Sunday 29th September

There was another Community Forum this morning between services at Emmanuel, but they threw in a continental breakfast.    This one was on same sex blessings, not to be confused with same sex marriages, not in this Republican, conservative state.

The bishop has decreed that parishes which might be asked to bless same sex unions have to consult their congregations and send a report, reflecting the opinion in the parish, with special attention to the voices of those who may be in the minority.

Father Bill opened the proceedings by inviting questions.  I piped up first and asked why they weren't talking about same sex marriages.  I knew they are not legal in Oklahoma but I like to stir the pot. 

Americans are extremely proud of the fact that - unlike us - their church and state are separate, but in reality our church and state is actually more separate, in practice if not in fact.  

Emmanuel is more liberal than the other churches in Shawnee, and I think it was all the liberals who turned out for the forum.   Trying to assess who was missing in the parish hall, I think they were mostly people who have come from the Baptist churches, who haven't yet got their heads round this shift in ideology.   It was made clear however, in the original notice that those who didn't want to speak out, could send in their comments in written form, so quite a few may well have done that.

Instead of staying for the 10.30 service I went to Larry's non denominational church.  I have missed him around the hospital and the chaplaincy and it was good to see and talk to him again.  His wife  loves talking to me because she's fascinated with my English accent, she watches all the late night British shows on the local Oklahoma channel - Last of the Summer Wine; Keeping Up Appearances; Doc Marten; the Vicar of Dibley.  

The weather is getting cooler.

As you can see, it's really quite chilly in the mornings now.

But then it warms up.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 28th September

Woke this morning to very heavy drenching rain.   I didn't have to go anywhere fortunately so went back to bed with my C-Nook, Saturday morning cookery programmes, numerous cups of tea and the cat.

It dried up later in the afternoon and was quite bright, and I went to Walmart for my goats milk.  So have not had a very productive day.   I finished putting up the autumn decorations in the living room yesterday, and photographed them as someone asked me what autumn decorations were.  I like them best, better than spring/summer arrangements, or Christmas decorations.   In this country, in this heat, fresh flowers are not really feasible.  People even take artificial ones to cemeteries.

 

It has been a while since I have posted a registration plate, I haven't seen any new ones, or not been in a position to photograph them, but this was in Walmart's car park. 

Louisiana was originally named La Louisianne after Louis XIV of France in 1682. 

The pelican is the state symbol.   A white pelican mother tears the flesh from her breast to feed her young, this nurturing action represents the state protecting the people and their land.

Louisiana is also known as the Sportsman's Paradise, this nickname pays tribute to the wildlife and the hunting, trapping and fishing resources of the state as well as other outdoor recreational and sporting activity within the state.

Thursday 26th September

I have a job.  Not a paid one, sadly.  And not one I was looking for, but Louise has been appealing for some time for a Kiwani club secretary to take over from her.   Cecil is on the board and committee of every civic and veteran organisation in Shawnee, and the Freemasons - and it runs Louise ragged driving him to all the meetings he has to go to.   Furthermore, she is not in the best of health and has been looking exhausted, so I stepped up to the plate - as they say here - and offered my services.

The District Governor is coming next Thursday to swear in the new board members and is bringing his secretary to show me the ropes.

The speaker this morning was someone from Shawnee talking about his recent trip to Cuba.  I took notes for a brief report in next week's bulletin, which I will give Louise tomorrow and hope it is satisfactory.   I have copied and pasted the report below.

Jim Smith gave us a Power Point presentation of his recent mission trip to Cuba, and it was an interesting insight into what has been a closed society for a long time.  He travelled with a group on a general religious licence and visa, which meant their travel was restricted to certain areas, and they could not stay in tourist areas overnight.

Life under the sanctions imposed upon them has undoubtedly been very hard for the people; there is for example, a desperate shortage of medical supplies, auto parts, and electricity.  There is no refrigeration at all, and it was seen from photographs taken after dark that lighting was very restricted.

Regulations have been relaxed since 2010.  Although many buildings are dilapidated  people can now own houses, and employ people – in restaurants for example – who are not family members, although 80% of the population work for the government.

There have been successes in education.  Music is one of the strengths of the people, as is the arts and games.  People were quoted as saying that they love their country, but the government is broke. 

What do you think of my foray into journalism, ha ha.    

Later in the morning I went to Communion at Emmanuel, then six of us had lunch at a nearby Asian diner.   I had to leave a bit early because - oh joy, oh rapture - a technician from the cable company was bringing me a new remote for the television.   I haven't been able since Monday, to pull up the guide to see what is on, or mute the annoying adverts.

My toe is a bit better.  It was obvious this morning that it was just one toe, it is so  badly bruised I am almost certain it is broken, but I went water walking this evening. 

Wednesday 25th September

I haven't quite finished sorting yet, but I'm getting there.  It will be tidy before I go to bed.  

In between that, and reading, and cups of tea, I made a fruit jelly for the meal this evening.  Took it to Emmanuel, wearing flip flops, and in groping for the light switch in the kitchen I badly banged my toes up on a stool that was sticking out.   They weren't too painful at first, but got worse and were too painful to go to the pool for my water walking this evening.

Fr Bill has started Evensong on Wednesday evenings, so there was quite a good crowd tonight for the meal.  My poor toes didn't make it to Evensong, but I went to the meal, which was jambalaya, a spicy Creole rice dish, originating in Louisiana.

I am deeply suspicious of anything originating in the Southern states, or Mexico, I've learned other peoples' 'little bit spicy' is way too spicy for me, and I think everyone in Emmanuel knows that now, I'm given little teaspoons to taste it, and when I sat down with a plate of lunch at the seminar on Sunday afternoon Beth murmured "Valerie, that salad is spicy".

Had to stop by a supermarket where I saw this rubbish.  I got quite mad at it, and looked at their website when I got home.   There is a form to be filled in by anyone with a 'juicy tip' (their words) asking for their e-mail address and contact information, and they will be paid.  In the space where one types the juicy tip I asked if Prince William was joining MI5, or the Cold Case Unit at Scotland Yard.



 

I took this picture last night of the Congressman.   In an e-mail from the local Democrats he was described as follows -

"Lankford is a powerful opponent.  He has a deep, mellifluous voice.  He is a facile speaker.  He is able to dodge uncomfortable questions.  He speaks in a lot of half truths. And he always is pleasant".   All the qualifications one needs to be a politician, I would have thought.

Tuesday 24th September

Have been busy.   I decided to get out my autumn decorations, and put away the spring/summer floral decorations.  It actually is autumn now, although with a brilliantly blue sky and temperature of 89, I think it was as I drove through Shawnee,  it is more like high summer in Britain.

I also decided to turn out some cupboards.  That was a mistake.   I really should focus on one job and finish it before starting another.   So now I have two rooms that look as if a bomb has hit them.   They will all be sorted out before tomorrow night though.   I hate anyone to see my house looking a mess and a guy from the cable company is bringing a new television remote on Thursday afternoon,

This will be the third remote I have had for my television.   Nothing lasts in this country - I have had half a dozen electric kettles since I've been here.   I don't know why it is that Chinese imports into Britain are of good quality, but their imports into the States are absolute rubbish.   Answers on a postcard please, or in an e-mail.

I went to fill up the car with gas and took these two photos at the filling station.

Any British beer afficionado will say beer should never be drunk cold, and they deride Americans who do so.   My Anglo-American friend, Fr Clark, says he keeps his in the fridge but takes it out to come to room temperature before drinking it.

You can't see it very well but the price of fuel currently is $3.19 a gallon.  I don't know what is happening to oil prices lately, I think it was only last week it was nearly $3.60.

This evening I had two things on.   The Republican congressman for this district was holding a meeting, inviting questions.   He talked first of all about the fact that the government is about to shut down (although I've heard that before, and they always come back from the brink).   I remember meeting this guy when he was campaigning for Congress, three years ago (makes me realise how long I've been here) and I rather like him.   I tend to keep that opinion to myself though, I don't voice it among the Democrat crowd I hang out with.    He also talked about the new Universal Health Care that Obama is trying to get through, and Republicans are fighting tooth and nail.   I can't see it working myself, as people will be required to pay insurance premiums, and not everyone can afford them.   Our system of national insurance deductions is far more workable.

I found that meeting quite interesting, but had to leave early to get to another at Emmanuel.    This was a group discussing a book about a young Muslim growing up in America.   It was the fourth ,and final, meeting and I hadn't been to the previous three, so it was a bit over my head.

Finally, a bumper sticker which always makes me smile.

Saturday/Sunday

Saturday morning was the monthly AARP meeting.  Phyllis, who is President, is back from Tennessee, and bless her heart brought me some Oxo.  I hadn't said I missed it, or wanted any, but it is not available in Oklahoma so she thought I might like some.   She had been holidaying on the Tennessee/Georgia border, and was telling us she couldn't understand a word they were saying.  I was pulling her leg over the fact that she's not one to talk about accents,  her Cockney accent is so strong she sounds as if she just left the East End that morning.   I don't know how she has kept it for 50 years.

I wasn't wildly excited about the speaker, I prefer it when they have some live music, but actually it was quite useful.  The manager of the hospice where Phyllis volunteers talked about end-of-life decisions, and she brought us all the appropriate forms.   I am not good at forms.  I can't even complete a tax return, and much as I wish I could just put this lot in the post to Jeremy I think I've got to fill them up here.

They included a 'Do Not Resuscitate Me' Consent form.   A Durable Power of Attorney (With Health Care Powers Only) and an Oklahoma Advance Directive for Health Care, also known as a Living Will.

Their provisions are (and I'm paraphrasing)

1.Do everything you can to keep me alive.   A ventilator, and artificially administered nutrition and hydration (tubes down me) - the whole nine yards, just don't let me die.

2. Don't bother with the ventilator, but give me nutrition and hydration.

3. No ventilator, no nutrition, no hydration, just let me die, I've had my four score years and ten, and the rest.    This is what I'm opting for.

The speaker said that at the end of life we don't want to be worrying about bits of paper, there are only four things to say that are important.
1. I love you
2. I forgive you.
3. Please forgive me.
4.Thank you.

I think I will ask Mark and Mary to help me fill the forms out.  

I felt after a morning of all this heavy stuff I needed a reward.  I went to IHOP and ordered a stack of blueberry pancakes.  Obviously I couldn't eat them all, I brought half home in a to-go box.

Sunday I was at Emmanuel.   I couldn't see the donuts anywhere - shock, horror, panic, was I supposed to get them, is this the 2nd Sunday.   No it isn't, relief.   

I was reading the lesson from the prophet Amos.   I remembered that the very first assignment I ever did at Chichester was a thousand words on the 'political background of Amos' prophecy'.   I don't know how I did it, I couldn't do it today.

After the 10.30 Service there was lunch, and compulsory attendance - because I am a lay minister - at a seminar on 'Safeguarding God's People'.    I am not going to bore you with its content, it was more fun stacking the dishwasher.

Friday update

I did my chaplaincy round this morning.   Went to the Senior Centre to see Louise and while I was there learned that one of the homeless guys who frequents the place most of the day, has been allowed to have an ironing board and iron there, and he is making money ironing.   I hotfooted back home to my overflowing laundry basket and pulled out ten tee shirts which he ironed for a dollar each.    Marian, the staff member who negotiated all this, told me he learned to iron in prison, he worked in the laundry.  I thought "oh, bless".

I had to go to the Mall and was very excited to discover a big craft store is opening there on the 4th October.  I have always had to go to Norman or Mid West City for any craft supplies, so that is good news.

The weather has been lovely today.  Mostly grey, overcast, and 68 degrees.  A very welcome reprieve from unrelenting blue skies, heat and sunshine.  I was water walking this evening and the sky was breathtakingly beautiful, what Oklahoma lacks in scenery it certainly makes up for in its beautiful skies.

AGAIN....AGAIN.....Just how many times can you report a couple's divorce.

I just took this picture of Bubbles who is waiting for me to turn in.     I'll scoop her up, put her at the bottom of the bed, and when she thinks I am settled she'll climb into my arms for a cuddle.

Thursday 19th September - posted Friday.

I think most of you know I was the speaker on Thursday at Kiwanis, showing my pictures of Alfriston, taking them on a tour of the village, talking about its smuggling history.   I realised afterwards though that I forgot to mention that Stanton Collins, the ringleader of the smugglers, was deported to Australia for sheep stealing, and that was quite an important fact.   I wondered what else I forgot.  I also took them on a tour of the church.   I asked if they would like to meet my family, and showed the pictures at Tim's lunch, I think they were interested in those.

I was very grateful to Nancy for helping me with the Power Point, she had to miss her monthly Cursillo meeting to come.  

Later in the morning I went to Communion, then five of us went to lunch at the at the organic, healthy eating deli a little way out of town, which fairly recently opened a little salad/sandwich place in a corner of the store.   I love the place for its high class products, but they are expensive, and I think that nearly 9 dollars is expensive for a sandwich lunch.   However, it was someone's choice, and I enjoy the fellowship.    Also I have found lately that I can't eat very much, and I'm tending to have much smaller meals, so I just ate the potato salad that accompanied it, and took the sandwich in a to-go box.   I deconstructed it last night - there must have been about half a pound of sliced turkey in it - so had some with some fries, and I have still got some left over to make a sandwich, and give Bubbles some.  So, all-in-all, thinking and writing about it, $9 isn't bad for that many meals.

Well, I'll quite rambling and get on with my day, I am going to the hospital this morning.

Wednesday 18th September

Was busy this morning.   I knocked up a couple of chocolate cakes from packet mixes, then spent at least an hour and half making the filling and frosting.   It involved pouring melted butter into cocoa powder, then beating in confectioners sugar and evaporated milk until I decided it was sweet enough.

I filled them at home, then frosted and decorated the tops at Emmanuel.  I wish I'd taken a photo, but a little lad whose mother was helping with the meal, pulled up a stool and watched me, and I forgot about it.   I decorated one cake with shavings of milk chocolate, and the other with M&Ms, and this was all very fascinating to my little audience.

The chocolate cakes got rave reviews, people were stopping to tell me how good they were.  Obviously it was the very chocolaty frosting, I can't believe it was Betty Crocker's packet mix.

After the meal at Emmanuel I went water walking.   I totally forgot about it on Monday as I was watching the television coverage of the mass shooting, then last night, just as I was about to go, I heard thunder and I knew they would immediately close down the Pool.

I received the following from an old friend with whom I have been playing online chess since before  my theology degree, and I've lost count of how many years ago that was.   My ADHD diagnosis has been hard to take, it devastated me at first.   I grieved and wept for the person I could have been if it had been diagnosed and treated earlier, I've had it at least since I was 12 (it has to have been present in childhood, one can't get it as an adult) but 60, nearly 70 years ago, there just wasn't the knowledge there is now about mental health.   It was hard on my parents too; had it been recognised and treated I probably wouldn't have been the difficult, miserable child and teenager that I was.

Anyway, I think my friend Ken thought it was time I got over it and moved on, and sent me the following.

A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the "half... empty or half full" question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she enquired: "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralysed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralysed – incapable of doing anything."

Remember to put the glass down.

I thought you might like this analogy I thought it was very good

              Your old mate ken 

 

 

Thank you Ken, I will move on.

Tuesday 17th September

I haven't actually done very much the last few days.   I have been to the hospital chaplaincy a couple of times, I went this morning to take the flowers from Emmanuel to the chapel.   Yesterday I watched on television the horrific coverage of the mass killing in the Navy Yard in Washington DC.   Today more information has been forthcoming, and it has emerged that the gunman suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

Having worked  for a short time at the private psychiatric hospital in Ticehurst I understand how serious a diagnosis this is, and how potentially dangerous a sufferer could be.   At one stage - I don't know how long ago this was -  the gunman in question telephoned the police and said that he was hearing voices that were trying to get into his body, and he couldn't sleep. Auditory hallucinations like this are a classic symptom of paranoid schizophrenia, and in Britain it would have been picked up and acted on immediately. Professional help would have been called in, and he would if necessary have been detained under the Mental Health Act, but in this country they are all way too hung up on their civil liberties to detain someone suffering a mental health disorder.

In the five years I have been here this is, I think, the fourth such mass shooting caused by someone psychiatrically ill.  The media looks at the obvious mistakes that should not have happened - in this case there was a blatant lack of security which enabled the gunman to take his guns into the Navy Yard without being searched - they bring up and debate the gun laws (and the easy availability of them certainly doesn't help) and they pontificate on the 'evil in society' , but no one seems to want to address the underlying problem of the lack of mental health care.   I am wondering if it is because this is such a big country, they haven't got the psychiatrists per capita in the population that we have.

Turning for a moment to my own mental health problems, I wasn't looking up solutions on the internet but came across the following when looking for something else.   And I thought............I do that.

Having ADHD can mean that keeping organized is more difficult for you, but it can also make you a great “speed demon” cleaner. If you can’t stick with a project for an hour, break it down into chunks, and concentrate on the room where you are. Instead of cleaning the bathroom in one go, commit to taking out the trash and wiping down the mirror one morning, and scrubbing the tub and sink after giving the kids a bath.

Have a small list of things that are non-negotiable and stick to them morning and evening. For many people, that means that mornings include making the bed and clearing out the dishwasher. In the evening, it might include putting everything in the kitchen back where it belongs. This routine, if it becomes a habit, ensures that the most important parts of your home stay livable.

If distraction is your problem, you may benefit from tackling projects in 10 minute spurts. Set an egg timer for 10 minutes and set yourself to opening bills, or cleaning out the refrigerator. Getting through several small things can make it easier to face larger projects, too.

Fact: There are three subtypes of ADHD:

a) hyperactivity/impulsivity

b) inattentive

c) combined.

The inattentive subtype typically does not include hyperactivity/impulsivity.

 I am in subtype B.

 

 

Sunday 15th September

Just been feeling a bit tired of late, will be back in a day or two.

Thursday 12th September

Had the car done today, a new catalytic convertor.   It was an expensive deal but I didn't get the chance to join the little old ladies who stay at home and have meals on wheels delivered, Terry quoted the price, said he could do it today, and click, click, click, it was all arranged.   

I do also need a new tyre and will have to take it back tomorrow, tyres in Oklahoma have suddenly become scarce and hard to get hold of, they are all going to California where new tyre regulations have come into force.

It took all the morning to do the car, so I went to Kiwanis, but didn't make it to Emmanuel and lunch.

The Kiwanis speaker was the CEO of the YMCA in Shawnee.   In the Q & A I got to ask why the children couldn't splash about in the childrens' pool in the last hour of the evening, did they have to splash around in the lazy river, or water walkway.   I was told to speak to the lifeguard, who is also there to keep order.

I didn't get to the water walking this evening, I am close to finishing my needlepoint project and decided to press on.

Tuesday 10th September

Running round town today, doing my errands, a yellow light came on my dashboard.  I thought it was telling me I needed oil or water, but Terry said it was a computer code, and to take it in in the morning so he can look it up and see what it is indicating.   Since when have cars become so computerised?   I thought they just broke down when something went wrong.   I hope it is not the $600 deal he warned me about a little while ago, or I might join the ranks of little old ladies who just stay at home and have meals on wheels delivered.

That will teach me to go running off on expeditions into other states.

I was thinking last night that is says something about the roads here that one can do a 300 mile trip in an afternoon;  that's like driving from Seaford to Lands End - that's 310 miles.

Just when I thought this rubbish couldn't get any worse.    I wonder what this tabloid has got against Camilla that it conducts this hate campaign against her. 

I got to the Pool about 7.30 this evening and there were quite a few children splashing in the walkway.  I debated whether to go in, but I was glad I did.  I got in the hot tub first, then the children's water attractions are turned off at 8 anyway, so I have the pool to myself for the last half  hour. I have to say American children are very courteous, if they think they are annoying you they apologise.

In preparation for my little presentation on Alfriston I was looking at smuggling, and it was very interesting.  Stanton Collins, the ringleader of the Alfriston smugglers, was deported to Australia - for sheep stealing.   I think he had too much cooperation from the local population to get caught by the excise men for smuggling.   The economy was in such dire straits that the local agricultural workers needed to supplement their incomes, and smuggling was a major industry.   3000 gallons of wine and spirits could be brought in on one trip.

The Smugglers Inn was originally the home of Stanton Collins.

Monday 9th September

I went to the hospital this morning and did a chaplaincy round on one of the floors.  I had a bit of an early lunch there, then as I felt restless, I thought I would take a trip this afternoon and went to the historic city of Fort Smith, just over the Arkansas state line.

It wasn't until I got there that I thought 'IDIOT' (it's a 300 mile round trip) I had forgotten that museums are closed on Mondays.

 

I do need to take the computer back to  Staples to sort out why I can't enlarge pictures any more. You can't read notices like this.

 

I think before I take another longish trip like this I need to put a little more preparation into it, so I don't overlook important details like museums closing.   This state has such a wonderfully interesting history with its Native American culture and heritage centres, and Wild West history, I think I should try and get out a bit more. 

 

 

This evening I went water walking as I watched the sun go down, it was a lovely sunset.  After an afternoon in the car it was good to exercise in the water, I did walk round with the current though, I was a bit too tired to push against it.



 



 

 



 

Sunday

Bubbles was playing silly beggars last night.  She'd been lounging on the porch all the evening, I kept opening the door every 15/20 minutes between midnight and 2am to see if she was ready to come in, but after one disdainful look too many at 2 o'clock I turned the lights out and went to bed.   Consequently, I was late falling out of bed this morning and collecting the donuts for Emmanuel, and didn't get them there until 10 to 8.  Everyone attending the 8 o'clock service was sitting round with their coffee, wondering where the donuts were;  someone said darkly that they were just talking about me.   I felt inclined to say "feel free to sack me", but that's a bit confrontational.

Today was our annual 10.30 service at St Crispin's, the Episcopal retreat centre about half an hour away at Seminole.  Like all retreat centres it is in a lovely position, surrounded by woods.

The church provided the baked ham for lunch and everyone took salads and side dishes.

Having lunch.    There is a swimming pool there and hiking trails, and the young people were all set to enjoy themselves.   102 degrees is too hot for me though, and I am addicted to air conditioning, so I left after lunch.

Saturday 7th September 2013

It has been brutally hot.   I needed some shopping and I was torn between waiting until midnight, when it might be a bit cooler, and wanting to get it over with.   I chose the latter, and by great good fortune I was able to pull into a parking place right beside the entrance of Walmart, I didn't have to walk from the other side of the car park, where the fat people have to go.

Very pleasant this evening.   Bubbles is out enjoying the night air on the porch, watching the world, or the bugs and fireflies, go by.

 

What they call the Rim Fire has been blazing for the last three weeks in Yosemite National Park, and it is still only 7% contained.   The firefighters must be exhausted, I would imagine reinforcements are coming in from all over the country.   I think I heard today that it was started by an illegal camp fire.

These are the other large fires currently blazing away, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Washington state.

Changing the subject - there is great rejoicing and celebration going on in Shawnee at the moment because the City Council have announced, after a long, hard fought battle by the environmentalists, that there will be kerbside recycling where - at a cost of $16.50 per month - one can carry all one's tins, plastic, newspapers, glass. etc, down to one's kerb to be collected.

 However, I for one, am less than excited.   I am 74 years old, live alone, and every Tuesday morning (SIGH) I have to drag my heavy wheelie bin  over uneven ground, down to the kerb to be emptied.   I don't want to even contemplate the notion of also having to carry, or drag, additional stuff down to the kerb, I am too old and too tired.    And there are plenty of recycling places in Shawnee to drop it off, I don't know what the deal is, having it collected at the kerb, especially at $16.50 a month.

My recycling consists of taking magazines to the Senior Centre.

Friday 6th September

Went to the hospital this morning.  Had a lengthy discussion with Kevin who is having a hard time generally with the hospital management.

They are cutting back on the hours of paid employees, even nursing staff are being sent home when the hospital is not busy.    I think it is all part of the serious economic situation in the country generally at the moment;  they haven't got the employment laws and protections that we have, so people counting on a regular, full time salary to pay their mortgages etc. are suddenly finding that their hours have been cut back, they are being sent home, reduced to working part time, and this is happening all over the country. 

Whereas Larry, as senior chaplain, worked a certain number of hours Kevin has been told to go home as soon as he has done what he needs to do, he has even been told not to spend more than two minutes in a patient's room.    In other words, to leave the patient visiting to the voluntary chaplains.

There weren't many patients on the floors, and a new - male - volunteer had already been round when I got there.  There were quite a few young mothers though on the women's obstetric floor, and they left those for me to do, which I thought was rather sexist.   I have been round a couple of times in the past but I don't like it, I don't relate well to young mothers, I am much better with sick, old people.  In future I will dig my heels in if asked.

Rosalyn unexpectedly rang this evening and invited me to supper with her and Bruce, they were going to an Italian restaurant in Tecumseh, and it was all very nice, a nice meal and I like their company.

In the news......(as a change from the war)  Senator John McCain has been getting a lot of heat because he was spotted, and filmed, playing poker on his smart phone during a US Senate Committee Hearing, ha, ha, ha.   Half the country is tut-tutting, the other half is reminding everyone he is a national hero (he spent five years in a Vietnam POW camp) and give him a break.   If it were any of my business I'd fall in the latter category.  But then I never go anywhere without my toys; my C-Nook and a little bit of crochet in my handbag.

I took this on Wednesday evening at the Hebrew Centre at Seminole.  It is in a residential street and just merges in with the surrounding houses.

I was a bit anxious about Bubbles today.  She has suddenly taken to sunbathing on a shady patch beside the house, but it is so hot that I worry about her becoming dehydrated, although I keep opening the door to see if she wants to come in.    After a while I just went out and scooped her up.    She certainly likes sitting on the porch in the evening with all the bugs - the crickets and grasshoppers and praying mantisis, or is it mantises. 

Rosh Hashanah - Jewish New Year 5774.

After the Wednesday meal at Emmanuel I went with a group in the church bus  to the Hebrew Centre in Seminole (about 20 miles away) to celebrate the Jewish New Year with the congregation there.   I think I have been almost every year I've been here.   The New Year started sundown on Wednesday, and will end sundown on Friday, then they will be into their High Holy Days of Yom Kippur.   It is not a big enough congregation to have a rabbi.  A student rabbi from Cincinnati comes to conduct their High Holy Day services, and she will be coming to visit Emmanuel with a group on Sunday week.   She was there last year too, I noticed she was more confident.

This morning, Thursday, the Kiwani's speaker gave a power point presentation on Oklahoma's Water Resources.  It was a little dry (pardon the pun).   I went to Communion at Emmanuel, then a little group of us went to a sandwich restaurant for lunch.   They could really do with a few pubs here.

That has been about the sum of my activities lately.   I think I have got a bit of writer's block.

Tuesday 3rd September

Was running round town this morning, went first of all to the bake sale at the Senior Centre and bought some of Pauline's very popular brownies for the Wednesday meal tomorrow. 

I took the flowers from Emmanuel to the hospital about 11.30 and was surprised to find no one at all in the chaplaincy office which was locked, which was highly unusual at that time of the morning, it is generally a hive of activity.  Tomorrow I will go and see one of the administrative staff to see what is going on.   I didn't do my chaplaincy round last Friday as I had to be in the City, and on Fridays anyway I am usually the only one there, so I am probably a bit out of the loop.

I had expected big changes with the new Catholic structure of the hospital, I wasn't entirely surprised when Larry left, saying he needed to concentrate on the mission work in his own church.  But the changes may be more far reaching than I thought.  Kevin, Larry's assistant, applied for Larry's job but was told he would have to be considered with all the other applicants.    In Britain the religion of the hospital chaplain depends on the majority population in which the Hospital Trust is situated.  In Bradford, for example, the chaplain is an Iman, in Liverpool a Roman Chatholic etc.   But here where all hospitals are privately owned they can employ who they like, and in a Catholic hospital I think they probably want a Catholic chaplain steering the boat.   

There are over 100 churches in Shawnee, the greatest majority of which are Baptists, so it would have made sense here to have a Baptist minister as chaplain.  Although Larry and Kevin are non denominational.

When I'd finished all my errands in town I was glad to get home out of the heat.  

I've nearly finished the very good book I am reading, which has been sold around the world and is on the number 1 best seller list - about a stray ginger tom who attached himself to a guy, who had been a heroin addict, he lived in sheltered housing and made his living on the streets, busking at Covent Garden where the cat (who always wanted to go out with him) attracted a lot of attention.   The book is also a very good insight into what it is like living on the streets.  After a few years he encountered problems at Covent Garden and left busking to sell the Big Issue, and was given a pitch in Islington, outside the Angel tube station.  Knowing what I know now about the difficulties of trying to make a living on the streets, I will never, ever again, rush past someone selling the Big Issue (although it is not sold here).

 

Isn't he adorable...the cat.   And the personalities of the cat and owner are a perfect match.  Like I think Bubbles and my personalities are.

As I drove down my road this morning there was a little ginger kitten sitting in the middle of the road, waiting to be run over.  Although cars usually go slowly because of the children playing, and the teenagers shooting basketball hoops. I stopped and looked at it, it was very sweet.

There is a paragraph in the book which says that cats are notoriously picky about their owners, if they don't like their owner they will go off and find another one.  Which is exactly what Bubbles did when she left Donna next door and decided (with Rosalyn's help) that I was going to be her new owner.

Donna doesn't often get to see Bubbles but looked enchanted yesterday at having a brief encounter with her.   Donna was working in her garden and heard me call Bubbles in for her lunch.  As Bubbles didn't come immediately I shut the front door, intending to look again in a few minutes, but Donna saw her cross the garden and jump up on the porch, so she rang the bell to let me know Bubbles was there.   She looked so pleased to see her.  I can't say it was reciprocated, as soon as I opened the door Bubbles streaked past me at the speed of light.

This evening I went water walking at the pool.   The last half hour or so before it closes is certainly a quiet time to go.

Labour Day - end of summer.

This is one of those big deal bank holidays when even the Senior Centre is closed, and I assumed the YMCA was as well.

The weather was certainly fine for it, and will be for the next week.

This 'right now' was 10 pm this evening.

I went out briefly this afternoon to the Dollar Store.   I am still re-arranging the pictures on my walls - it takes a long time - and I needed a few more cheap photo frames, although I am also re-using some I had.   The special family photos are in silver frames on the sideboard.

The rest of the day was spent reading an excellent book Rosalyn lent me about a ginger tom, and the special bond it had with its owner.    It takes place in England, the guy scraped a living busking in Covent Garden, and the cat insisted on going along with him, then curled up in his guitar case while he played.  

Yesterday evening, Sunday, I went to a Mexican restaurant with Bruce and Rosalyn.

The best thing about Mexican food is the side dish of rice, salad, refried beans and sour cream that accompanies the main dish, which in my case was a sizzling pan of shrimp and vegetables.  I don't usually open the foil packet of tortillas, I find the meal filling enough without them.

This is Bubbles letting me know it is time to settle down for the night.