Hello. My mom and dad called here last evening. I was out mowing. Then I sit in the garage with the fan running on medium on me and drink a bottle of water. Then I went inside to get something to eat, the usual, chicken and carrots. The cell phone rings, I look and it is my parents number. I decided to answer it. My mom sounded surprised. So I had to go back outside to the garage to talk where there is better reception. The cell phone reception is terrible around here where I live. So the usual conversation starts, with my mom asking me her usual questions. Then she said that on Wednesday my sister is driving my dad to Abbott Northwestern down by the cities. He is having his usual heart tests for the year. Abbott NW postponed them awhile back because of covid. So they will go down super early because my dad wants to be back home to my mom. My mom sounded a bit on edge and nervous for my dad. I hope that his checkup and tests will be ok. I fear for my mother if and when my dad dies, especially before her. My mom uses a walker now with a seat on it that she can sit down on and rest. Her leg and heal continues to bother her so, so much. My mom has fought this growing old hard. She just doesn't want to accept her limitations. I am like this. I push myself all the time with the outdoor work tasks. Though I only mow one full gas tank in the mower now, so my back, leg, and left foot doesn't hurt as bad. Therefore I can mow again the next day, which I do now. Less pain, allows more tasks to be completed. So back to my mother. I respect my mom, yet there are times that I find it so very hard to love her. I haven't said I love you mom to her in years. We have an emotional/unnerving violent history over the years. She is a hypocrite and so fuckin' judgemental of me, my life choices, etc. blah, blah, and more blah. So I work hard on myself to be caring and polite to her while talking to her on the phone. Then when she is ready to wrap up the conversation, I am already saying the mantra in my mind: I am at peace within myself, and one of my other mantras: to be in control is to let go of control. These two mantras have literally helped me keep sane when talking with her. You can not choose your mother is. I believe, ok hope that over the years she has mellowed a bit. Then boom, she explodes and screams at me on the phone about some stupid thing. I don't get it. I never will get it. So I let it go.

Enough about writing about my mother.

Today it has been raining again. We need more rain in readiness for the Winter. We want the water tables to be up somewhat.

I am going to start a puzzle. I cleared off my large puzzle table downstairs and found my box of sorting trays again. So now I have to choose a puzzle. I want to do something else I enjoy and not have to do so many tasks. Oh, I am less than 100 pages on the current book I have been reading. It is titled: "Fellside." I have another book by the same author to read next: "Boy on the Bridge." The author is: M.R. Carey.

OK then, not much else is going on. Jimbo, I don't want to go where there is a lot of snow, hahaha. I would like to go snorkeling. I like to snorkel and have been scuba diving many times. I grew up on a lake remember. I went scuba diving in the Mississippi River up by Schoolcraft Park when I was in the Science Club in junior high and high school. Our advisor was Jim Sherwood. When I had graduated my dad told me that Jim was gay. I said so what. Jim taught me how to ski on one water ski and how to do the hop from the beach, and how to sit on the end of the dock and ski from that. Jim Sherwood was an awesome person. Oh those were great times in my life.

Peace.