Christmas, 2019, Without My Wife

This is the first Christmas without Winky. It is somewhat sad and at the same time a great relief that she doesn’t suffer any longer.

She went 67 years with diabetes. From 8 years old to almost 75. In effect, she beat the disease, living for so long with it. But at what price.

Early Life

She did very well in the early years of her life. It was only during the last, maybe 10 years, that she was very uncomfortable.

She didn’t complain much about how she hurt. But once in a while I would hear of her suffering. In the last few years, she walked with a cane. Her hips and feet hurt. She would try on shoes to go out and then change her mind and select another pair and sometimes even a third.

Later

During the last it got to where she couldn’t stand for very long and she would sit and direct my efforts at cooking our meals. She became a prisoner in the apartment.

I bought her a transport chair, and would wheel her down to the car so that we could go to our favorite restaurant and she could visit with other people besides me. Every so often we would go to our son’s to visit.

She was a wonderful woman, a true friend and companion. Do I miss her, I miss her a lot. I am happy, however that she no longer suffers.

Present

I am not lonely without her though. After my divorce from my first wife, I spent a great deal of my life alone. I also spent a lot of time away from her while trucking across the United States. I am comfortable being alone. In some ways I wish she were here and in some ways I am glad that she is not.

by Bob Skelton Posted on December 26, 2019
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Mammoth Snowfall Cancels My Walk This Morning

I wasn’t really going to walk today. I rarely walk during the winter months. But I did want to file a report on the weather today.

We got an awful lot of snow last night. I don’t know exactly how much but it’s hard to jump over the snow by the side of the road where the plows have piled it.

I couldn’t go for my walk today.

The snow was so bad last night that my company cancelled all of our linehaul runs.

I work nights and have a run into Wisconsin, about halfway to Chicago from Minneapolis.

I was more than happy to take the night off.

I’ve been at this for over thirty years and while I am able to drive in crappy weather, I’d rather not, especially when it is so unsafe.

When you are trying to control a 70,000 lb vehicle on ice or snow it puts a serious strain on your sphincter not to mention your nerves. It is quite stressful.

I have had more than my share of close calls over the years.

In weather like we had last night it is prudent to slow down just to be safe. I have been in situations where 25 mph is considered to be speeding.

I’m guessing that had we worked last night, it would have taken close to the eleven hours that we are allotted per DOT regulations rather than the six and one half hours that it usually takes me.

Every morning I take the dog out to do her business. I usually carry her out to prevent her stopping  in the hallway and making a mess that I need to clean up.

After she has been out that problem has gone away.

This morning I had to carry her both out and in; she’s built low to the ground, you know.

by Bob Skelton Posted on January 29, 2018
Posted in Safety, Walking | Leave a comment

Older People Dislike Change In Their Life

Pond imageI am currently reading a book  “Thank You For Being Late” by Thomas L. Friedman, a columnist with The New York Times. He discusses the acceleration of change mainly in three areas; technology, marketing and Mother Nature.

I listened to a talk he gave recently on a public radio station. The talk got me thinking about change and more specifically how older people dislike change in their lives.

He cites 2007 as the key year of acceleration.

The iPhone was brought to market in 2007 together with some other technological advances. Friedman talks about how the iPhone created newer ways to get things done from how we hail a taxi to the fate of nations to our most intimate relationships. Internet marketing forever changed the way we make our purchases. And as for Mother Nature, there are now more and more earthquakes, tornados and tsunamis than there ever were before.

Art Bell, on his radio show Coast to Coast, talked about this phenomenon many years ago and although the acceleration was nowhere near what it is today, one could compare what he referred to with natural events in the past and just know that things were happening faster. He called it the “Quickening”.

I remember in about the year 2000 telling one of my friends who I shared computer and ham radio topics with that in the future the desktop computer was going to be a thing of the past and something that you could hold in your hand was going to take its place. A few years later we had the iPhone, which has about the same power of the desktop computer.

But I digress

Older people dislike change.

Why?

They dislike being uncomfortable.

Changes have happened faster and faster in the past and this acceleration is nothing new. It has just gone exponential on us.

Because of this speeding up of changes, older people find it hard if not impossible to keep up with technology and new marketing trends.

And because they can’t keep up they feel virtually abandoned in society and it makes them uncomfortable. Many people older than me are afraid to touch a computer. They are afraid that they will mess something up so bad that it can’t be undone. My older siblings are like that.

I just got the book a few days ago and am anxious to delve deeper into Friedman’s theories. I’ll just have to post again on the subject when I see where he ultimately takes me.

Just sayin’.

 

by Bob Skelton Posted on December 21, 2016
Posted in Thoughts | Tagged | 2 Comments

Have You Ever Experienced This Walk?

View across the pond
Image taken about 08:20

I went out for my walk today even though rain was threatening. It was quite warm, 51 degrees, with the wind at 18 mph. I dressed accordingly; enough layers to keep me warm but not too warm as I knew I would add warmth with the exercise.

The first thing I saw was the pond nearby. It was about 8:20 in the morning and contrasted with the picture I took a few days ago of the sunset. So, I snapped a picture.

I headed out in the direction that I had taken yesterday thinking that would be just enough to get in my walk. At that point I felt confident that it would not rain for a while.

A rare find

When I approached a residence along the way I noticed that the items on the curb had not changed from yesterday. A portable fire pit enclosed with wire mesh, a wheelbarrow, a hoe and a bicycle were still at the curb near the driveway. But today I saw a FREE sign that I hadn’t noticed yesterday.

I have been wanting a bicycle for a while but did not want to spend a lot to purchase one. When I saw that it was there for the taking, I did just that.

I jumped on and rode away.

It isn’t much of a bike. It did fine for a while and I am pleased with the find. Before I got home with it, though, I noticed that it was geared too high for me. It was harder to pedal on a slight uphill grade. I tried to change the gearing to make pedaling easier and managed to jamb the chain away from the sprocket.

Sunset across the pond
A few days ago at 16:35

While I managed to straighten that out it began to softly rain. As I got going again the rain grew stronger and by the time I got home again it was hailing with a much harder rain.

I wasn’t too badly soaked but I was still wet. My hands got chain oil on them from my efforts to make the chain behave.

As I stood near the sheltered doorway I watched a thunderstorm dump pea sized hail in our parking lot.

I am thankful for finding this bike and for it getting me home swiftly. Otherwise I would have been truly soaked and peppered with hail.

by Bob Skelton Posted on November 28, 2016
Posted in Walking | 2 Comments

Photography Lessons Learned – It Just Came Together

Pink flowerI am overjoyed with the way my photos turned out. Maybe you picked up on that in my Wilderness Photography piece a couple of weeks ago. Click here to go back and read it. I like the fact that the composition worked out in my favor. But I forgot to mention the other lessons that Scott taught me. 

That day was overcast. Because it was overcast, there is an absence of shadow. There is nothing to add character to those photos. Nothing there to develop much interest. Nothing there to provide contrast.

Scott tries to teach me about lighting

Scott told me that it wasn’t a very good day to be out taking pictures. He said that with sunshine we could have completely different results. That with sunshine subjects will present themselves in a different light. (Pardon the pun.) Subjects will cast interesting shadows that make them stand out. Shadows that will make nice images. The contrast of light and shadow help to pop an image.

Time of day is an important factor

Shadows, however, don’t tell the whole story. The time of day is an important factor as well. It seems that the early morning and the late afternoon are both good times to practice the art of photography. The shadows are longer and may add a touch of intrigue to any photo. You could  position the camera in such a way to capture an attractive subject made that way by the arrangement of a shadow. Both morning and afternoon are good times but may provide a different result. Ansel Adams would stay on site for hours and sometimes days just to capture the right light.

We finish our outing

We pack up our gear and I drive Scott back to his house. As I head for home I suddenly came out from under the cloud cover into bright sunlight. ‘Where were you earlier,’ I mumble to the sun. Then all of a sudden I see this picture. Speeding along the highway I pass an obvious place to stop and take a picture. Again, I think, ‘I should stop and get this photo but I am already passed it’. “Maybe next time.’ ‘Nuts to this, there won’t be a next time’ I realize. Quickly, I spin a u-turn in the highway and go back to the turnoff I spotted earlier. I parked and took this photo:

 

Farmhouse against a threatening skyThis is the exact thing that Scott taught earlier that afternoon. The sunlight, the dark sky background, the contrast of the farm against the sky all come together to create a great photo.

Hopefully I have learned valuable lessons. Never pass up an opportunity to create something artistic.

 

 

by Bob Skelton Posted on November 8, 2016
Posted in Photography | Leave a comment