Confusion

Memories, thoughts, connection with the present, the inner workings of our brains... I had an interesting conversation with my brother tonight. He is back to close to normal after his battle with mental storms brought on (we believe) by his medications, but he is still battling occasional memory glitches. OK, OK, I know that's not a medically acceptable term, but it is descriptive, isn't it?

I suppose it's not often that you can talk with someone else who has experienced memory issues, and Neal has had a couple of distinct experiences. The first was his total confusion that we believe was caused by the cocktail of medications he was on. Those medications gradually robbed him of his mental accuity and placed him and his active imagination firmly in the past. Luckily that state is gone, and he has his mind back (for the most part, that is). There are still times of confusion, and occurrences of what I can only describe as disconnected time. He asked how I dealt with my own memory problems after my brain's relatively high-speed encounter with the pavement over two years ago. Looking back, I think that my own brain injury was much kinder than his state. I have no memory at all of the really bad times, and while I've been told that I wasn't functioning normally for a while (probably a number of weeks) from a mental point of view, my brain recovered what I believe is its normal function. I wish I could tell Neal that there were some tricks I learned to get through that time, but I have no memories of any.

Neal, my heart goes out to you as you continue to fight your battle. I think that my own memory lapses were much kinder than yours since they were really hidden from me, where yours are somehow making themselves known to you. Fight your battle, accept yourself as you are, and know that your friends and family are sending a lot of love your way.

Warmth drives bicycle desire

It's October, and while the days are getting shorter the temperature has been climbing in a very non-fall-like manner. Saturday's high was in the 50s, yesterday's in the 60s, and today's was predicted to be in the high 70s. The sun was shining, and I decided that I needed (yes, needed!) to leave work a little early in order to get a good ride in this afternoon. I know that this nice warm weather is limited; in fact, it's more than possible that today will be the last of the warmth.

Home and ready to head out wearing shorts (no knee warmers!) and a sleeveless jersey, I checked the temperature one more time. It was a balmy 78 degrees, the sun was shining, and the sky was blue. Wonderful.

Riding on this warm and sunny afternoon made me happy - even though I was very aware of the season's swiftly setting sun. Some of the roads that I traveled were heavily wooded, and there was a big difference in the quality of light between those and the more open roads that my bicycle wheels followed. I was careful to be home well before sunset since the sun seems to be in a mode where it simply drops out of sight, no easing from light into darkness.

It was a good ride, and a good memory for those soon-to-come colder days.

Time for flannel

...flannel sheets, that is!

Today the people who think they know what the weather wizard is up to are forecasting a warm day with temperatures in the upper 70s, but it's been pretty chilly the past few nights. My bed was screaming for cold weather flannel sheets, so yesterday I gave in and switched from my summer knit sheets to my "rest of the year" flannel.

Ah, that was a nice warm sleep.

Interestingly enough, I had a conversation about sheets with Twyla, the hostess of the Guest-Lovitt B&B (in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia). She uses very nice cotton sheets on the B&B beds, but she and Bruce use fleece sheets on their own bed. I never knew that fleece sheets even existed, and I have to admit that sounds like an even cozier option than flannel. I might just have to try them this winter.

Weekend sunshine

Morning temperatures clearly let me know that the season is changing, and that summer has slipped away from us. The changing colors manage to cement that knowledge.

It was a good weekend for riding, although I'm finding that I seem to have an end-of-riding-season boredom with the roads near home. Actually, I think it's a combination of that and an underlying desire to continue wandering new roads and exploring as I did during my recently completed vacation. I'm adjusting though, and I definitely took advantage of our sunny and warming days to comfortably wander on two wheels. The temperatures have been dropping quite low overnight (as in to the high 30s and low 40s!) so I have been waiting until after noon to head out on my bike. Call me a baby if you will, but I prefer to ride in warmer temperatures while I can.

Here's hoping that some semblance of warmth continues to grace our days for a while...

Ah, captured color!

A beautiful view in any season, shimmering water in sunshine

I find it amazing (or maybe I should say surprising) that it is very difficult to capture the colors that my eyes see - but this photo should give you an idea of the emerging colors.

An addiction to chocolate

Yes, I am one of those people who is addicted to chocolate. As it turns out, it's not a terrible addiction to have as long as I can control the quantity. I discovered over the years that I am quite satisfied by a small piece of chocolate each day provided that it is dark chocolate and that it is what my taste buds consider to be a good quality chocolate.

As my bike and I were wandering in Nova Scotia, I often opted to skip dessert (after dinner) in favor of a chocolate bar. My level of activity when I'm touring supports a normal sized bar, but when I'm home, a small piece of chocolate will do the trick. Nova Scotia means Canada, which means a different choice of chocolates than I find at home, and I quickly became addicted to Cadbury Premium Dark Burnt Almond bars. My task on returning home was to search for these treats; unfortunately I found that they are not available here in the United States. I started my search on the Cadbury UK web site, which stated that "Cadbury products in the USA are manufactured and distributed under a franchise agreement by Hershey Chocolate USA". Hmmm... that means that Hershey has the "skill" to create good dark chocolate, not their usual fare. I looked a little further, and discovered a relatively new Hershey product, HERSHEY'S EXTRA DARK. As an added bonus, this treat comes in miniature bars as well as the standard large bars; one of the miniatures is the perfect size for my daily chocolate fix. I tried HERSHEY'S EXTRA DARK Cranberries, Blueberries, & Almonds - and wow! That's good, and my new chocolate favorite for when I'm home. I'll continue to seek out Cadbury Premium Dark Burnt Almond when I'm in Canada.

Sunlight disappearing

I'm afraid my days of sneaking in a ride after work are quickly coming to an end as the sunset is jumping (not creeping) back in time. Today was a beautiful day for a ride though, with temperatures in the low 70s when I ventured out on two wheels. The colors are starting to jump out, with sections of trees that are painted red and orange and yellow, and other sections that remain green.

There was still plenty of light as I rolled home at the end of my relatively short ride, but the sun was dropping, and the daylight was only a short 20 minutes away from disappearing. I suppose that's a signal to me to get back into non-biking season exercise mode. I walk outside year-round, and I'll continue to ride on the weekends - but I think I hear the gym beckoning.

Patches of color...

...and a too early sunset. Beautiful.

Home...

An open letter to my brother Neal

Hey - welcome home! I'm so glad you feel well enough to move back into your own environment, complete with dog. I know that Zipper has missed you, and I bet that he was very happy to be out walking with you and Mom this afternoon. It must feel really good to be home...

I know that your battle goes on, and as always my love, good wishes, and thoughts of healing are winging their way to you.

A glimpse of Nova Scotia

Camera clicking away, capturing images and memories of western Nova Scotia and a little bit of Maine...

Back from Nova Scotia, looking at photos, sorting, throwing out, keeping... I've placed what I think are the best of the bunch in my photo galleries.

The photos are split into eight galleries, and I've included links to the actual galleries here just in case you want to go directly to a specific one:

• Birds, little creatures, and a big creature too
• Wildflowers, flowering and gone to seed, plus...
• Assisted by non-human-powered transport
  
• Yarmouth visions: houses, harbor, lighthouse
• Evangeline Trail, from Yarmouth to Annapolis Royal
• Over South Mountain to the Lighthouse Route, Annapolis Royal to Yarmouth
• To the end of Digby Neck and on to Brier Island
• Acadia National Park

Here's a sampling of photos from the galleries.

A glistening cobweb...

Shining water along the Lighthouse Route

And a chicken on Brier Island, clearly wondering what I was doing in her space

Did you really think I was riding a bicycle? I was, but Twyla & Bruce treated me to a ride around Yarmouth in their Model T. And no, I wasn't driving!

He's back

It was a good news day today. Or perhaps I should say it was a great news day...

Neal has emerged from the morass of confusion that has enveloped him for weeks. He is still battling a very serious disease, but the person we all know and love is with us once again. After seeing him in serious pain, and then in a state of confusion, this is a most welcome change. Add to that the prediction of the docs just two days ago that he was not likely to emerge from the delusional state that has been worsening over the past weeks, and his emergence is doubly sweet.

I'm trying not to lose sight of the fact that this is still a very real battle, but I'm very thankful that he is himself again. It was wonderful to talk to a real Neal today.

And Neal, I'm still sending love and healing wishes your way.

Escape artist

Oh, Bailey! I can't believe you did it again, and to Marta this time!

For those of you who haven't met him yet, Bailey is the wacky dachshund who lives with my parents. Right now he is with his (really our) mom in Philadelphia while she is spending time with Neal. Although Bailey might make some patients smile, he isn't allowed at the hospital. And leaving him home alone with Coco (the cat!) doesn't work too well either, so he has somewhat happily been attending doggie day care, hosted by Marta. Today she had to go out for a while, leaving Bailey and a few other dogs on their own but behind gates in several rooms. When Marta returned, Bailey greeted her at the door. He doesn't seem to understand that he is supposed to stay behind the gate and somehow always manages to issue an "open sesame" command.

What do you mean I'm supposed to wait behind the gate? I thought that gates were put there to be moved.