I don't think it's a big secret that I wanted to move back home to rural Iowa some day. When I was well my mom's farm would have cost six months to a year's pay and something less well kept and off main roads might have sold for what I'd have made with one busy month of consulting.
Now my brother and I may end up with that big farm house after all. My mother was transported by ambulance to a local hospital this morning. They are unable to deal with her heart condition and she is being moved to a regional care center.
House
Farm Buildings
Kayak Fleet
Mainstreet
Popcorn stand - two owners since 1928!
Little bit of snow
Stuck
Barn pooties
Do you know what this is?
Favorite place
Rec list. Did not expect this. But now that I'm up here ...
My dad worked twenty six years for a variety of railroads, a career broken only by a little trip to Germany in the 1940s. After he was disabled in a work related accident a check started coming every month - union protection of workers. When he died that check kept coming - union protection of dependents.
Since we're not in the upper 1% of wealth holders in this country my mother's hospital visit is a Medicare expense. The GOP in general, and in particular crazy ass Steve King who is now her Congressman, would have left us homeless when I was a kid, and today they'd just let her die when this might be something simple that can be controlled with a medication change.
I love my mom. I hope this is something resolvable. I will keep working to ensure everyone gets the same protections my parents enjoyed until the ambulance comes for me for that final ride.
People like the snow pictures. Here are more ...
This was a 12" twig when I planted it in 1976.
This maple, now so large I can't get my arms around it, was the size of a man's thumb in 1971.
Hoarfrost
Blogging on the front porch ...
Lone survivor from the fall harvest. This is fifty feet from the front porch.
One other survivor a few hundred yards west of the first and a few hours later in the day.
Just getting word from my brother at 6:13 PM CST - mom got up this morning, didn't feel very good, set out for the local doctor's office, then thought better of it and called the ambulance on her own.
Her heart was fluttering rather than pumping and our local hospital is just a little county sized thing without specialists, so she was transported to a regional facility. She got a bunch of tests, blood thinners, and she is stabilized. Sounds like she will be held another day or two, then released after she sees her cardiologist.
So maybe this is a med change, maybe it's time for a valve replacement surgery, but she is resting comfortably. Thank you for all your kind comments.