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HickoryBark of Ember
Dec. 20th, 2018 09:07 pmDay 1 of the Great Christmas Expedition of 2018 is complete. Got up, packed everything, watered all the plants, took out the trash, and drove for two hours to my mother's place. The traffic was the usual mixture of big trucks and inexplicable behavior. I was very happy because it wasn't snowing. In fact, I swore I would not complain about anything traffic-related, provided it didn't snow. We had lunch with Mother, helped her find various things and explained various things to her.
Then she wanted to go to her Rosary group, so I said I would go with her. The Sparrowhawk opted to stay behind and close his eyes for a few minutes. Halfway down the hall, Mother became breathless and had to sit down on her walker for a few minutes. The Rosary group said a special prayer for her, and then recited the Rosary, which is something I used to do and am still well able to remember. Except for one little glitch--I had kinda changed most of the words around, so it was hard to return to orthodoxy. After that, a lady from one of the local churches got out her little gold pyx for carrying the body of Christ around in, and gave everyone Communion. Except me. I wasn't ready to go quite that far and graciously declined. Then she brought out a bottle of Lourdes water--a a very precious and mystifying item, as Catholics and ex-Catholics will know--and anointed everyone for healing. So Mother really got the treatment!
She was badly in need of a nap by then, and crashed out on the couch. We drove to Ann Arbor, checked in to the hotel, and then drove to the Duchess's house. First we had to drive through the worst late afternoon traffic jams, and then it started to get dark, it rained, and terrific fog arose, making it almost impossible to see anything on the country roads. And then we came to the miles of dirt road, and the fog got thicker than ever. At this point I broke my promise not to complain. However, I am still grateful it didn't snow. The Duchess very kindly invited us to partake of their supper, a skillet dish with home-grown tomatoes and venison in it. So much better than lunch at Mother's place, which was some of the worst food I've eaten since I got out of the cult. I dropped off the cakes to be stored in the Duchess's freezer, and she gave us the new hearing aid batteries she had obtained.
We then drove an equal distance the other way, back to Mother's place via more country roads, and installed the batteries for her. They seem to be working. She had her special antiseptic prep bath and was dressed in clean nightclothes, ready for tomorrow. As expected, Mr. Science didn't make the trip in time to drop in on her, so it was a good thing we were here to check. He is here now, and will pick her up tomorrow morning. We'll meet them at the hospital. And THEN we drove back to our hotel through the fog and rain, and cleaned the mud off our pants legs. All is well so far!
Then she wanted to go to her Rosary group, so I said I would go with her. The Sparrowhawk opted to stay behind and close his eyes for a few minutes. Halfway down the hall, Mother became breathless and had to sit down on her walker for a few minutes. The Rosary group said a special prayer for her, and then recited the Rosary, which is something I used to do and am still well able to remember. Except for one little glitch--I had kinda changed most of the words around, so it was hard to return to orthodoxy. After that, a lady from one of the local churches got out her little gold pyx for carrying the body of Christ around in, and gave everyone Communion. Except me. I wasn't ready to go quite that far and graciously declined. Then she brought out a bottle of Lourdes water--a a very precious and mystifying item, as Catholics and ex-Catholics will know--and anointed everyone for healing. So Mother really got the treatment!
She was badly in need of a nap by then, and crashed out on the couch. We drove to Ann Arbor, checked in to the hotel, and then drove to the Duchess's house. First we had to drive through the worst late afternoon traffic jams, and then it started to get dark, it rained, and terrific fog arose, making it almost impossible to see anything on the country roads. And then we came to the miles of dirt road, and the fog got thicker than ever. At this point I broke my promise not to complain. However, I am still grateful it didn't snow. The Duchess very kindly invited us to partake of their supper, a skillet dish with home-grown tomatoes and venison in it. So much better than lunch at Mother's place, which was some of the worst food I've eaten since I got out of the cult. I dropped off the cakes to be stored in the Duchess's freezer, and she gave us the new hearing aid batteries she had obtained.
We then drove an equal distance the other way, back to Mother's place via more country roads, and installed the batteries for her. They seem to be working. She had her special antiseptic prep bath and was dressed in clean nightclothes, ready for tomorrow. As expected, Mr. Science didn't make the trip in time to drop in on her, so it was a good thing we were here to check. He is here now, and will pick her up tomorrow morning. We'll meet them at the hospital. And THEN we drove back to our hotel through the fog and rain, and cleaned the mud off our pants legs. All is well so far!
