(Living with Parkinson’s) ©
by
Sam and Phyllis Turner
12.01 – 12.07.2020
WONDERS OF NATURE
12.01.2020: RABBIT! Some of you newer people to Maytag Moments may not know about RABBIT. If you want good luck for the rest of the month:
1. The first thing, on the first day of the month, sit up in bed.
2. Yell RABBIT!
3. Lift the blanket and crawl out the bottom of your bed.
We taught our children this routine back in the ’60s. I also reminded my students as a homework assignment as each date approached. Of all the University curriculum classes I studied, Rabbit Day was the most remembered by my students.
Last evening, just before sunset, Mr. Cooper’s Hawk stopped by to check neighbor Jerry’s hedge where, at sunrise, sparrows, finches, and towhees gather to face east and celebrate a new day. Sometimes, even rabbits show up between my Matrix and the hedge. This is a rather exclusive club where hawks of any sort are not invited. He drops into our back yard occasionally and checks the menu. I’ve not seen him on the Matrix, before.
12.01.2020: 0800: I had the pleasure of meeting Dental Technician Tracy, this morning. She assisted Dr. Moss in replacing a lost twenty-year-old crown of mine. The whole process took less than thirty minutes. It should be good for another twenty years.
1300:Had a zoom meeting with ALOHA. The discussion centered around improvements in cochlear implants.
1400: Zoom meeting with the Q&A PD group. The discussion centered on medications and how effective they are. A couple of the members have already read M.J. Fox’s latest book, There’s No Time Like the Future. We are going to suggest the book be read by December 15 for our next support PD meeting.
I tested my lights for outside decorations. Something isn’t working. The next step is the place called Ace.
12.02.2020:
Stopped by R. Huber, CPA, for a short meeting. Glad to get that done. Now to spend the rest of the month clearing a path in my office to the table to do the taxes. Oh, the thrill of it all.
ABCO Solar is here to improve the communications between my cell and our roof. He was here for three hours. No luck. He has to get a new unit.
Blackened Chicken with Remoulade. This was one of the easiest meals we’ve made. Bell pepper, edamame, corn, and remoulade (without the hot sauce). Everything worked.
I only used two pans: One for the Succotash, and one for the chicken. We served it in thirty-minutes.
12.03.2020: 0500: 0730: The house cleaners were here this morning. Four girls for two hours. They are whirlwinds, even washing the five north windows inside and out.
I still can’t get the outside Christmas lights to work. I’m going to try a new connection series. If you see a giant flash over Tucson around midnight, it could be me connecting the lights. Take cover!
12.04.2020:0615. A note from the TAAA (Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association) reminding us that Jupiter and Saturn will be in almost total conjunction on December 21. Don’t miss it because they won’t be this close for another 80 years. Remember: they are not stars; they are planets.
And now this:
Attachments area
Preview YouTube video: How trees talk to each other | Suzanne Simard.
Oh, my dear friends! Watch this TED TALK video about forests. I grew up in the Kaibab National Forest. This forest is filled with giant Ponderosa Pines growing up to the edge of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Preview YouTube video: How trees talk to each other: Suzanne Simard.
I hope this works for you!
trees talk to each other | Suzanne Simard
Where the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean meet. A remarkable video from a Cruise Ship. The Straights of Juan del Fuego, at the tip of South America,
(South of Argentina and Chile) is where the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
meet without mixing. Did you know that the two oceans do not mix? Watch the
the video that shows it to you. Why do these waters not mix? Because there is
a huge difference in salinity between the clear water that comes from
melting glaciers, which is cool and low in salt, while the water from
the second ocean has a high salt concentration. Therefore, the two oceans have
different densities, which makes them almost impossible to mix.
12.05.2020: 0500: PD specific (movement) with Tresha at 0830. Today will be a challenge. We spent time boxing.
Tortilla pork chops with squash.
This was another excellent meal.
We are getting better at sharing
the work and reading and following the directions.
Each time I man the oven, I thank our son, Joe. He knows what he is doing. When it works for me, I’m always surprised. Thanks, Joe!!
Look for the Gemini meteor shower December 14 – 19. I’m telling you early because I don’t want to risk forgetting it when it happens. The best views are two or three in the mornings when the Earth is running into the shower. (Much like your car when you are driving into the rain, instead of out of it.)
12.06:2020: Watched Fisherman’s Friend on Netflix.
12.07.2020: Did I miss the news? Did the news Remember Pearl Harbor, today? I’ll check this evening. (I didn’t find anything.)
12.08.2020: 0500: We are being bombarded with ROBO CALLS!
1800: Watched the evening news (late – but we got caught up). Watched THE VOICE where they have now cut the list to five finalists. Next Monday is the final.
Watched Somebody Feed Phil. This time he’s in Venice! I wonder if Sara has ever eaten at these restaurants? Or, if not, has had some of these dishes? Go to Netflix and find Season 2, Episode 2 (I think) I may be off on the episodes.
12. 09. 2020: Thanks to all of you who have sent (early) good wishes for my Birthday. I’m half-way to 172. I was born in Holbrook, Arizona. We lived in Santa Fe company housing right next to the railroad tracks. My father was a ticket clerk.
Two years later, we moved to Gallup, New Mexico where he became Chief Clerk.
Two years later we moved to Ashfork, Arizona where he moved up to Station Agent.
Early in 1941, he was given the choice of being the agent in Prescott or Grand Canyon. His supervisor suggested that he choose Grand Canyon as a stepping stone to larger stations – Albuquerque, and larger stations in California. He chose Grand Canyon.
December 7, 1941: With the start of World War II, all Santa Fe positions were frozen. When the war was over, he had so much seniority, no one could “bump” him and he chose to continue at Grand Canyon until retirement at sixty-five. He died at age sixty-three, in 1957. We had lived at the Canyon for seventeen years.
Fortunately, my mother was a teacher, having graduated from Northern Arizona State Teachers College. After she moved to Clarkdale, Arizona (where her family lived), she received her Master’s Degree in education and continued teaching in Bagdad, Arizona and later, in Clarkdale.
In the meantime, Phyllis graduated from the U. of Arizona, and one week later, I graduated from Pepperdine College. (It wasn’t a University, yet. It was in Los Angeles; not Malibu.).
Two weeks later, Phyllis and I were married (June 16, 1957) on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Three weeks later, I was in the Navy and PJ spent the summer with her parents in Palos Height, Illinois. By the end of the summer, PJ was in Hawthorne, California teaching second & third grades. She received an award for Outstanding Teacher of the Year.
How’s that for a brief history of the first twenty-four years of our lives?