Splash down!!!

Nine days ago I watched Artemis blast off.  This evening I watched it's capsule Intregrity safely splash down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.  All four astronauts returned safely and all is well.

While I appreciate that this flight did go out and around the moon at a greater distance than any prior space flights, I can't help feeling a bit of deja vu.  I think that many people of my generation may feel the same. In 1969 Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.  From 1981 to 2011the Space Shuttle orbited and landed on dry land; the first reusable space craft.  

I remember being so pleased with the Space Shuttle, knowing that astronauts would no longer have to bob around in the water in their capsules wating to be picked up. There were some close calls with that system.  Yet here I am this evening watching as the Artemis crew is picked up out of Integrity, as it bobs in the water, by helicopter then transferred to a Navy ship.  

I am glad that everything went well and they are safely home, but that water landing felt like a giant step backwards.

ASMR???

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "International Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response Day" also known as ASMR Day.  Naturally I had to look that one up. 

ASMR is a relaxing tingling sensation triggered by soft sounds, whispering or gentle, repetative movements.  It relieves stress, anxity and insomnia.  If you massage your scalp until it tingles that is evidently a good thing. So I am going to get into bed right now and gently massage my scalp until it tingles.  Doesn't that sound nice?  Feel free to try it. I think that maybe this is a day we all should celebrate. Sweet dreams.

more about the birds...

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "Draw a Picture of a Bird Day."  That sounds like fun and I would draw a picture or several pictures of birds if they would just hold still. 

As I've said before, my spouse and I spend time every morning watching birds while we have our breakfast and linger over coffee.  Being retired, we have lingering down to a science. Ocassionally I will take a picture of an interesting bird with my phone but mostly I'm satisfied to just watch them. 

But thinking about drawing birds makes me think of John James Audubon (1785-1851), the ultimate drawer of birds.  I knew that he drew lots of pictures of birds, but I did not know, until I looked him up, that his bird drawings were contained in "a monumental four-volume collection of life size prints of North American birds."  The volumes contain 435 handcolored plates plus a separate five-volume biographical text.  Wow, that is a lot of big heavy books.  I'm sure they are fascinating and I will spend some time looking as his drawings on line. 

But meanwhile my wonder spouse and I will content ourselves with referring to our little one-volume paperback guide to the birds of Indiana whenever a mystery bird shows up at our feeders. 

just a check up...

Today I had my annual checkup with my cardiologist, or, actually, one of his NPs.  It had actually been about a year and a half since my last heart check up so it was time.  Also I had had a couple of brief dizzy spells recently so I decided it wouldn't hurt to just get an exam, especially since my wonder spouse and I are going on a long vacation in about six weeks. 

The exam today included an EKG and on Saturday I am scheduled for an Echocardiogram.  Meanwhile I am wearing a heart monitor stuck to my chest.  It's very small, not obvious at all under clothes.  This wouldn't be bad except the heart monitor comes with its own cell phone which I must keep with me at all times so I can record any events like a rapid heart beat or breathlessness.  I walked two rooms away from this pesky little phone for about 15 minutes earlier this evening and it sent out an audible message that I was too far away from it. 

I must admit, I'm a little surprised, but really very pleased, with how seriously they are dealing with my concerns.  I sort of expected someone to listen to my heart, tell me it sounded ok, tell me to keep taking my one a day heart pills, pat me on the head and send me on my way.  

I feel quite sure that nothing new and serious will be discovered but I will feel much more confident going on our three week cruise knowing that "all systems are go."

Easter Monday

 Today is Easter Monday according to my calendar.  My daughter-in-law, who teaches at a Catholic school had the day off, and, interestingly, the students who go to the public school where my spouse and I tutor on Monday afternoons also had today off.  We were told that it was an in-service day for teachers.  

I wanted to know more about Easter Monday so I googled it, of course.  It seems that Easter Monday is celebrated globally as a public holiday (not a religious holiday) representing a day of rest, continued feasting, family outings, and in some regions, unique water based traditions to mark the joy of the resurrection.  It is widely observed in Europe, Canada, and Australia, while in the US it is marked by the White House Easter Egg Roll. This US tradition is not a federal holiday but has been held on the South Lawn every Easter Monday since 1878.  

I saw some coverage of the White House Easter Egg Roll on the news this morning.  Evidently it involved 40,000 eggs. and thousands of children and their families selected via lottery.  President and Mrs. Trump were there to host the party and the Easter Bunny was also in attendance.  

And I thought all the fun was on Easter Sunday.  I will have to think of something special to do on Easter Monday, 2027.  By then our great grandson will be a year old, maybe he will want to join in the fun. 

Happy Easter indeed...

 With most of our family members busy with other extended family members, my wonder spouse and I anticipated a quiet Easter.  We decided to take his older brother to our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner after church (lovely music, favorite hymns), and made reservations for that a week ago. That was it, our big plan for the day, and it went very well.

But yesterday I received a text from my niece who lives in Tennessee saying that she and her husband were unexpectedly in town just for the weekend and could they come see us for a while about 4:00 this afternoon.  This niece is especially dear to me because she is the first born of that generation.  She was born a few months after my mother died and I have always felt some of my mother's spirit in her.  She has grown up to have the same confidence and ability to tackle tough jobs that my mother had.  She also has the same love of life. 

So of course we said by all means come on over.  We had a delightful visit which included sitting around talking and sipping wine (which they provided) and culminated in taking them to our favorite pizza place for supper.  There are not a lot of restaurants open on Easter but B'Antonios was and, happily, we all like pizza.  

As it happened my spouse and my nephew-in-law decided to share a Hawaiian pizza, made with ham and pineapple so they had an almost traditional Easter dinner.  My niece had a taco pizza and I had a meatsa pizza.  Maybe they will become a new Easter tradition.  All in all it has been a delightful Easter day and I thank God for all the joys in my life.  

aticipation....

 Happy Easter Eve.  I know it's not actually called that but I'm not sure why.  If the day before Christmas is Christmas Eve why shouldn't the day before Easter be Easter Eve?

It has been a low keyed day for my wonder spouse and myself.  We will be eating out tomorrow so no hustle of food prep, and most of our grandchildren are too old to expect Easter baskets full of eggs and candy so no coloring eggs.  Our day was pretty normal.  Except for this poem I came across while sorting through old letters and cards. I felt that I really must share it:

WOULD HAVE SENT YOU AN EASTER EGG, BUT ...

by Ogden Nash

I asked a rabbit that I knew to lay and Easter egg for you.

The air was filled with chilly frost.  The rabbit said to me,

"GET LOST!

That egg routine is for the funnies, us rabbits just have little bunnies."

This information spoiled my day, but Happy Easter, anyway.

            

                Seriously, I hope you all have a blessed, joyous Easter.