Hope

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for my Dad. He is in the hospital, we are awaiting test results with cautious optimism. He will be facing another acute rehab phase. What we don't have the answer to is why this stroke mimicked the exact pathology that he had before. He had MRI of the brain, echo cardiogram, evaluations by physical and occupational therapists today. My brother says he is in good spirits considering the uphill battle he faces to regain use of his hand and speech functions. This is consistent with his general outlook and personality, optimistic, kind and quietly strong. I am so grateful that my brother can be with him and act as a family liaison to keep an eye on things, keep us all posted and get answers to our questions.
This morning, when I opened the door to the porch, I saw my little outside kitty, Spooky, eating her breakfast. She had a patch of exposed skin on her side. I stepped forward and picked her up for closer examination. I could see two deep puncture wounds where someone, probably a raccoon, had taken a bite out of her! She has been an outside kitty (her choice) for the whole 8 years that she has lived with us. She came to us on Christmas Eve in 2000. I called my vet and he said to bring her right in. After examining her, they said she would need surgery to place a drain and clean out the wound. It had apparently not just happened, but had been incubating an infection over a few days time.
I left her at the vet, and headed to a Surface Design class that I had signed up for at the Vero Beach Art Museum. On the way to meet my friend who I was driving to the class with, I listened to the swearing in ceremony on public radio. I unexpectedly started to cry with the emotion of the day. I was surprised, because I do not cry often or easily. I think was his contagious optimism, his openness, and his energy to tackle the daunting tasks awaiting his administration. It all just rings true to me, and makes me feel connected to my country in a way I have not felt in a very long time.
The surface design class was a blast. We jumped right in and played with Procion dyes and Lumiere paints and translucent powders. We played with different techniques of dying fabric and paper, folding, sewing and clipping the fabric and dipping it into the dye baths. We painted, sprayed and generally had a ball. There were 12 women in the class, from varying backgrounds, from fine art to engineering. The teacher was vibrant and excited to share her knowledge.
Came home to freeze warnings for the next few days...my husband has been busy wrapping up all of his orchids and vegetable beds. He asked me for some fabric! Um, yes I do have some fabric! I had a bolt of muslin that I had purchased for longarm practice. He took that and asked me to get two more. Oh, if you insist! I went to JoAnne. Our JA is in the process of closing. They will be opening at a new location nearby and are selling off everything from the current location. I was able to find two more of the sealed bolts for $17.50 each. We are expecting temps in the 40's tonight, 30's for the next two nights. The sky was gorgeous tonight, with the cold front moving in. I like a little cool weather as much as the next person, but would be very sad to see all of Michael's hard work in the garden over these past months claimed by a killing frost.