Posted in Fun

First It’s One Thing, Then Another

Neighborhood color

It has been a glorious week in Knoxville, Tennessee. The temperatures are comfortable and warming up a bit more.  Our flowers, flowering trees, and shrubs are peaking rapidly.  The annual Dogwood Arts Festival offers a big weekend celebration with music, food, and all things art on the World’s Fair Site lawn. After two weeks of some serious stuff, I was ready to join in the fun until life threw us a curveball.

My favorite line from the movie City Slickers goes like this–“There’s no such thing as a normal life…there’s just life!” This favored line is accurate, and Helen and I proved it this week. Ease Along with us and get a glimpse of a week with more than a smidgen of ups and downs.

Helen began the week feeling no ill effects from her surgery and was more than capable of functioning somewhat normally.  Her caregiver (that would be me) was quite impressed and extremely grateful.  In addition, and most importantly, we’ve been overwhelmed and beyond grateful for the love and support sent by friends from across the country. Our neighbors, Helen’s close friends, and gal-pals have been nothing short of amazing with their love, support, and attention. Our church family deserves special mention for the meals sent to us when we had no intention or desire to cook for ourselves. Helen has received a basketful of cards and letters from friends everywhere. Those cards have gone a long way toward keeping her spirits up.

Lots of love and well-wishes here!

I won’t get into all of the tasks required of a breast cancer patient post-op, but it can get very involved.  Nevertheless, Helen was handling things well and was ready to move on to the next step. On Thursday, we went to an office visit with one of the surgeons.  Dr. Gibson was pleased with her progress and spent some time explaining the process from this point on very thoroughly. After the surgery, he had covered this with us, but not much of it sank in.

Bluegrass Music

We visited with Dr. Lo, the second surgeon involved in Helen’s operation, on Friday.  Dr. Lo was also pleased with her progress and began some of the next steps of her treatment. Again, I’ll leave out the details, but Helen left Dr. Lo’s office in a lot of pain.  My solution was to take her to the Waffle House for breakfast.  Breakfast helped, but she was still very uncomfortable.  I knew it had to be severe because Helen never complains. We planned to attend the Dogwood Arts Festival downtown later in the day, and she assured me that she planned to go after a short rest.

I took her back home, then left to run an errand.  When I returned, she looked at me somewhat teary-eyed (very unusual) and said she had suddenly developed a high fever and felt ill.  Fortunately, and ironically, she had ordered eight government-issued COVID-19 test kits that arrived the day before.  She took the test, and…you guessed it, she tested positive. 

Marks at C and T indicate positive for COVID

We didn’t attend the Festival, and Helen went from bad to worse, then went to bed. Our family doctor called in an anti-viral medication for her, but it was only available at a pharmacy across town.  I left her once more to retrieve the medicine, thinking, “How much more can she take?”

It was a long night, but I’m delighted to report that Helen was much better by morning.  She still had a fever and was in some pain, but nothing like the previous day. She is now working on her puzzle. I tested negative, but I’m Easin’ Along a long way away from direct contact.  I’m sure readers will understand.

Festival Fireworks

There’s no such thing as a normal life. Every once in a while, God will pull you through a keyhole.

Easin’ Along
Posted in Fun

Easin’ Along Takes a Short Pause for Easter

Colorful Tulips

Pardon our pause, but we’re taking a short break for Faith, Family, and Fun! We’ll return soon and we want all of our online friends to join us as we prepare for an interesting summer (in Knoxville for a change).

Puzzling with the granddaughters

We’re having a wonderful time with our children and grandchildren visiting from Charleston. This is just what Helen needed, and I am thrilled to have them here.

I think our kids enjoyed their time here as well. These lovely girls have a full schedule with soccer, school, and a myriad of other activities that keep them on the move from daylight to dark. I just wish I had their energy, but we managed to keep them in one place for a few days.

Great-Grandmother

My mother joined us on Saturday. She loves spending time with her great-grandchildren.

Dyeing eggs

The girls wanted to dye Easter Eggs, and BeBe couldn’t help it–she had to dive in!

We did it!

Much time lost looking for the final piece, but it finally turned up and the puzzle is complete!

Helen had a second call from her surgeons this week. The biopsy results from lymph nodes removed during surgery confirmed that her cancer had not spread. She can relax for a little while–and she did. Our daughter-in-law helped her celebrate!

Relaxin’

We’re blessed, we’re grateful, and we’re Easin’ Along! Lets chat soon. Joe

Easin’ Along

Posted in Fun

Three Events in a BIG Week!

Chat and Chalk

Spring in East Tennessee is a delightful time of the year. Crocus and Daffodils bloom in early March to announce the beginning of the season, and, by April, flowering Dogwoods, Weeping Cherry trees, and brightly colored tulips let us know that Spring is here in all its grandeur. I love it, but it just doesn’t last long enough. Hot weather sneaks in before we know it, and the air conditioner runs non-stop.

We celebrate the arrival of Spring in our region with the Dogwood Arts Festival. This 67-year-old celebration began with driving trails featuring our blooming trees and flowers and grew into a month-long celebration of the arts and nature. Festival organizers do a marvelous job highlighting our region and our artistic community.

A favorite event of mine is the annual Chalk Walk, a competition among 150 artists challenged with creating works of art on the sidewalk of our Market Square. COVID caused a suspension of the event for two years. Thankfully, it returned this year along with thousands of festival attendees. I joined them late in the afternoon, hoping to photograph many of the drawings upon completion or nearing it.

Festival crowd

Anticipating a larger than usual gathering of attendees, festival organizers expanded the area for the artists. Good idea: the crowd size was enormous, with people, children, and dogs everywhere admiring the works in progress. Food truck operators were extremely busy serving up many menu items. Street musicians provided both Bluegrass and Classical music for the spectators.

My timing was good, and I captured most of the drawings near their finished state but could still include some of the artists in the photograph. The artwork is jaw-dropping in detail and color. The festival provides free chalk in unlimited quantities to the artists, and they put it to its highest and best use. I have inserted a gallery below of a few of my favorites and included the artist’s name on most of them. My thanks to Alan Sims (Inside of Knoxville) for help identifying a lot of them.

The drawing by Mene Manresa claimed the prize for Best in Show. It’s easy to see why.

Mena Manresa – Best of Show

A predominately Black and White drawing by Ryne Sandberg was heralded as Best in the Sidewalk of Fame and was probably my favorite.

Ryne Sandberg – Best of Sidewalk of Fame

Sonia Summers and her drawing of a Boy and His Bubbles was runner-up in the Sidewalk of Fame.

Sonia Summers – Runner up – Sidewalk of Fame

Around 4:00 pm, a bit of drama occurred during the competition. A festival spokesman announced rain showers in the area and advised participants to cover their drawings with plastic in the event of rain. Thankfully, the rain held off, and the artists completed all pictures before the judging. This is a great event, and I’m glad it’s back.

“Rain showers on the way, people!”

Now for the BIG event of the week…

Helen entered the hospital Thursday morning for breast cancer and reconstructive surgery. A two-surgeon team completed both tasks in about three hours, and she came home. After surgery, I spoke with both physicians. They described the surgery as “textbook” and that everything went well. We have a special place in our hearts for two nurses, Wilma, who retired the next day but treated us as if we were her first patients, and Richard, a skilled nurse, who left us after one of the most powerful prayers I’ve ever had the blessing to receive.  

During our days (and nights), time involves keeping up with meds and drains, and thank-yous to all of the wonderful friends, family, and church members who have reached out to us with love, support, and incredible food. We’re blessed, and we’re grateful for it all.

Great support from church, family, and friends!

A final event for this week…

With Dogwoods comes Dogwood winter, and it arrived today. Temperatures plunged into the low 30’s, and along with it came the rain, sleet, and snow—go figure.

Time to be Easin’ Along.

Easin’ Along