Mick McKellar Update--Day +116

Intrepid walker, at home...

The intrepid walkers actually walked today. Marian had a meeting, so I walked with her to Sacred Heart Church (one mile) and then I returned by way of the Laurium Post Office (between 1.25 and 1.5 miles). We used to walk that far when we were in Rochester, but it's the first time I've walked any distance since we returned home. Of course, there are no shade trees for most of the route, so I had to depend on sunscreen to protect my arms and my neck.

The temperature was in the low seventies, and only the constant barrage of sunlight made it rather warm for walking. By the time I returned home, my batteries were pretty much on low, but it felt great to put a couple of miles under my belt. The walk was a great experience, despite the fact that I had two breathe through a pillow -- i.e., a surgical mask, for the entire round trip. I might not have had to wear the mask all of the time, but it seemed everybody was doing construction, mowing their lawns, or some other dusty kind of work in their yards.

Repeat

This evening, we walked to a friend's house down the block, and then on the way home we walked around the block -- just a nice stretch of the legs before turning in for the evening. The weather could not be more cooperative, so naturally that will have to change in the next day or two.

Mind numbing…

Today's major task involved going through paperwork from the last four months, looking for any unpaid bills or unanswered information requests. We were trying to handle the medical billing by remote, that is having my daughter send the important bills to us in Rochester and collect other mail until we returned home. Now I'm plowing through 4 1/2 months of old mail, junk mail, and magazines -- looking for anything important. With my foreshortened attention span, and lack of focus, this is going to take a while…

My dad, a long time ago...

Obviously, I could only stay at it for awhile, so I took a break to review some of my old digital photographs, primarily looking for photographs of my late father. With Father's Day coming, I want some photos to accompany my blog posting. As usually happens, I got involved in looking at photographs and the time just flew by. It's just like digging out an old photo album. You get involved in looking at the old pictures and you start thinking about the old days. Stories come to mind, and the next thing you know you're on a long walk down memory lane.

Our memory lane includes communications from all of you, including the cards, letters, e-mails, phone calls, and other messages received while we were in Rochester and since we have been home. I've collected all of them, and we'll be putting them in a memory book, so we can take time to reflect on how much they helped us during our sojourn at Mayo Clinic.

Thank you all for your communications. Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts.

God bless and good night,

Mick