Tis the Season

Our Picture Window

The cabin feels festive and bright with its assortment of holiday decorations, a mix of old and new, some handmade, others cherished gifts and special keepsakes. Winter just doesn't seem so chilly and cold with the warmth the holidays brings.

Happy Birthday!

For so many years, I've set up this manger scene. It's grown a bit as I add a piece or two. Desirae made the mini-grapevine wreath that adorns the front top of the manger stall in a "Holiday Magic" craft class I taught about 15 years ago. Each year, her wreath brings back a special memory and it adds a special sparkle to the manger!

"All is calm...all is bright"

My favorite tree ornament is this "four seasons" ball I purchased the year Desirae was born. Each side features a mother and child in each season of the year. The little mouse asleep atop the moon is one I made the Christmas prior to Desirae's birth. Seems a lot of my Christmas memories are connected to my daughter ... hmmm :) Christmas time spent with children is very magical.

Cabin Christmas Tree

What would the holidays be without the tree!?! ... always my very favorite part of decorating for the holidays. This year, our star needed some repair. The star is the only one I have ever had for our annual tree. It's been with me for every Christmas for almost 30 years now. It's a wonder it's made it through every move and every year of celebration. It was originally purchased at a dime store for $1.99, but it's priceless to me.

Enjoy the special beauty of the season, no matter which holiday, if any, you may celebrate!

In Memory ...

This year marked the passing of my two uncles, two kind and gentle souls and courageous men, my mothers beloved brothers age 95 and 91. They died within a couple of months of each other after having spent a lifetime together.

The Victorian house that they grew up in was their home from birth until death. The house, pictured above, will go with them, too. The new owner plans to demolish it and build a new one on the property ~ very sad for those of us who carry memories of the family who called this house their home and such a loss of a beautiful, one-of-a-kind historic structure. It's fitting though that it go with them, as no one but my uncles and their family could ever quite belong here or make this house the home it was when it was filled with the love of those who cherished it and made their memories here.

My eldest cousin gave a moving eulogy at our uncle's memorial service that concluded with the following words by an anonymous author. These words fit our sentiments for both of our uncles so well ...

No farewell words were spoken,
No time to say good-bye.
You were gone before we knew it
And only God knows why.
You left us peaceful memories.
Your dedication is still our guide,
And though we cannot see you,
You are always at our side.
Your life was full of loving deeds,
Forever thoughtful of our special needs.
Death leaves a heartache
No one can heal.
Love leaves a memory
No one can steal.
Those we love don't go away,
They walk beside us every day,
Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed, and very dear.

Through the lives they led and all they shared our uncles taught us many wonderful qualities ~ kindness, concern for others, strength and fortitude, loyalty, faith, and love. We all felt esteemed in their presence, and, more then they could ever know, we valued their steady constancy in our lives. It's so hard to say goodbye to such selfless, good men, but, to know that at least in some small measure they carry on within us, is a wondrous gift. It's a reminder, too, that we all can choose what kind of legacy and memories we want to leave simply by how we choose to live our lives and how much we truly value one another.

Hopkins Revisited

Halloween Night at Hopkins

It's been a while since I've posted a blog about my transplant experience and related health issues, so I thought I'd share my latest news. My Johns Hopkins nephrologist admitted me to the hospital on Halloween. I'd been having inexplicable fevers about every three weeks for several months which had her very concerned. Random fevers are atypical for post kidney transplant patients to experience. My only other on-going symptoms were occasional headaches along with a stiff neck. I loathe being in the hospital, but agreed to be admitted for the rounds of testing that we both hoped would get to the bottom of what was causing the fevers.

It was an odd day to be admitted to the hospital. While my husband Kevin and I waited for my room assignment, we saw all sorts of people, mostly adults, go by in various flashy costumes. One woman who rushed past us was dressed up as a giant Crayola Crayon.

Kevin took the above photo of me in my "Halloween costume," my very unattractive hospital garb. There was concern I might have the flu (which I didn't) so my "costume" came complete with a face mask that had to be worn whenever I was wheeled off for various tests. Everyone entering my room was required to wear a full body protective gown (bright yellow), gloves (purple), face mask, and eye shield ... making them all look like clowns :)

On the second day, I was interviewed by the Johns Hopkins infectious disease team headed up by a very impressive physician with a "total recall" memory. After meeting with me in my hospital room, he stepped just outside the room to confer with his colleagues. I could hear him repeat almost word for word our discussion, which had been quite lengthy and detailed. There were giggles among the team when he repeated a time or two that Kevin and I lived in a cabin in the woods ... an amusing detail for them that actually was a useful clue.

Fortunately, I did not have to stay in the hospital long, in fact, was able to go home the next evening. Much of the testing could be continued at my local lab, so I was discharged. Kevin and I were ecstatic to be on our way back home to our cabin in the woods!

All of the early tests results for what were considered the most likely causes came back negative. It wasn't until the second tier of test results came in that it was discovered I had acute Lyme's disease ... thanks to the bite of a nasty, little deer tick. Even though I was not pleased to find out I had Lyme's disease, I was happy the root cause of my symptoms was no longer a mystery. I was also relieved to find, since it seems to have been caught early enough, that a three week course of antibiotics should do the trick to quell the disease ... a real treat :)

It was indeed a ghoulish Halloween for us this year ... but the spooky mystery of the random fevers was ultimately solved and no longer haunts us!

Bright & Beautiful

It's been a sparkly fall week with bright sunshine lighting up the leaves that still remain on the trees surrounding our cabin home in the woods. The squirrels, chipmunks, and deer are actively foraging and stocking up for the coming winter season.

Yesterday, our small herd of does came up to the goldfish pond for a sip, unaware that I was sitting quietly on the porch observing them. They look healthy and are so beautiful. No matter how common whitetail deer are or how pesky they can be to our gardens, they remain one of my very favorite forest animals. I love being in their graceful presence. The deer can be very comical, too. A couple of the summer fawns, now almost as large as their mother, were tussling the other day, head butting and prancing about while the older members of the herd simply ignored their antics and kept on feeding. They often get up on their hind legs to reach the tastier leaves from the lower branches of our young trees and are quite acrobatic in their efforts to stretch as high as there legs can lift them ... and they have a tendency to stick their tongues out, too! Often, when I walk down our long drive to retrieve the mail, several deer will be close by. They stand alert watching my every move. Once in a while, one of them will stomp it's front hoof as if annoyed. Rarely, do they run off, and they seem as curious to look at me as I am to look at them.



Love the photographs that capture light just the right way. Notice the sun star coming through the trees in the photo above. The colors in this segment of woods were simply awesome, too. This lovely weather we've recently been experiencing won't last long, nor will the remaining colorful leaves ... so I'm enjoying it all to the fullest until winter sets in and the snow creates its own special beauty.

First Snow

Here it is just the end of October and we already experienced our first snow day! Usually, we don't see any snowflakes until December around here. It was a messy, wet snow today. At times, it looked like the sky was throwing down snowballs. Big clumps of snow fell from the sky and thudded on the cabin roof. As you can see from the photo above, it was quite messy as Kevin retrieved our mail today!



Ordinarily, the leaves are long gone from most of the deciduous trees by the time we have snow, but a lot of the tree leaves are still green and others just turning yellow and red. The wind blew pretty fiercely at times today and it was not only snowing but raining leaves, too. It was a good day to stay indoors!

Fall Trip to Washington, DC

This past weekend was one of simply wondrous Indian Summer weather ~ perfect for our visit to our nation's capital. Kevin and I stayed downtown for a couple of days and toured as many of the museums and monuments as we could during our stay. During the daytime, we went to the museums, enjoyed the many exhibits and viewed several 3-D IMAX movies, my favorite one focusing on orphaned elephants and orangutangs and their extraordinary caretakers who nurtured their young charges and then returned them to the wild. In the evening, we visited the Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. memorials which were especially impressive all lit up against the night sky. The magnificent and stately Smithsonian Castle building is pictured in the photogragh above.

My favorite showcase in the American History Museum displayed Jim Henson's original muppet puppets. What a special genius Mr. Henson was! His beloved characters continue to charm young and old alike.

The architecture of the older buildings in Washington, DC is stunning. As Kevin and I took a break inbetween touring and snacked on a bag of popcorn, fresh from the red wagon vendor in front of the Natural History Museum, I took the above photo of the museum's beautiful, finely detailed columns from our seat on the museum steps.

I've always loved the diorama taxidermy displays of wildlife within the Natural History Museum. Even though I enjoy seeing the live deer in our woods most of all, I thought this particular display was so pretty. We also especially enjoyed the Rock and Mineral Hall. The collections and individual specimens are amazing. Much has changed since I worked for the Smithsonian Museum Shops in the early 1980s. All of the shops and eateries within the museums have been updated and most of the exhibits modernized.

Our final evening was spent in Chinatown, where we ate a scrumptious dinner at Tony's Mongolian Restaurant. Kevin chose crispy beef and I chose shrimp lo mein. We were so hungry by the time we sat down to eat. We amazed our waiter, and ourselves!, by how much of the generous portions we were able to consume. Our waiter was literally beaming :) The gateway arch heralding the beginning of the the Chinatown district was a sight to behold ~ so ornate and richly colored ... the gold set aglow by the rays of the setting sun.

Our two day stay in DC went by so fast and left us yearning to return to see and do more ... the best way to feel, as you know your time was well spent and deeply enjoyed. We are so fortunate to live close enough to visit this city with so much to offer and of so much importance to our country. We look forward to coming back and taking in more of our nation's capital!

Early Signs of Autumn's Arrival

Officially, fall arrived on September 23, the autumnal equinox. In this part of the country, that time is more of a whisper than a major word of seasonal change. Generally, the temps are still nearly summertime warm and the leaves are still mostly vibrant green. Subtle changes begin to happen ever so slowly in the days to follow.



Today, I came across one of nature's harbingers of change, foreshadowing for us that colder weather is soon to come...this on-the-go woolly bear caterpillar.

The leaves on the dogwood tree in front of our cabin are also displaying signs indicating more change to come. Red blotches rim some of the leaves, and, as you can see also in the photograph above, one leaf on this branch morphed to yellow.

Fall is such an exciting season with it's changes and it's final expression of colors before the monotone shades of winter set in and take hold. This season of beauty provides a warmth to tide us over until the rebirth of greenery and new life returns to begin the seasonal cycle anew in springtime.

Enjoy the season!!!