My Mom and Wacky Weather

I have been a little busy and preoccupied of late and have not had any new postings for a while (as some of my readers have pointed out recently), so now, I hope to remedy this situation.

I am now back home after a nearly two-week visit to my parent's house in Indiana.

This trip was not one of leisure (although I did have some fun).

I went to help take care of my mother (who had gotten out of the hospital just three days prior) and to lend a hand to ease the burden on my father and siblings who had been with my mother throughout her nearly two-week hospital stay. A severe reaction to a new medication had landed my mother in the hospital.

My mother was getting stronger each day. The visiting nurse, occupational therapist and physical therapist from the hospital came in (on separate days), assessed her and each one signed off, saying my mother did not need their assistance (a woman who has given birth to 8 children has to be one tough mother, er, uh, cookie I mean).

It was good to see my parents, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and my good friend Kim while in Indiana. I played some great card games like Euchre and 1 to 10 with my family and Kim made me a delicious lunch of excellent tomato soup, one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I have ever eaten and a tasty, family dessert cake of which I cannot remember the correct nor incorrect name of (thanks again Kim for the delicious lunch and laughter-filled visit).

There is an old saying that goes like this..."If you don't like the weather in Indiana, stick around for a few minutes and it will change."

When I arrived (on Halloween), the beautiful colors of fall welcomed me and the weather was pleasant (even for this thin-blooded Floridian). The day before I left Indiana it snowed! Even for Indiana it was an early snow (I flew out of Indianapolis on November 11, Veteran's Day).

My sister and I ran outside to see the big, fat snowflakes. They were swirling around us like we were in an enormous snow globe. I tried to catch some on my tongue and immediately thought that Lucy, of Charlie Brown and Peanuts fame, would shake her head at me and say that she only eats January snowflakes.

I loved seeing the snow fall, it was beautiful. It has been a while since I have seen it but that little bit was enough...I got my fill. I remember the Blizzard of 1978 (and many other long, frigid winters) and was glad that I was heading back to sunny, subtropical Florida the next day even though the little snow flurry did not last long and the snow melted almost as soon as it hit the ground.