February 27 – “Sounds grotesque”

We just got word that the pipes under the retreat center at church are in bad shape.  Seems that when the plumbers turned them on, he saw at least two places that rivaled a water park.  Or maybe a beautiful Roman garden.  Or perhaps a sprinkler head spewing its precious, life-giving force into the grounds.  Well, they shut it down as quickly as they could.  The plan is to check it out more closely on Sunday to see just what will be required for repairs.  Guess that will be our next major expenditure …

 

Yesterday was a foggy, yucky kind of day.  Not cold, though, so there was that.  Chris left for her cardiac rehab class, so I braved the yuckiness, pulled on my shorts and t-shirt and windbreaker, and headed for the middle of the street for my two miles.  That’s my favored walking zone.  It seems to be the only place where there isn’t a drainage slope.  It is a small areas, barely two feet wide – less in some places.  But that’s where I gravitate to.  Better on the knees in the same sense that walking on asphalt is better than walking on concrete.  Barely discernable, but after you have done both, easy to tell the difference. 

 

Chris came back home for a brief respite before she had to leave again for an actual doctor’s appointment with her PCP.  This one checks her blood for all the cholesterol stuff and the like.  I don’t know the names of all those tests.  This time she also checked out Chris’ arm.  Now that’s an old injury.  She partially tore a rotator cuff many years ago.  Now, according to the doc, she had a frozen shoulder.  The quick way to deal with it is to operate.  Put her under and have the docs break up all the cartilage and scar tissue.  Sounds grotesque.  No, really.  She said it actually sounds grotesque when you are in the room during one of the procedures.  You can hear the breaking and crackling.  She also said the rehab for something like that is outrageous and quite painful.  Chris opted out.  Took her about three milli-seconds to decide.  Instead she gets to go to physical therapy a few times along with cardiac rehab.  What great fun.  The idea is for her to learn the exercises and do them at home.  That she can – and will – do. 

 

The newest puzzle is an outdoor scene of a front porch with a dog lazing on it and an American flag hanging from a post.  Water in the background.  Quiet, calm feeling.  In the last one Charlie Brown is leaning against the doghouse napping while Snoopy is dozing on top of it.   Kind of a “thing,” I guess.  Perhaps it suggests a subconscious desire for peace and quiet in our lives …

 

2 Thessalonians 3:16 says, “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!”

 

Father, thank you for the peace you give us even when circumstances are nightmarish … or even just a little bit unnerving.  Amen.