It has been a different December, that’s for sure.
Charlie began her recovery from a hiatal hernia surgery on December 1st. It was a very tough slog for the first week or so: she couldn’t sleep, most of what she ate came back up, and she felt generally weak. Mid-day naps became a daily routine.
My wife’s diet was simplified to basically anything liquid, like Jello, yoghurt, pudding, Ensure, flavored sparkling water, and such. Very little protein being ingested, per doctor’s orders, so Charlie began to lose weight (which is usually a good thing!). By the end of the month, she had slimmed down by about 18 pounds, which made her very happy. However, it was a tough way to lose weight, and she wouldn’t do it again, believe me.
Our son Jeff and wife Carol (and their Stafforshire Terrier “Chongo”) stayed with us for almost all of December. It was helpful in the care that we were giving patient Charlie, and it was very nice hearing about their RV lifestyle/boondocking experiences. Chongo, who is an 80-pound behemoth, gets along well with our three Boston Terriers. He’s the “A” dog in the house when he’s here; Baby gracefully relinquishes her role when he comes to visit.
I have been on a “solidarity” diet with Charlie since she came home from the hospital, skipping my usual Doritos and Dip lunch diet and limiting the carbs somewhat. I’ve also begun putting in some walking/hiking mileage to get myself back in shape. I’ve worked my way up to about five miles per walk, typically with the dogs. In addition, I’ve begun to hike with the local Desert Fossils group, usually once a week. Thus far, I’ve lost about 8 pounds. I’m hopeful that I can whittle myself down another ten pounds by the end of January.
Jeff and Carol left today. They will be staying in Bullhead City, Arizona for a few weeks with Carol’s mom, do a little Yuma, and a drive-by stayover in Quartzite to round out January. When the temperatures heat up a bit in the Midwest, they will make the trek across New Mexico and Texas with the ultimate destination Arkansas, where Carol was born and raised. After that, they will head north up into Minnesota, then go west through Wyoming and Montana. We gave them a week’s stay at Gold Beach, Oregon in the Summer, so they will eventually head west into Washington and then down the Oregon Coast to Gold Beach. They’ve never seen Oregon; I can hardly wait until they comment on it.
The 1997 Damon Daybreak motorhome that they’re living in does the job for them at this point. Their original plan with this very old RV was to break them into RV life and then maybe move up in quality to a permanent rig. However, “what ain’t broke, don’t need fixin’”, so they will probably drive this $17,000 bargain until it drops dead. Every mile that they can get out of the Daybreak is money saved.
My good friend Mac, the guy with the constant dizziness and frequent bouts of vertigo, has finally found some experts out of Salt Lake who have diagnosed his problem (it’s called P.P.P.D.) and have prescribed some medicine and therapy to help reduce the misery by maybe 80 percent. This is welcome news for Mac, who was considering suicide a few months ago.
I used to do a lot of hiking with Mac and my friend Lloyd. Mac can’t hike at all right now due to his PPPD issue, and Lloyd moved to South Africa last Summer. He will be visiting us for a few days in January, something that Charlie and I are looking forward to.
2023 was a weird year, particularly as regards politics. It’s hard to believe that the 2024 Presidential election seems to be headed towards a ballot choice of old Donald Trump and older Joe Biden. Jeez, can’t this country do better?
Inflation is still with us, but the Federal Reserve has just lowered the Prime Rate a tad, signaling that the worst may be over. Everything still costs more, and that is likely to be with us indefinitely.
The past year was the hottest in recorded history, which is not a good sign, as most of the hottest years have occurred in the past decade. The really bad news is that polar ice caps and major glaciers around the world are melting, which is going to create havoc with the ocean currents and raise the sea level. Places like Florida, with a high elevation of 100’, are going to be increasingly punished by tropical storms and flooding. It’s already prohibitive to acquire property insurance in that State, much like it is in foothill and mountain communities in California.
We’re going to keep our heads down in 2024, probably traveling much less in the RV. We will do a few short trips (within 500 miles) and splurge on a 30-day vacation in Oceanside, California beginning on Labor Day.
Our treat to ourselves in 2024 will be an anniversary vacation in Zihuatanejo, Mexico to celebrate 50 years of marital bliss.
Hooray for us!!