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  Audrey came through her surgery well.  Randy and I left Ginny, Craig, Noah, Claire, Nicholas and Tiffany-Ann in New York yesterday and we were in Portland less than 24 hours after her surgery.  We consider it a near-miracle that we were able to find flights during the holidays on one day’s notice.  Audrey is a trooper.  She’s doing well.  She’s still got her epidural and the pump, and since they put in the central line she’s a lot more comfortable.  She’s in amazingly great shape for the shape she’s in.  I expect she will recover uneventfully and be back cracking the whip with her students again soon.  With luck, she will remain in remission for a long time before she has another episode.   

It was quite the scene at our house when we decided we needed to come out. Making arrangements so quickly during the holidays was a challenge, and I feel badly about leaving the rest of the family at home.  It’s sort of like inviting dinner guests and leaving after the salad, telling them to finish the dinner and lock the door when they leave.  But I am absolutely convinced that we have the greatest kids and kids-in-law anyone could have.  Patrick and Libby cancelled their trip to New York two days before Christmas so that they could drive to Portland to be with Audrey for Christmas at the hospital.  They decorated her room and doted over her and helped her get through the week prior to surgery.  Thanks, Pat and Libby… you guys are great examples to us all. 

While Audrey napped today we drove to McMinnville to the MACA school to do a few things for Audrey in her room.  It was a lovely drive, and the sun even came out for a few minutes.  Thanks to Paul and Judy Beisel (Craig’s parents) who have generously offered their home to us while we are here.  They stopped in at the hospital tonight to check on the Aud. 

I don’t know when I will return to New York.  Randy will be home in a week, assuming all is well at this end. 

Thank you, everyone who has called or emailed with your concern, and to those who have called temples on Audrey’s behalf. 

   What a strange few days we’ve had around here.  Good and not so good.  Not so good:  Audrey is still sick.  Good:  we watched a ring necked pheasant eating seeds out back yesterday.  Wildlife is good.  Good:  a short exchange with Alan Alda the actor (at the AMNH).  Not so good:  NorEaster, church canceled, no choir practice for the Christmas program.  Good thing I had already lowered my expectations.  Good:  excellent little tunes at the recital on Saturday.  Not so good:  bomb scare at the store I was grocery shopping in today. I had already invested an hour gathering my goods, so I waited it out in my car.  It has just been an odd few days.  Thought I’d share that.  These are some of my wildlife friends, having a snack on our shrubs.   

I think they should call it winder, not winter.  The anemometer fix lasted about thirty seconds before it froze again.  Schools are closed again in Washingtonville–I don’t know how many folks are without power.  We aren’t, obviously.  The deer look cold.  Last night a lone doe was wandering down the middle of our street, and each time a hard gust came up, she would duck her head.  She finally took refuge on our driveway behind a shrub.  The tree limbs and brush foliage have ice coatings on them, so the deer didn’t seem to be too interested in eating.  Happy Winder to everyone!

  Last week Randy and I kicked off the season by watching Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation–again–how many seasons in a row is this?  Who knows.  Y’all know the scene showing the plugs for the Christmas lights.  Yesterday we had our snow tires mounted at the local tire shop, and while Randy paid the bill, I snapped this little piece of artwork (trying to be inconspicuous about it, you know).  I think these folks learned about wiring from Clark Griswold. 

Weather watchers:  The anemometer froze when the wind died down early this morning.  If you were wondering why our wind speed was 0 all day during the Nor’Easter, that explains it.  Randy went out to the deck with his long arms and a spray bottle full of hot water tonight to help the thawing process along.  The anemometer is on top of a long pole on the southwest corner of our deck.  It’s reading wind speed now, but the direction doohickey is still frozen.  We’ve had snow, freezing rain, ice, lots of wind, you name it.  The storm tracked west of us so we ended up with more ice than snow.  Drats!  No power outages yet, though, and I think we’ll be in the clear on that.  Church was canceled early this morning, so we stayed indoors all day, except for Randy, when he ventured out with the snow blower and the spray bottle.

   Here’s your storm, Nicholas.  You can even see the flakes.  The table has about six inches of snow on it.  Notice the lights on the deck.  Festive, aren’t we?  Word on the street is that the coming Nor’Easter on Saturday night will be a SNOW event for us.  Watch this space for snow measured in feet, not inches, on Sunday.  Keep your fingers crossed that we don’t end up with rain, or worse yet, freezing rain.   We’ll keep our fingers crossed! 

   We finished decorating the tree last night.  It makes the room feel all warm and fuzzy. 

  Last Friday while working in Water at the AMNH, I watched two families bring little ones in strollers through this fog curtain. The poor little kids were frozen with fear.  I’m sure they thought they were entering another dimension.  Their little faces contorted, and each begged NO! as their oblivious parents brought them through. The lighting is such that you can’t see the other side from the front of the fog, so the kids had no idea that there even was another side.  This is a phone photo, so I apologize for the unclear words on the fog curtain.  They all say Water in different languages.  This week at the AMNH, CNN is making preparations to broadcast a special program about Heroes from the Imax Theater on Thursday night.  It’s interesting how disruptive filming is in the city.  If you’ve ever watch them film on location, you know what I mean.  Miles and miles of cables.  Good thing I work on Fridays. 

  It’s back to the hospital for Audrey.  Time for collective good thoughts to be sent her way.  Holiday time seems to bring out the worst in her health.  I’d probably skip Turkey Day and Christmas next year if I were you, Aud.  Get well soon.