What a year so far

I haven't given up on this blog. I just didn't feel like writing about many things that have happened this year. And there have been a lot of things.

I didn't travel this summer as I had in previous years. I didn't hike the high Sierras nor road trip with Sadie to Oregon, a trip I someday plan on doing. I drove to Chicagoland in June to spend time with family and ended up bringing my son Eric back with me so he could start college here. While there I saw my nephew graduate from Ohio State, and basically hanged out with my step mom. Bringing Eric back cost me a lot of money on extra travel expenses, but nothing was as expensive as the out-of-state tuition I paid in July.

At least he's back in college! He seems to be doing very well now. He's focused and making use of his time. All he needs now is a part-time job.His presence in our small house is noticable, but we will manage. The dogs like him.

My little garden was dead when I came back to Arizona. Kevin never bothered to water the tomato and pepper plants while I was gone. My strawberries wilted. All that survived was one tomato plant that produced low-quality fruit which we didn't eat. The only thing that thrived this year were cucumbers, which the grasshoppers showed no interest in.

Other things this year weren't as positive. Sadie, my beloved hiking dog, had a massive epileptic cluster in early August. For three days I thought I was going to lose her, but the vet at the Cochise Animal Hospital saved her. She's now been stable and taking 68mg of phenobarbital twice daily. I fear her next seizure, although she hasn't had any since August.

My biggest concern this year has been my stepfather's health. He has always been a junk food addict, eating processed foods like chocolate-covered donuts, chocolate milk and Mac N' Cheese (the fake stuff made by Kraft). When he was younger he'd drink a six pack of Coke and a box of donuts every day, yet prided himself in not being a drinker. He eventually overcame his J-Pouch surgery but now he has very low hemoglobin; recent test results are still pending. He is 68 years old and already has outlived his prognosis of 30 years ago when he had a heart attack and wasn't expected to live long enough to see his sons graduate from college.

More recently we learned that Kevin's mother Evelyn now as terminal bladder cancer. He is with her right now and this house is quiet. She many only live a few more months. She is 84 years old and I can say she had a good life, but I never got to know my mother-in-law well since she lives in North Carolina and I've only met her twice. She was sent to a foster home after the Great Depression, a common thing to do among poor people. She never got to know her twin sister well because of that. Her own husband died 12 years ago and she remained widowed, traveling the country with friends but otherwise staying near her daughter back East.

Kevin is taking the news well but hasn't told his kids yet.

So this is life. It always comes full circle. Old people die and young people take over until they, too, pass on.

I never got hired as a full-time teacher for this school year, after my hopes were raised that the district would hire a German teacher. I had been interviewed for the job earlier this year. That really depressed me a few months ago and I have applied for a few other jobs on post, all which pay better and offer benefits, but nothing came through. Then the district, as if to appease me, called me the day before school started and asked if I were interested in teaching PE for a semester. It's been an experience alright! Although it isn't very intellectual, I've lost five pounds myself from all the running around. My colleagues treat me well and I attend all training meetings.

Doing this as a fill-in, though, has given me doubts about wanting to be a teacher. Although the money is coming in handy (to pay off Eric's tuition!), if I didn't have my army retirement I couldn't survive on that pay alone.

Kids today do not like being physically active and expect things. They expect to get As when they earn Bs, then complain about having to work harder since they had been "Straight As" all through middle school. I also see first-hand how the district thrives on its football team for revenue, and ignores all its other sports. Our rubber track is brittle and falling apart, and that track will remain brittle and fall apart even more because it's not important to the football team.

I could mention a few other things, but the year's not over yet. It hasn't all been sad this year. Next weekend I'm flying out to Sweetwater, TN for an army reunion of Desert Stormers I haven't seen since 1993. At least being in the Appalachians will bring me some joy. I also have rekindled contact with a cousin of mine; we plan on traveling to Lithuania in 2013 and turn that into a six-week trip. She lives off Puget Sound and we plan on getting together next summer for some mountaineering. I am so looking forward to that! But in the long run I'm bracing myself emotionally for the deaths of Evelyn and perhaps even for my step dad. Life can be so unpredictable, just like Cochise County lost their Sheriff Larry Dever two weekends ago in a freak one-car accident in northern Arizona as he was on his way to meet his hunting party at a camp site. He lost control of his full-sized Chevy pick-up, the truck rolled once and he was dead. No official reports have been released yet but I think he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, or something in the back of the truck (guns, ammo boxes, etc) hit him in the back of the head). Dever was a legacy in this county for 30 years and he, too, is gone now.

Such is life. And death.

One busy month

I'm back to hiking on the weekends again. I need to lose this belly blubber before summer! However, this weekend is the famous Tucson Festival of Books and I'll be in the city all weekend. The events run all day so I won't be able to hike much.

The hot, dry air is back, I noticed it this weekend while out hiking with Sadie. Today and tomorrow we're under high wind advisories. It's blowing right now and it will continue for a full more day.

The weekend after this is my state exam in History.

Oh, what a year it was!

I don't think anyone will disagree that 2011 was a rough year for the world. It was just a tad better for the US, the family, and my friends. It had to end on a rough note in Chicagoland, when I braved yet another road trip there to see my ailing stepfather and then my healthy grandchild the following week.

What was to be a nurturing week with my stepdad turned out to be a week of being berated and insulted. He had had his large intestine removed and was fitted with a J-Pouch in early November, but his diabetes had flared up and he was hospitalized for high potassium just before C'mas. It was a scary week and at times he looked near death. I had never seen him this way. There was no feel of "vacation." I only stayed because my younger brother had flown in from Germany to tend to him more intimately, and my presence for him was relief. At least my brother and I had some intimate conversations late at night, often interrupted with screams for help from Tom. In all the years I have known my stepdad, this was the one time I felt distant to him. I pardoned it off due to his illness, but he had been more cynical in the last few years.

At least I spent some time with my brother, and the following week was better with my daughter and grandchild and step mom. Weather was the usual cold and blustery and I was in no mood to hike around. I didn't do my usual perimeter trail around the Indiana Dunes State Park, nor a day trip into Chicago, nor visited friends further south in the state. I didn't do any of the regular things I enjoy doing while in Chicagoland. Now that I'm back in Arizona(it's been two weeks), I still feel the blues.


I sped across the interstate to get to Chicagoland in 21 hours. My only worthwhile stop was a stop in Hope, AR to see the "Boyhood Home of William Jefferson Clinton," a stop that was more rewarding than expected although only one encassed book is actually a Clinton original and everything else in the restored home is a replica.

Returning the same way across Texas was also fast; I should have taken twice as long to get back to unwind. I stopped briefly in Hot Springs and drove some back roads in western Arkansas, then didn't stop again until I hit Dallas. There are some scenic trails off the beaten interstate in Texas, and this time I saw them driving west on US Highway 180 into New Mexico. Oil derricks and wind vanes welcomed me at sunrise on that final day of driving on the 4th.

I have also decided the time spent at the animal shelter was not worth my agony. Although tending to the dogs and cats was rewarding, some of the other volunteers made my time there difficult, and some of the people calling asking to have their dogs shot also nerved me. Apparently shooting unwanted or sick dogs is preferred here over more humane treatment.

I am also not going to school this semester. I got fed up with Cochise College. I needed a break from all that stress.

So, we'll see what is in store this year. I'm already dreaming of taking a few days off during spring break to head down to Big Bend State Park with Sadie. That is some beautiful, remote country.