energy for others....

Schwabacker Landing, Tetons, last summer!

I must say, if yesterday’s weather was any indicator, we may be in for a really long, hot summer here in Buffalo!  It got up to 90 yesterday already, which is pretty unusual for this time of year. In past years, we’ve been known to have an errant snow the first week of June, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen this year!  Since we had such a mild winter, the mosquitoes seem to be on steroids, too. 

I don’t know what got into me yesterday, but I had a spurt of energy that got me to finally get a lot of things done I’ve been putting off.  Nothing major, just things like dusting, which I hate. I had started the morning planting the last of my herbs in their long pots and getting the bejezus bit outta me by the bugs on the back deck before I got smart and put on bug spray.  I’m now sporting some rather gigantic bites all over. Why do they always go for the back of your knees? That’s a really hard place to scratch!

While I was out back, my girlfriend, Sherry stopped by and we had a nice visit.  We are putting together a benefit for a friend of ours that has just been through a lot of medical nightmares.  We have decided to have a silent auction and cookout to try to raise some money for her.  I stopped by later to see Peg, the friend of which I speak, but I didn’t tell her what we were doing.  She’s one of those people who won’t ask for help, no matter what, so Sherry and I are taking it upon ourselves to just go ahead and do it.  Peg is laid up at home with drains and staples, anyway, so she won’t know what we did til it’s over. I’ve already stopped in at the Moose and reserved the hall for the event on June 30^th.  Now, I gotta get cracking with some items for the silent auction. Of course, Rob and I will donate some photography ourselves, so I’ve already got a start.  I’m thinking a nice 50/50 drawing will bring in some more for her, too. While Peg has insurance for the actual medical bills, the docs just told her it might be as long as 3 months before she can go back to work.  She has a developmentally disabled daughter that she’s responsible for, Cherry, that everyone in town knows, so I’m hoping to get a big turnout to help her with her normal living expenses until she gets back on her feet.

Buffalo is famous for helping its own. That’s one of the things I love about this place.  Anytime someone is in need around here, everyone comes out to support them. Poor Peg started out with an enlarged heart and went to get a cardiac cath to see if there was blockage in her heart and when they went in her femoral artery in her leg to insert the cath up into her heart, they found that IT was 90% blocked! She also has blockages in the heart muscle itself. To make matters worse, after they put in a stent in her leg, that became infected and had to be removed.  She’s been flighted to Billings once already because they thought they were going to lose her and that she had a heart attack during that episode.  She’s now had the drains and staples in her legs for almost a month. Right now, she’s not scheduled to go back to see if she can get those removed until the 18^th of the month. If you get a moment, say a prayer for my friend.  She’s my age and it’s really scary that all this is happening to her.  The worst part is that she can’t even take any pain meds, because they just make her sicker so she’s in a lot of pain, as well.

Anyway, this all took a lot of my day, talking with Sherry and going to visit Peg.  I was a little late getting started because my car was out of commission for the morning. I had a burned out tail light in my car and Rob took my back lights off to get the old bulbs to go get new ones.  My poor car looked so sad out there with its back end all pulled apart. I am happy to report that I’m back to being legal now. With our huge contingency of cops in Buffalo, you don’t want to be driving around with lights out!

The Monument plants are starting to bloom on the mountain!

Thistle was a real booger yesterday, digging in the backyard to beat the band. We are down to a routine with that now…she digs, I fill, she digs, I refill!  She was so muddy yesterday, I had to get a big bowl of water to dip her paws in so I could get all the mud off her before I could let her in the house.  I sure hope she grows out of this particular habit, I’ve never had a digger dog before and it’s a little maddening. Gosh, I play with her almost non-stop, but she’d still prefer to dig something up in the yard!

Today, I’m going to spend some time with my friend Rebekka up the street.  She and her husband’s business has finally taken off enough that she was able to quit her job and concentrate on their cleaning business.  Up until now, she’s been working every day and we haven’t been able to spend any time together.  Our conversations have just been short ones out on the street as she’s driving by lately. She was getting off work too late for me to get up there to see her before Rob got home. So, we have a lot of catching up to do and hopefully, her four kids will let us do some talking! She has the most adorable 3 year old, Ashley, who I know will be stuck to us like glue, but that’s okay, I just wanna eat that one up with a spoon!

I hope you have something fun planned for your day and you have a chance to get out and enjoy this awesome weather before it gets too unbearably hot for the summer!