THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF LIFE

What a gorgeous day on Planet Earth! Brilliant Sun, not too hot not too cold, perfect. This amazing weather followed a day of rain, 2 ¾ inches of not entirely expected rain. I didn't know what the forecast was but when I checked it out it said a possibility of a ¼ inch, by that time we already had over an inch. I have great admiration for the weather folks and they usually are dead on. I enjoy it when Mother Nature can still fool science.

It is such a beautiful day I am reluctant to say I have been in a funk much of these last few days. There were three things putting pressure on me; moving, my health and Jamie's health. I was dealing pretty well with moving and Jamie's health concerns, but my sudden health concerns magnified everything. It is not that I couldn't find any peace or happiness. I could retreat into a quiet spot inside me but everything outside didn't change. I don't know if it is the nice weather, but everything looks better today.

Moving; we were perseverating on moving to the St Croix valley area. We always loved the area and my family had a cottage on Big Marine Lake and I spent most of my Summers there as a child and young man. We went all up and down the valley from Marine, North and South, on both sides of the border. We, also, have three children who live in the area and we thought it would be fun to be near them.

We have received hundreds of ideas from a Real Estate agent in the area who is licensed in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. All of the presentations were either out of our reach or would leave us with no money for a slush fund. We kept in constant contact with the agent by telephone and E-mail. It is too far away for us to casually run over there and check it out ourselves, however we were planning to do that this week.

Then, when I was driving through Mora last week, I thought why don't we just move here. I knew it was affordable, but did we really want to move to Mora? Shortly thereafter it occurred to us we could check out St Cloud. We love St Cloud and it has everything we would want. Then on Saturday, our daughter Naomi came for a visit, she lives in the St Cloud area, we were able to expand on the idea. It turns out we can get the exact same dwelling in the St Cloud area and end up with enough extra money for a decent slush fund. We are going to pursue that idea. I suddenly feel more optimistic about moving.

I don't have much to say about Jamie's health. Things are pretty much the same. She is extremely diligent in finding a remedy that helps. She feels there has been an improvement in her memory. She has a follow-up visit at a neurology clinic this month.

What complicated matters was an emerging problem with my health. It acted like a magnifier and seemed to make every other problem more insurmountable. I was driving to Ogilvie one Sunday Morning to get the paper. It was about the second week in May. I suddenly felt a lump in my throat as if I needed to swallow and I needed water to do it. In itself, not a big deal, and something we probably all experienced. I thought it might have had something to do with a supplement I just took. I had eaten nothing yet that Morning.

It started out to be difficulty swallowing which progressed as the days went by. I quickly learned how to manage it, plenty of chewing and water. But eating wasn't as much fun. I consulted Doctor Internet and was told that most swallowing difficulties are related to GERD. The symptoms described did not fit my condition. However, another affliction did fit, achalasia. It has no known cause. It is the paralysis of the lower esophageal sphincter. There is no cure but there are remedies for relaxing the sphincter. I have learned how to mange it. I don't like it but I can live with it. At this moment I don't know it exist, I am not aware of it at all. It gets worse as the day progresses and with eating.

I have an appointment to see a flesh and blood Doctor on Thursday. We will see if he agrees with Dr Internet. It would be great to discover it is some milder malady.

Of course, my mind goes to, “Why am I calling this to myself?” I don't believe in accidents. Do I lack compassion for the afflicted? Do I need to learn a little humility? I will learn a little more about myself. Well life comes to us and we could remember it is our show and we are writers, producers and directors as well as actors. Yes, we are on both sides of the camera.

As we learn to love every moment our creation will reflect it. And I will love every moment.

Happy Monday everybody!

Love and Peace, Gregg