Some clarification...

 

Tomorrow, it will be four weeks since "the big poke."  I am mending well and feeling good.  I can walk as far as I want (within reason), and it doesn't hurt to cough, sneeze, or get up from a chair.

Getting a short ride on the Vespa earlier this week was a real boost.  I mentioned that I was sore afterwards, and from e-mails and private messages I received, I can tell that some folks are confused about this procedure... based on comments about "needing a donut to sit on."  It wasn't my ass that was sore, it was my innards; specifically, from the naval to the nads feels like everything inside has been "all shook up."

The surgeon went in through my lower abdomen with 4 "poke holes" and one exit hole above my navel, where the prostate came out.  Those holes were stitched and glued.  They don't in through your ass, so no donut needed.  But (notice only one '"t" in that), the abdominal muscles get poked through and stretched around, so that is part of the pain.  When riding a motorcycle or scoot, you do a good portion of your steering by leaning, and that requires using some of those core muscles.

Another two weeks, and I am off the restrictions for what to ride and lifting no more than 10 pounds.  I plan to slowly work up.  Seventeen days since having the catheter pulled, and I am seeing some improvement in the peeing department.  Well, holding the pee department.  Getting better?  Yeah, Depends. (another joke)  I'm saying about a 70% improvement, if I put a number on it.  The bladder and the urethra are learning to play together without the structure of Mr. Prostate.  It's a process, and the range you get from Dr. Google says "months" rather than days.

Merry Christmas!

 

If you are reading this - we made it.  This year has been unusual, to say the least.  Joan and I have become pretty good at being hermits, even when we're out and about with the motorhome.  At home, we do fine keeping to ourselves.  Rufus is the "wild card," and likes to be a social boy... I have to keep him reigned in at times when we're out for a walk.

This is a different Christmas Day for us.  Instead of face-to-face, we will be FaceTiming with Steph and Dan in an hour or so.  Rather than lament about not being together, I will delight in seeing their faces on my screen.

The house already smells good this morning: Joan is making cinnamon rolls to start our day.

Joan and I were talking about this year last night... she said it well: "Together, we can get through anything."

Another week and we can say good-bye to 2020.  In the near term, I don't expect 2021 to be much different.  But, there is hope on the horizon... and that is something to consider this Christmas Day.

Virtual hugs,

Jim, Joan and Rufus

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Looking out our living room windows this morning, it is chilly (42º when we got up), but glorious: the sun is shining, blue sky, the wind isn't howling.  It's a pretty start to the day.

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FaceTiming...

Not the same as being there, but it was nice to visit with Steph and Dan this morning, and get close to our traditional gift opening...

Joan opening one of her presents...

This gift was for the both of us, but it is all about Rufus (there was a bit of a cat theme this year)...

Because... Rufus is such a good boy!  Steph got one of those pillows for herself, with her 3 cats on it.  We got to see the grandkitties when they panned the computer around.  It was a nice visit.

It's that time...

 

Steph and Dan usually come to visit us, often arriving on Christmas Eve.  Mother Nature knows this and greets them with the arrival of a norther that generally coincided with their arrival.  The family joke: Steph brings on the crappy weather.

In this year of the virus, Steph and Dan wisely canceled their plans to visit us this year.  Apparently, Mother Nature didn't get the memo... about 1:00 in the morning, this norther blew in with temperatures dropping and winds 30 to 35mph, gusting to 45.  We planned for it, by putting everything away on the deck and rolling up the sun shades yesterday.  That didn't stop the noise from the wind howling and palm branches from the neighbor's tree blowing off and banging into everything.  I think we're going to need a nap this afternoon.

Happy Christmas Eve.  This year will be different: the first time since Steph and Dan got married that the four of us aren't together for Christmas.  It is usually games and prizes and family tradition food.  Joan has a Christmas Day meal planned (turkey and all the fixin's).  This evening it will be our traditional Christmas Eve lasagna.  The joy and the love will still be there, even though we'll share it long distance.

My favorite Rufus photo to celebrate this day...

 And, of course, sharing how Santa gets around here...

It probably won't get out of the 50s here today, with the gusty wind continuing.  Into the upper 60s tomorrow, and back into the 70s after that.  Mother Nature said, "Oh, she's not coming?  Well, I can't just turn it off like a light switch."

Sending you warm wishes for joy, peace, and hope this Christmas.

Jim, Joan, and Rufus

Didja suffer?

 

Regarding the ride yesterday... no.  My nether regions were a bit achy from the different movements, but my heart was very happy.  No more ibuprofen than usual.  I slept good last night.  Well, except for the dream.

Since the surgery, I have been having weird dreams.  Not scary nightmares (like someone harvesting my prostate); just weird.  When I remember my dreams, they are often about working.  Some from the photography days, shooting sessions.  Some from the boat driving days.  Last night's dream was from the boat driving days, but not about driving a boat...

I was walking down the dock; it wasn't the actual dock where the boats were slipped, but a much longer one.  My phone fell out of my pocket, and of course, went into the water.  There was a slightly submerged dock, a couple feet under the water, alongside the main dock.  Looking down, my phone was glowing in the water, sitting on that submerged dock.  I figured I'd only get wet to the knees, but I could get my phone back.  Climbing off the side of the main dock, I lowered myself into the water.  When I bent down to get my phone, I saw 4 more phones on that same submerged dock.  I gathered them up and put them on the dry dock.  Then, spent the rest of the afternoon finding out who the other phones belonged to.  It was actually my first day off after finishing a season, so I didn't have to drive a boat - I was just going to go out for the fun of it, as a passenger.

Weird, huh?  I have no idea what it meant.  I did once drop a phone in the water while launching one of our sailboats.  Yes, I could see it glowing.  I thought, "Some dumbass dropped their phone in the water"... then reached for my pocket to determine I was the dumbass.  That was a long time ago.  Back when phones were less than $100.  And a flip phone was for making calls; if you wanted to send a text on it, you had to scroll through the alphabet and press the button 1 to 4 times, depending on what letter you wanted.  The phone wasn't connected to the internet and it was 25¢ to send or receive a text. Yeah, the "olden days."

Must be a "slow news day."  ;-)

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We are all saying that 2021 has to be better.  This illustrates my thoughts...

Anyone up for a ride?

 

Me!  Pick me!

I knew today would be the day.  I've given it plenty of thought.  When Joan said, "I have a break in what I'm doing, so if you want to get the scoot out, this would be a good time."

That sounds like completely onboard to me.  Twelve days from the time the surgeon said, "Give it a month from now"... I like being ahead of schedule.  No, I am certainly not 100%, but my psyche could use a boost, and a short ride on the Vespa may not be what the doctor ordered, but I know what I need.

The lots are compact on our island, and a garage is rare.  The scoots stay in our "portable garage," also known as the cargo trailer.  The door to that trailer is heavy, so Joan insisted that she lower the door.  She also suggested that she be the one to pull the Vespa out... I think that's what she said, I was pretty focused...

Yes, I am wearing shorts.  I have to be selective about what kind of clothing goes across my middle, so soft waistbands are my current fashion trend.  I pulled the scoot out and put on a helmet and gloves...

Joan was recording this momentous occasion...

 

 

I assured Joan that I would stay in our neighborhood.  For full disclosure, after I left our street, I left our island and rode a few blocks into Port Isabel to get a photo of the scoot at a coffee shop there, to be able to post something in a thread about scooters and coffee shops.  I am still not a coffee drinker, but I am once again a scooter rider.  ;-)  And, I consider this part of "our neighborhood."

 

 Back at the house, I did as instructed and let Joan know of my triumphant return.  She watched while I put the Vespa away, then she closed the ramp door.  In the grand scheme of things, it was a short ride; for my sense of well-being, it was an important step.

A lovely day; temp was in the mid-70s, a light breeze, and partly sunny.  We're supposed to have a cool and windy day on Christmas Eve and only in the 60s on Christmas Day.  This was a good time for a first outing.

 

An outing...

 

It wasn't an absolute necessity, but it was time for the monthly running-of-the-generator and a few other things out at our storage unit (40 miles inland).  Combined with a stop to pick up the desk calendar I ordered.

The calendar looks great, Chick-fil-A was tasty, and we got everything done we wanted to do with the motorhome and the storage unit.

 

On the way back home, I said, "I'm tired, but I think I handled all this stuff OK.  Maybe in the next day or two, I'll take the scooter for a short ride around the neighborhood."

"Just the neighborhood, right?" Joan asked.  "You need to let me help you get it out."  No fuss, no "It's WAY too soon."  She understands.  We'll see how that works out.

It has been 3 weeks today since my prostate went missing.  I'm beginning to think it isn't coming back.

Oh, and Happy Winter Solstice... the daylight gets longer each day now.

When the moon is in the 7th house...

 

... and Jupiter aligns with Saturn.

If you said, "Jim, you messed up the words to Age of Aquarius from the the Broadway production of Hair," you get 20 bonus points.  The real words are "Jupiter aligns with Mars."

But, last night and tonight, if you have a clear sky, you can see Jupiter and Saturn very close together (the "great conjunction").  The last time this occurred at night (when you could see it) was in 1226... I was just a kid at the time, so I don't really remember it.

We call it a "great" conjunction because to ancient skywatchers, these were the two slowest moving planets in the sky.  Jupiter takes nearly 12 years to describe a full circle in the heavens, spending a year visiting each zodiacal sign in the sky, while Saturn takes 29.5 years to make one full trip around the sun. Because of their respective slow movement, a conjunction or — to the ancients — a "celestial summit meeting," was rather unusual. Such get-togethers happen, in most cases, about every 20 years on average.  But on Dec. 21, we see Jupiter and Saturn separated by just 6 arc minutes. That's equal to 0.1 degrees or about one-fifth the apparent width of the moon.

For those keeping track, this is also the Winter Solstice.  Some say this may have been that "Christmas star" (star of Bethlehem) that three wise guys were following a couple thousand years ago.

Last night, we went out on our deck to check it out.  Yep - with a pair of stabilized binoculars, we could see both; but, no camera equipment I have has enough focal length to capture that.  We do, however, have an app that tells us what we are seeing in the night sky...