When Johnny Comes Marching Home

Tunes get stuck in my head. This week, the tune in my head is an orchestral arrangement of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", thanks to the joint performances of two local youth symphonies, playing together twice on successive Saturdays. The younger kids played the crowd pleasing pieces, the march, Hungarian Rhapsody and The Pink Panther. Ray's group played Scheherazade, a pretty piece with haunting melodies and a wicked backstory. He also had a concert with his school band so we heard a lot of music in some nice theaters. Some of it goes on a bit too long but it is just what parents do, and we were grateful to get past the soccer and track meet parents standing out in the rain and the wind and into our velvet seats.

I have watched enough basketball over the last couple weeks that I'm lucky not to have "One Shining Moment" stuck in my head. College ball in high definition - I love it! I've continued to make Rose Star quilt blocks, we've had visitors from Alaska and returning snowbirds to welcome home, and I have resumed, for the most part, the habit (chore) of daily exercise but, mostly, it seems, I have been working. A nurse at our clinic quit and I stepped up to work full time until another person could be hired and trained. It takes awhile, which is not surprising, but an experienced medical assistant has accepted the job and I will begin training her on Monday. 


Working five days a week has given me a different view of my clinic job and I have enjoyed the depth and breadth that comes with being there every single day. When someone calls or comes in with a problem, likely I know something about it already, because I was there last week or last month when it first started. I know so much more about the people - the everyday stuff and the exotic. There is heart disease and depression, sore knees and sore shoulders, can't lose weight, can't gain weight, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar. There are many stories I can't tell but being involved in the intimacies of lives is a privilege and a pleasure, and it is a pretty good job.


And the puppies! Katie's boyfriend's dog had 10 puppies and they were a block away from the clinic and we got to visit at lunchtime - 10 puppies, ten, TEN - five black, three red, two blond - puppies are pure pleasure and great medicine. Man, if I could bottle that...

Rose Star Block 22