement. We tuned in to a local TV station for an update and discovered, thankfully, that the weatherman didn’t understand why there were sirens going off in our county.  The real tornado warning was for locations two counties southwest of us.  I relaxed a bit upon hearing that news. It’s always unnerving to have the sirens go off, especially in the dark, but I found it particularly unsettling to hear them six days before the start of December.  Although there have been late fall and winter tornados in this region before, they are, thankfully, a rare occurrence.

In addition to long dry spells in the weather, I can go a very long time without an out-of-town visitor.  We may live in the city known as the Gateway to the West, but very few friends or family members pass through here.  Yet in the past two weeks, we have had three visitors: my brother and a couple of friends.  Robert came on Veterans’ Day. Kay, who used to live here, is a great friend and travel companion (Australia - 2000 and Spain - 2004).  She drove down from Chicago last Friday and spent the evening catching up with us, and we with her.  Another dear friend, Julie, took us totally by surprise, calling on Monday to say that she was in town and would love to drop by.  She came over for a couple of hours that very evening.  

It was great to see everyone, but I must say that, like the rain, I would love to spread these visits out a bit more evenly over the course of the year.  It may be months before another out-of-town friend turns up!  However, I can’t, or shouldn’t, complain.  It is far better to have three visits in short order than none at all.  On this, the eve of Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for both the needed rain and the longed-for friends and family who turn up from time to time!