Category: recovery stage

Thankfully, we did not have any earthshaking events happen, and we can report the same ole, same old.  We like it that way at the hospital.  Another week passed means one more step toward the end of my infusions on September 28^th.  That’s right before my retirement “party” on Oct 2^nd.  Looking forward to both and for both to be in the rear-view mirror.

I’ve had far fewer (as in “almost none”) atrial fibrillations or other arrhythmias since introducing and balancing ‘amiodarone’ (am-ee-OH-duh-rown) with other meds.  Also sold as Cordarone, amiodarone interacts with many other drugs and stays in the body for weeks after one stops taking it.  I’m off digoxin because of an anticipated interaction. If you are around someone on amiodarone you can read about it here:

http://www.medicinenet.com/amiodarone/article.htm

This next week has some health events happening–another try at the Holter heart monitor, and another echocardiogram to see how my heart is doing.  Will report in next weekend, and hopefully NOT before.

We have been continuing to raise the puppy that we are keeping till after his titer has shown he has immunity to Canine Parvovirus, sometime after Oct 4^th when we will take him in for the lab test.  The vet’s lab is in Phoenix, so not as handy as I get here at our hospital on my blood tests.  If my INR is too high or too low I know in a couple of hours and can subtract or add Coumadin with the evening pill intake.

We went every day during the work week to the hospital to Out-Patient Services for the infusions, now of just Rocephin.  It usually lasts only a half hour not counting the setup and take down time, but it totally is less than an hour, so that’s nice.  They are so good to me and have brought me a Glucerna-boosted chocolate milk shake every session.  They put me under a heated blanket because the rooms are cold, and have me in a nice bed for which I can control the height, the head, and under my knees, to lift them as well.  I get very comfortable for my infusion.  There was only one day last weekend when I was subjected to have it done in a chair with no warm blanket, and that was no fun.

On weekends we go to Medical Surgical, or as happened Saturday, the beds in MedSurg were full, so I was taken care of in the Critical Care Unit (CCU).  I had a nurse yesterday who remembered me (and I her) from my stay there, way last summer when I also had bacteria in my bloodstream, which started all this heart mess, the Endocarditis.

There was no one staying in the CCU, but the day before it and Medical Surgical floor had been filled with young people, all kids.  There were 6 appendectomies in one day, by one doctor.  He said there must have been something in the water.  He has worked at hospitals before in large urban areas and never had a cluster like this.

We also went to garage sales a couple days this week (Friday and Saturday).   Found neat stuff, not the least of which is a case (50 cents) for my Dulcimer… it’s a case for a keyboard that died.  They want $50 plus for special cases on the web.   I’m obviously feeling better to be going back to yard sales.  John is kind to drive me fairly close and let me out, so that I don’t have to walk too far, even though I’m getting better on my stamina each day.  Two stops we went to were neighborhood sales with 5 or 6 sales on the block.  Another was at a retirement community with the folks unloading knickknacks collected over a combined 943 years.  There is a lot of “stuff” accumulated in such a long time by so many people.

John says I’m supposed to keep this blog to my health, so I will relate that I did get some things to aid in my health.  I nice new pillow for my recliner foot rest (free); a lap blanket for cool nights, even though our heat has been coming on; a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses for my trips outside.  I lost a lot of weight, so clothes and coats are nice to find deals on at yard sales too.   I got a nice “Rawhide” looking coat with fleece from a friend at a yard sale.  I found one of the foam seats for cushioning chairs.  So, that’s my news of the uneventful week of hospital care, but how it influenced my healing process.  The prices, except the coat, were 50 cents.  Also, I take my many pills with chocolate milk in an ‘Old Fashioned’ (squatty) glass.  This shape is easier to rinse out and clean than taller shapes.  At one sale, for $1.50, I got 8 owl-motif glasses so can put the Christmas scene ones away for a few months.  I continue to spend gas money on finding good deals at sale, and it gets me some fun exercise too.  I pick up shirts that fit for a quarter, and that’s nice.

Also, I played music at the Rehab last Thursday, the place where I spent 6 weeks back in January and February, with physical therapy 3 times a day to regain use of my muscles that had atrophied.  Those are happy memories only now, and it is nice to be able to walk down the hall, past my old room, and into the cafeteria to play for some people / patients I met while there, as a patient myself.

Okay, I had best stop this so John can put out on the blog.

Have a nice week and we hope to do the same.

Nancy

We’re back in the ICU at Yakima Regional.  Nancy has something going on and not being sure what, the consensus of the medical profession was that Yak-Reg ICU is the best place for her for a few days.

I’ll make this short (for now):  We woke early this morning, I think about 5:30.  I let the puppies out, asked Nancy if she was okay.  She was, then she wanted something to spit into.  I got that for her and went down the hall and went to bed.  At some time later she got up and went into the kitchen and was dumping here tiny waste bucket into the sink.  At that point she apparently had a ventricular fibrillation episode and sank to the floor.  Her ICD responded with a double whammy and converted the beat back to normal.

Her legs and arms are weak (and maybe more so from the incident) and she rested a time on the floor but did not get up.  She thought I had gone outside and expected my return.  After about an hour she yelled for me and, being just down the hall, I appeared after the first yelp.

We then went to the Ellensburg ER where they soon determined the main thing wrong, as far as they could tell, was from a blood sample.  She was quite anemic and the doctor thought that might have triggered the V-fib and set off the ICD.  Test of the kidney function did not suit them either. They cannot download the data from the ICD here and so, with a unit of blood hanging beside her – off to Yakima she went.

I talked with her a few minutes before 5 P.M. and she sounded fine but had little real news.  I’m posting this at about 5:25 and will head on down.

More Wednesday.

John

This was the week of the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Summer Workshop in Kittitas, WA, 10 miles from our home.  I was starting it in a very run down condition, having gone back to not being able to hold down food and therefore not having caloric intake and proteins for stamina and energy.   I had arranged for a doctor’s appointment Tuesday afternoon, meaning I would have to leave during the last break at Fiddler’s class.  Classes go from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

I had missed an atrial fibrillation medication, Metropolol, which apparently had elevated my heartbeat to 124 with severe atrial fibrillation.   That is way above my normal in the 80s.  So that was the concern of most of the visit.  The pacemaker attached to the defibrillator has nothing to do with regulating that heartbeat, and that is solely done through the one medication I missed.

The doctor did check my legs for fluid build-up (none), listen to my lungs, heart, and feel around the lower part of my body searching for pains.  The only thing I had was tummy grumblings from no food.  Everything else provided a good report.  The doctor requested more lab blood work there before I left, to see if that showed any problems.  I have been poked so much, it’s no wonder I’m anemic.

John and I left Cle Elum and went to Ellensburg to pick up the meds, and on home.  I took the missing med and proceeded to throw it up along with my yogurt from lunch.  This was at 5:00 p.m.    I didn’t feel like eating any dinner, but I took all my night meds at 9:00 p.m. with chocolate milk and Lucerna, a high protein supplement for diabetics to rebuild proteins in the system, hoping that would give me some sustenance.  (I had been on that while in intensive care in Yakima and then all the time during the time I was in the Rehabilitation nursing home from Jan 20 till Feb 26. because of the lousy food I couldn’t eat.)

My last entry to my stomach (all the meds included) did not last long.  They all came back up.  I had not retaken the Metropolol, and so decided to retake that medication only, at 10:30 heading to bed.  That stayed down, so the next morning my heartbeat was back to normal.  Still was having trouble with the stomach.

John, being the sharpest knife in our drawer of medical memories of all my health issues since last year (keeping this blog cemented things in his memory too), realized I was suffering the same symptoms I had in Intensive Care in March here in the Ellensburg hospital for 4 days, with fluid in my lungs.  Then after throwing up a lunch 3 hours after I ate it, the visiting hospitalist from the Tri Cities prescribed me onto Reglan.  The pharmacy did not have that in the records, so they requested a refill from my cardiologist in Yakima.  They realized it was not in their records, so they called my doctor’s office in Cle Elum, but they also did not have it.  Finally, late afternoon Wed. another doctor tracked down what John had already remembered (but the nurse calling for me earlier could not discuss with John because of privacy issues)—and so they ordered a refill.  John went to town late to get it.  I need to take a pill ½ hour before a meal.  I have now been doing that since Wed. night this past week, and I am keeping all food down and gaining more stamina and energy. [From John: earlier posts about this issue are in late March beginning on Wednesday 3/24]

It got me through the end of the class and the Friday afternoon recital, in which our class performed admirably on “For the Love of Tara” a song written by Denis Lanctot to honor the death of Tara his sister in law who died in an auto accident at 22.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l33Mdji-4BA

takes you to a duet of the song played by Leahy and a fiddler friend; try to listen to it and I think you will understand our choice.  Our class of 26 played both parts, with our teacher backing us up on the piano.  Many people at the recital said it was the most beautiful “orchestral” piece they had ever heard, in an old time fiddling setting.  We have a reputation for that in that class, this being our 16^th year.  I have been in the class all 16 years.

Our teacher, Roberta Pearce, from Nampa, Idaho found that Leahy performed this piece on ‘youtube’ and she transcribed it into music for us to learn.  The whole class voted to play it as our one recital song from all the ones we learned all week, and there were sixteen total.

~~~~~~~~~~

The information that follows is by the writer of the song, Denis Lanctot – from Canada.  “For the Love of Tara” is my third recording and it is very special to me. I dedicate it to Tara Lynne Touesnard, my wife’s sister, who died in a car accident on April 25, 1994.

This tragedy drove me to immediately begin working on plans to recreate the fiddle that died with her – a fiddle that had once belonged to me and then to Tara.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for going through my week and I’m happy to say I’m doing very well today, on Sunday.  Yesterday we drove part way up Blewett pass toward Wenatchee, to meet the new family of one more of our puppies, a nice female.  She is now in her new home with a huge backyard to romp in with her new buddy, a year old Beagle.  They renamed her Co-Co.

We were hopeful in the last post Aug 1 that this would be a better news week, and finally it turned out to be.

See you next week.  We are actually scheduled to be at a potluck for our trail riding club Sunday afternoon, so will try to get it out earlier in the day.

The week is over!  Wow.  This was one of my worst weeks in many.  Monday morning this past week started with a bang.  Well, there wasn’t much noise but blueberries cascaded about the kitchen like a 4^th of July fire cracker.  I stepped into the kitchen to get some blueberries out of the fridge, to clean some and sugar them for our morning cereal.  John was outside explaining a subtle point of etiquette to a horse.  I had 2 pounds of blueberries in my right hand and was moving … when I tripped over my imagination or the rug, do not know, and slammed into the edge of the counter-top Formica around the sink.  It was full speed ahead.  The bag of blueberries got two holes in it and berries exited from both, but my left arm hit the sharp counter edge, halfway between my elbow and shoulder.  Immediately, I was in pain, and had a huge lump forming.  This is not good to have internal bleeding in a patient on the blood thinner Coumadin.  I first tried to pick the blueberries off the counter, still in the bag with — I thought — one hole, to put in another bag with no holes, but suddenly they started falling again out the back side hole.  So, I sat down for a few minutes to rest.  It was still swelling so I went and called to John to please come help.  [Someone had to save the blueberries! JFH]

He had enough sense to tell me to call my family physician’s nurse, who said get ice on it to reduce the swelling, do that every 20 minutes on and off, she would contact the doctor, and I was to report back in an hour.  Meanwhile, she called back to say to hold pressure on the ice.  So I did.  I started with a flaxseed bag that doesn’t get all that cold, but it worked.  She suggested a package of frozen green peas, which later when we had to go to town, John got for me to use for the afternoon ice sessions.

The swelling went down (probably started at the size of a golf ball) after a couple of applications of the ice pack, and so then they sent me to the hospital for a blood draw to check my INR for the blood clotting factor… before the doctor wanted to decide on the change to my Coumadin dosage for the night and succeeding days.

I missed my exercise class because of all the excitement and being at the hospital for a blood draw.  But, the swelling went down (although I still applied frozen green peas, once home from town).

Tuesday was spent totally on my back trying to rest and recover.  That’s not good for keeping the muscles working.  I did walk up the driveway and back that evening with a little bit of exertion and trouble.  It started my atrial fibrillation which really hasn’t been bothering me in weeks.

Next day, was exercise class again and I forced myself to go.  It was a most unpleasant experience.   I sat out a lot of class without energy or stamina to join in.  All my cohorts and my teacher are very concerned and responsive to me.  It’s nice being with such a great group of supportive people.

Thursday, was not much better.  I geared up to go to my music venue with the Fiddlers and Friends, at 2:00 to 3:00 at a local nursing home.  I played the fiddle but did not sing along because it was just too taxing.  I was not feeling well, and had no stamina.

During this week, however, I contacted both my doctors:  the cardiologist in Yakima and the family physician.  They are both concerned and we have upcoming appointments (this week and next).  The cardiologist will have me for a week on a heart event monitor which will show them what my heart is doing all the time.  I can also press a button to request a read-out report be stored on things when I feel stress.

I’m not looking forward totally to this coming week, the first in August, because it is my week in the Washington Old Time Fiddlers’ workshop classes.  I am concerned at my low level of stamina how I will make it through the classes M-F from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  There are afternoon and evening events as well – some educational, some just fun — which I know I will miss this year.

The nice thing, however, is that the people in charge know my condition, and plan to provide a room in the air-conditioned facility where we have classes, which will have a recliner and provide a place to escape to rest if (WHEN) I need.

Okay.  That’s a long negative report, but I will try to do better, eat better, and all the other things.

Part of this is my mental attitude and depression about being worse off 2 months after the defibrillator implant than I was going in for it on June 1^st.  John thinks, perhaps, the many medications need tweaking.

Puppies – three still here – are still growing but remain cute, funny, and playful and we are looking for homes.

August is set to be a busy month.  We wish for all of you the best, and will report back next week with better news.

I think John got carried away with the header last Sunday.  I went downhill as I was unable (at 1:00 a.m. Mon.) to keep food down from a late supper.  It was sort of a long week, with a sick puppy too.

I’ve been trying to gear my mental state to be positive, but my healing process is still not as fast as I would like.  I spend too much time reclining in the recliner, but am thankful for it.  John says I just have to realize that the damage done is not easily recovered.

My meds have to continually be checked with blood work every two weeks to be sure my potassium level and INR (clotting range) is all right.  This week it was not, so the meds had to be readjusted.  Whether that played a part in my feeling down, is unknown.   My stamina just is not there as I figure it should be and was told it would be.

[John says: Health issues are not translatable from person to person.  For example, an otherwise healthy person that has by-pass surgery may feel much better within weeks – if that surgery was preceded by a heart attack, recovery to a former medically-free healthful state will not occur and the actual recovery may be slow.  Nancy, following a heart attack, had a complete system-wide collapse involving multiple organs.  Issues from congestive heart deterioration remain even though a malfunctioning heart valve has been replaced.  Comparisons with others don’t make much sense.  We have to acknowledge the individuality of this existence and with medicines, exercise, activities, and diet encourage the best possible outcome.]

I’m continuing to try to get better.  Sleeping throughout the night with uninterrupted sleep is impossible with food issues (see above) and puppies, and particularly sick ones.  That obviously is playing a part in the process.

Nothing else on my health this week so I’ll switch to the puppies and other events that keep us going and busy.

John tries to work every day with the horses, and some days are better than others, with associated wind or heat.   He does most of his work in the morning cooler hours.   He also takes out time to help our neighbors  (ages 87 & 84) with things around their farm.

Tuesday we drove to Ritzville (a little over 100 miles away) to meet a family from Lewiston, ID who got a nice female puppy for their family.  They have named her Lucy.  She made the trip well, with John holding and my driving, until Moses Lake when she got antsy.  She had to “pee” so we found an empty field and John took her for relief.  She settled down for the next 40 miles and we met the folks at their aunt’s place a little after 1:00 p.m.  The area near Ritzville includes dry-land farming and there were thousands of acres of fields with multiple whirlwinds lifting columns of fine soil into the air.  These “dust devils” were numerous and varied greatly in height, width, color, and lifespan.  Very interesting but we failed to take a picture.  Otherwise, it was an okay trip, and the temperatures were not that hot here in Ellensburg, where we left her 3 siblings, and our adult dogs.  We got home about 4:15, checked, and everyone seemed fine.

It wasn’t till later that we realized the one puppy was not acting right and she was very uncomfortable sleeping and miserable all night just as if she had a bad stomach.   She was crying in her sleep and shivering in pain (we guessed).

Wednesday morning was filled with more sick puppy and finally taking her to the vet.  She was treated for a seizure and there are only guesses to the cause (bump on the head, heatstroke, ate something wrong, was bitten by an insect, who knows).  She spent the night in the vets and came home the next morning back to being a puppy again.  She has been fine since, so I doubt we will ever know what happened.

We heard good news from puppy owners with new ones in their homes.  Those stories are always welcomed.

John picked blueberries (24 pounds) at a location just west of Yakima on Saturday and got them in the ‘fridge’ before we left late in the afternoon for a music gig for a local church.  (Sunday now and he is freezing and bagging them.)

Finally, besides exercise class for me, I played music at a nursing home on Thursday afternoon.  Then Saturday evening we played again at a church picnic and had a great dinner as well.  The temperature was not nice, sitting at 96, but they provided shade for us, and it cooled off to 90 by the time we left.  The church is of one of the members of our music group, and we have done this for about the past five years.  The interest of the young kids in music and our instruments was most fascinating.  We found ourselves playing songs we don’t normally do in nursing homes, because the kids requested them:  Old McDonald Had a Farm; Mary Had a Little Lamb; Pop! Goes the Weasel, and one about popcorn on a apricot tree I’d never heard.  It was actually fun to see them keeping time to the music and participating.  There were a few old timers as well who came over and joined us.

I’d better stop and when John comes back in from watering the raspberries and giving the puppies a big dish to use as a pool, and after lunch, he will put this out on this blog.  We will also bring in the puppies to share the a/c in the house so they don’t overheat. Our afternoon temps are topping out at just under 100 degrees F., but Monday may get that high.  By Wednesday we will only be in the high 80s and low 90s.  We are without clouds so at night the temps drop to near 50 degrees (our elevation is 2,240 feet).

Thanks for staying tuned.  Nancy

We made a trip to Cle Elum to our family physician, Monday, our anniversary.  I got a clean bill of health and he changed a few meds.  Went over my labs and had positive feedback from my doctor about my concern that I wasn’t gaining stamina as much as I desired.  He was nice and said I’m still in the healing process and I just have to be patient.  Get my rest and do what I can.  I told him about my cardiologist wanting to put a heart monitor on me for an entire week to keep an eye on how my heart and body is responding to my normal week’s activity.  That’s in the future for August.  He encouraged me to participate in the experiment.

Oh, we also started me back on another medication to see if it would control the “acid reflux” — that seems to be occurring occasionally.  The last 3 nights I have eaten away from home, so I have restarted taking that medication before dinner.  So far; so good.  (John was with me Thursday and Friday but I was by myself Saturday night.)

That’s all I have to report (thankfully) on my health, so will end with a few stories of the other things in our life right now:  puppies, jam sessions & potlucks, etc., and music events, and John’s horse training.

Happily, we went for a healthy “Sammie”  sandwich as Quiznos after the doctor’s appointment.  The appointment started around 1:30, so it was time for lunch when I was through.  Funny thing is how much doctors depend on computers in treatments now.  When we got there the computers were down, which affected getting some of my lab work out in a timely fashion.  Oh, well.

Puppies.    (turned 7 weeks old on Monday this week)

We sent two puppies to their new homes on Wed. and on Thursday.  The little “runt”, Trouper, went to a home with two boys, 4 and 2, and the older one was totally smitten by the puppy.  He is doing fine, and I am very impressed how good the little boys are with the puppy.  This morning, we received 5 great pictures of his new life with them and their 12 year old dog.  The next day, a liver/white female went to her new home here in the valley with a family who had a dog from us for 14 years and loved her lots.  She just died this spring.

We have one more puppy to transfer this coming Tuesday, and then we have 3 who need new homes and for which we do not know yet for sure who will be their new owners.  If anyone is reading this within a decent driving distance of Ellensburg, who might be interested in adding a wonderful Brittany puppy to your family, please let us know.  They are so smart.  We keep introducing to them to new things to keep them learning and adapting to human handling and interaction.

Finally, the other events – in our life:  music keeps me busy, as Saturday night, when our “group”, the Kittitas Valley Fiddlers and Friends, went to the upper county to play for an antique car rally at the Cle Elum Senior Center.  They treated us to a catered dinner that was very nice, including chicken and rice, green beans, tomatoes, salad and a great (rich) dessert.  It was yummy, and we played during the “cocktail hour” before dinner, and they had a program afterwards so we didn’t play our normal hour of music.  They seemed happy with what we did.

John is making progress with the new horses.  They are slow in trusting him, but they are learning well.  They had never worked with but one person, so gaining their confidence has been a chore.  John is patient with them, and it is paying off.  Our weather could have cooperated a little better – earlier cold and rain, and now hot sunny and windy days.  [John – Horses are difficult when it is windy.  Things move in the wind and make noise.  As a prey animal, their attention goes to the things “out there” that might be sneaking up on them.]  These guys never had treats (carrots & apples), but now they will walk up to us in the pasture (to John for sure), to get treats.  The youngest will take a carrot from me, but the older ones do not really know me yet.

That should be enough for this week.   We wish you all well and we are happy I’m getting better, even though my stamina has not yet returned to allow me to do more than a couple hours.  And then I have to take naps through the day (probably to make up for no sleep from the puppies), to get through the day.

Love and thanks for all the good wishes you keep sending by email or phone, or cards.

We wanted to wish you a happy July 4^th, and hope you are having a less windy day than we are.  We have had gusts to 48 mph, and average winds over 35 mph all day, at the airport, 5 miles south of us.  We are protected somewhat by the trees to our west, but it has been really crazy for the past couple of days.  I’m glad we are not out for a picnic today.

The last posting told you about my recent visit to my cardiologist, and nothing much has changed along those lines.  I’m still recovering, slowly.  My energy level is not back where I would like it, and I still cannot yet raise my left arm over my shoulder.  But, I’m alive and well, and getting better each day – and very thankful for it.

As time goes by, we hear more and more about people who have had challenging medical emergencies and made it through as well.  There have also been some who haven’t, so that is always food for thought and prayer.

We just learned of a serious accident with friends; a swather (machine for cutting hay) fire in Oregon (in their field) that caused severe 2^nd and 3^rd degree burns to our friend.  He and his family are in our prayers, as he gets through the burn unit in Portland, OR.

Speaking of swathers, our neighbor ran over a rock and jammed his swather.  John volunteered to chisel the rock out, and it worked.  Amazing.

We are still caring for our puppies, who turn 6 weeks old tomorrow.  We have a lot of care taking them in and out of the house, and now we are in charge of feeding them instead of their mommy.  She has weaned them with our help.  They are eating hard puppy chow just fine now, and are romping and playing in the backyard.  They have a big dog house they can escape to, to get shelter from the wind when they need rest from playing.  It’s nice because they do all their peeing and pooping outside, and not in our washroom, where John has to clean up the papers and carry to our compost pile.

We have homes for all but 3 now, as one we were counting on, fell through, because of the facial markings.  That is NOT the way to choose a hunting dog and family member, in my estimation.  I’m just as happy he’s not getting her.  We are thrilled the little guy, who is doing very well, has a forever home, here in Ellensburg, where we might keep track of him.   I’m sure he will eventually catch up, but he is still half the size of his siblings.  He is going to a fishing family as is his sister to another, so they will be introduced to fishing soon.

We won’t want to ship any of these puppies, so if you are reading this and know of someone interested in a fine hunting dog, but who is within the Pacific Northwest, then let us know, please.

Speaking of dogs:  since we last wrote, our Brittany (the brother to the mom of these puppies) finished his show championship — in Pennsylvania.  Yes, you heard that right.  Our trainer (field) was out West, but inherited his family farm in Aleppo, PA, and moved there a couple of years ago, taking our pup with him.  He and his wife have been campaigning him in field trials, and also in shows when the availability presented itself.  Just this last weekend, he was entered in 4 shows, and won two of them and was runner-up in the other two.  The significance is that it finished his show championship, and he is now titled, Ch. Cedaridge Vintage Cork.  We hope they finish his field championship this fall, and then he will be a Dual Ch.

ALEPPO — meaning: as John found on the web, is a pine tree.  It’s also known as the Jerusalem pine.  It is unlikely it would grow there in Aleppo, PA, but could be. It is found mostly in eastern Spain, the south of France, and on to Jordan and Morocco.  Supposedly, it is grown in the southwest U.S. (It is also an ancient town in Syria.)

Finally, about the 4^th of July celebration for us.  For John and me supper will be a good inside picnic with BBQ pork and beans tonight, but the real celebration was on Friday, July 2, when the music group I play with … Kittitas Valley Fiddlers & Friends, entertained at the local Dry Creek Retirement Center who together with the Adult Activity Center put on their annual July 4^th BBQ for the community.  We have provided music for 5 years.  This year we did our regular old-time music, but interspersed patriotic songs:  Battle Hymn of the Republic, There’s a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere, America, America the Beautiful, This Land is Your Land, and our specialty, the national anthem, sung acapella.   We did it at the beginning and near the end.  We stood up and so did almost all of the elderly people, many in walkers, and they sang at the top of their lungs, with their right hand over their heart.  It was a most moving and awesome experience.   It is not something we will soon forget.   We played music from 11:30 to 1:30 with a short break to eat of the catered picnic buffet.

Hope this finds you all well.  Thanks for continuing to check this blog.  We will try to update it every weekend.