It has been hot all week. Today, it got up to one hundred and two degrees. Right now, our thermometer says it’s a hundred degrees. We don’t have air conditioning, but there are ceiling fans in strategic locations throughout the house. As long as I’m close to one of them, I’m as cool as a cucumber.
Bill loves the heat. If he had his way, he’d be outside right now instead of stretched out in his recliner with a ceiling fan whirring at full blast close by. It’s supposed to be cooler this weekend. Let’s hope.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Hi Abbie,
We have had our share of 100 degree weather. We don’t have any air conditioning in our little spot on the back porch. Hank loves it. When it is in the middle of the day to me anyway, li8ke being in a swelltering pool. Hank doesn’t like air conditioning. The computer does.
Speaking of computers I think the netbook is more forgiving when it comes to heat.
This week end it has cooled off some. The humidity is awful as usual.
It has been cooler here too. On Friday evening, a cold front moved in, and in an hour, the temperature dropped from ninety-eight to seventy-eight degrees. Although the wind was bglowing rewally hard, I decided to sit on our back patio and listen to something on my Victor Stream for a while. It felt pretty good. Temperatures have been in the seventies ever since and forecasted to be that way for most of the week.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Hi Abbie,
Did Bill listen to the Ranger’s last night? One of the fans fell from the top level trying to catch a ball. Amazingly he was able to move all his extremities.
I hope he will remain all right.
He is very fortunate.
I hope he doesn’t have problems later.
Soft tissue issues creep up.
I say last night because you won’t see this until tomorrow meaning Wednesday.
Bill didn’t listen to the Rangers game, but he heard about the incident. As usual, he has been following the Colorado Rockies. They haven’t been doing well, but they’re making a comeback. They won three straight games against the St. Louis Cardinals, and last night, they beat the San Diego Padres. Bill seems to think that if they win the other two games against the Padres, they’ll be in first place. He can’t wait for tonight’s game.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
As I write this, thunder rumbles, lightning occasionally flashes, and rain spatters against the living room window. I’m snuggled in my armchair with my feet up. My Netbook is running on the battery so I don’t have to worry about lightning strikes.
A couple of days ago, there was a tornado in Billings, Montana, which is about 150 miles north of Sheridan, Wyoming, where I live. But all we had here were thunderstorms, and that’s all we’re having now. Thank goodness. The National weather Service says we will see more summer weather with slim chances of rain so i guess it’s good we’re getting the rain now.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
I belong to a writers’ group called Behind Our Eyes. We consist of disabled writers from across the country, and we’ve published an anthology of poems and stories by the same name. The book is available from amazon.com, barnes&noble.com, booksamilion.com, and other on line retailers as well as in digital talking book, Braille, and cassette formats from the National Library Service. You can click on the link below to hear an interview of me and three other participants on an Internet radio program about nonprofit organizations.
http://forumfornonprofits.com/archives/forum060610.wma
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Hi Abbie,
As I write this I am listening to the interview. It is very good.
I’m listening to Becky tell about her straw bail house.
Hank would absolutely love to live in a house lake that.
I spent the past weekend in Cody at a conference for Wyoming writers. Cody is located just east of Yellowstone Park. A few miles east of Cody is Heart Mountain, the site of a relocation camp for the Japanese during World War II. On the first night of the conference, there was a presentation about Heart Mountain. This consisted of a couple of poets reading dramatic monologues written from the points of view of residents of the camp.
I’m afraid I didn’t get much out of the rest of the conference. I attended two poetry workshops and one fiction workshop, but the information was either stuff I already knew or stuff I didn’t want to know. But I enjoyed meeting other writers and participating in the open mike reading sessions. I’ve been going to this annual conference for years, and I plan to attend next year.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Today, Bill and I had lunch with our visually impaired support group at Olie’s Pizza and Spaghetti House. There were eight of us in attendance. Bill had an eight inch meat lovers’ pizza, and I had a Ruben sandwich with potato salad. Our group will take a break from meeting in the summer and start up again in the fall.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
We recently received word from our friends in Oregon that they will deliver the van to us on or about the 14th of next month. We’re really excited! Of course, we’ll have to worry about insurance and other formalities, but since our friends will stay with us for a few days, they can probably help us figure all that out.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Our friends from Oregon arrived last night with the van. It’s maroon in color. Unfortunately, we can’t use it just yet. It doesn’t have a wheelchair restraint, and we don’t have the insurance in place. But we’re getting there one step at a time.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Today, my next door neighbor who will be doing most of the driving for us helped me get insurance and license plates for the van. We’re still waiting for a wheelchair tie-down which should be here by the end of next week. Once we have that and a handicap sticker, we should be good to go.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Today, Bill and I planned to go with our neighbors to the park in our new van to get ice cream, but the van wouldn’t start. The lift works, but when you put the key in the ignition, nothing else works. The lights don’t even come on. We also couldn’t figure out how to use the wheelchair tie-down. I called the guy at the automotive place, and I hope he’ll get back to me soon.
In the meantime, my neighbors drove me to the ice cream stand in their car, and I bought them ice cream and brought back a malt for Bill. So all’s well that ends well, I guess.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
I was finally able to get a hold of the guy at the automotive place yesterday morning, and he suggested trying to jump start the van. Apparently, the lift runs on a separate battery. So we did just that and it worked.
But now, we have another problem. My next door neighbor is getting to the point where he forgets things and can’t figure things out like the wheelchair tie-down. Since he couldn’t figure out how to get the hood open to attach the cables, I had to call a friend for help. Since his wife expressed concerns about his driving, I plan to contact the senior center’s community service program to see if anyone would be interested in driving for us once in a while when the minibus isn’t running. Dad could do it, but I don’t want to rely on him all the time. He has give me rides for many years, and I would have called him yesterday to give me a jump start if my neighbor didn’t have the cables. I never dreamed I’d be asking my daddy to jump start my car.
Abbie JohnsonTaylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Bill had his first ride in the van today. Dad is planning to take him to the rodeo parade tomorrow so he wanted to do a trial run with the van today. He and Bill went to the park for ice cream this morning. He also drove downtown to find a good place to watch the parade tomorrow. I didn’t go because I needed to work on a poem for my poetry class this afternoon. I won’t be going with them to the parade tomorrow because I’m going to a writers’ retreat at the same time.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Today, Bill and I took Dad out to lunch to celebrate Dad’s birthday. Actually, his birthday was yesterday, but we couldn’t go out then because we couldn’t get transportation. It will be nice when we get our own van because as long as our driver is available, we can go out whenever we want.
Anyway, we had lunch at a restaurant downtown called the Rib & Chop House. We all ate seafood. I had a fried shrimp sandwich with plenty of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles with a side of squash casserole. Bill had fish and chips, and that came with coleslaw, which I ate because he didn’t want it. He also had gumbo soup. Dad had a tuna fillet with a salad. We brought some fish and chips home, and Bill will probably have that for supper.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Last night, Dad and I attended a symphony concert. Bill doesn’t like classical music, which is just as well since we have no way of getting him out to events at night. We’ll be getting a wheelchair accessible van in June. Friends of ours in Oregon found a used one at a reasonable price, and they’ll drive it out to us next month.
But I digress. Believe it or not, the little town of Sheridan has the Cloud Peak Symphony. It’s not a professional group, but it’s the next best thing. During the first part of last night’s program, they played works by Hayden and Grieg. After intermission, they played an original composition by the conductor and selections from “Phantom of the Opera.” It was a good program, and Bill admitted that he would have liked the orchestra.
I think at this point, he would have been glad for any excuse to get out of the house. Tomorrow, we’re going out to lunch with Dad at a restaurant that offers liver and onions as their Monday special. Since I don’t cook that stuff at home, Bill is looking forward to that.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Last weekend, I attended a poetry workshop in Casper. This turned out to be a positive experience for me. I was having trouble with one of my poems, I didn’t know where to go with it. When I showed it to the presenter the night before the workshop for a private critique, she suggested I bring it the next day, and others in the group could help me rewrite it. The next day, she put the poem on a board where everyone could see it and asked each of the participants to rewrite it and read it aloud. This gave me some great ideas, and I was able to revise the poem to my satisfaction.
Yesterday, Bill and I attended the monthly meeting of our visually impaired support group where we had a presentation from a local agency called Jodi’s Heart, which helps developmentally disabled adults. The founder and director, whose name is Jodi, and Susan, a staff member, and a participant named Brooke talked about the program. As it turns out, Brooke is visually impaired and uses System Access. She brought her computer, and although we didn’t have Internet access, we learned how she can use the program to type a sticky note. She enjoys the described movies and the weather information service on the network. Jodi explained that Brooke has just acquired the program through a grant from the Montgomery Trust which allows visually impaired residents of Wyoming to purchase adaptive equipment. I told her that I’d be happy to answer any questions she might have.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Yesterday, I was interviewed on a local news/talk radio station’s current events program about the support group for visually impaired adults that I facilitate. I was also asked about what it is like for a person like me with a visual impairment here in Sheridan. I responded that it’s pretty easy to get around here, especially since some of the streets have been reconstructed so that the curbs are more defined. Drivers are getting a lot better about stopping to let me cross the street when I have my cane out as they are required to do by law.
One problem I still have is with signage. If the sign is at eye level, and the letters are big enough, I can read it. If it’s too high, or the letters are too small, forget it. A lot of places have Braille and/or large print signs on walls next to restroom doors and Braille and/or large print on elevator buttons. In general, I think Sheridan is a pretty good place for a visually impaired person to live.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
For the past week, I’ve been participating in a thirty-day writing regimen produced by the Southeast Review at Florida State University. Every day, I’ve received an e-mail containing writing exercises and daily podcasts of writers giving readings. One exercise that was given last week was to write about a stranger entering a house unseen. What does he witness?
While pondering this, I read an article in Reader’s Digest about a man who donated sperm to a woman friend with the stipulation that they would share custody of the child. But when twins were born, the mother didn’t even want him in the labor room and otherwise made it clear to him that he was not to be a part of their lives as they’d originally planned. Since there was no written agreement, there wasn’t much the father could do. He sued for joint custody, but after a five-year court battle, it was made clear to him that he was out of luck.
This made me mad. I believe that it is not only a right but an obligation for a father to at least provide financial support to a child. I felt like I had to do something, and since I’ve always believed that in fiction, anything can happen, I wrote a story about a father in a similar situation who takes matters into his own hands and introduces himself to his son. The stranger in this case is the father since his son doesn’t know him when the story begins. The father sneaks into his friend’s house at night and sleeps on the couch and overhears a conversation between the little boy and his mother the next morning.
The Southeast Review is sponsoring a contest for those participating in the regimen where they can submit work generated during the thirty days. I plan to submit this story and hope it will be published in their on line edition. I also have an idea for a poem that was inspired by another exercise provided in this regimen. Will see how that develops.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
I wrote another poem a few days ago inspired by this regimen. The exercise was to listen to a recording of a favorite song and write about what’s going on in the song. I chose “You Light Up My Life.” It was one of my favorite songs when I was in high school in the seventies. I sang it at a local talent contest, accompanying myself on the piano and won second place. I already knew the words.
I wrote a poem about a woman who was alone in the dark until that special someone came to light up her life. I was once that woman and didn’t realize it until Bill came along. Although caring for him is a lot of work, I’m so glad to have him in my life.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
I wrote another poem as a result of this regimen. The exercise was to write a poem in which the first ten lines are lies and the eleventh is a truth. Either one of the lies or the truth could be expanded upon. The tenth line of my poem says that I drive, and I immediately followed that with a few lines contradicting that and describing my visual impairment and ending on a positive note.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
I suggested getting a fully cooked dinner from a local market containing ham or turkey with all the trimmings, but the guys in my life wouldn’t have any of that. So Dad’s coming over, and I’ll cook a pizza from Papa Murphy’s, and the men will watch The new York Yankees play the Milwaukee Brewers on television, and we’ll eat pizza. Bill’s favorite team the Colorado Rockies will play their first game of the season tomorrow.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
I just finished writing a story that is under six hundred words and can hopefully be read in under three minutes. I hope to enter the story in Round 4 of NPR‘S three-minute fiction contest. This time, entrants must submit such a story using the following words: plant, button, fly, trick. These can be used in any way, shape, or form.
It didn’t take me long to come up with the story. I’ve never been good with plants, and my mother seemed to take pleasure in reminding me of that fact. Once when I received a plant for Christmas from my boss at work, my mother said, “Why don’t you let me take it? You’ll just kill it.” What could I say?
So I wrote a story about a woman who waters her mother’s plants while she’s away, and one of them dies. My main character isn’t good with plants, either, and her mother likes to remind her of that fact as well. But a next door neighbor takes pity on her and brings over a plant just like the one that died. When the mother returns, she doesn’t seem to know the difference, much to her daughter’s relief.
When the mother asks the daughter what she did to keep the plant alive, the daughter replies that it must have been a trick of nature. In conversation with the next door neighbor, the daughter mentions that her mother is flying home that evening. Button is the name of a pet the mother mentions in passing that has no relevance to the story. Hence, I’ve used all four words in one way or another. Wish me luck.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
On Tuesday, Bill and I attended our monthly visually impaired support group meeting at the senior center. The guest speaker was the director of the Mini Bus, our local paratransit service, and we talked about transportation needs. On Wednesday, we made another trip to the senior center for a weekly reading group, but when we got there, we found out that the activity had been canceled. On Thursday, Bill had an appointment with the neurologist who gave him more Botox injections in his left arm, which seems to loosen the arm, although he still can’t use it and probably never will. Today, we had lunch with Dad at The Country Kitchen. Tomorrow, I have my weekly writing group meeting on Team Talk. On Sunday, there’s nothing going on so we’re planning to just take it easy.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Early Tuesday morning, I had to take Bill to the emergency room. He was having trouble peeing and was experiencing pain in his bladder. On Monday afternoon at four o’clock when he hadn’t peed in twelve hours, I was about dto call his doctor when he handed me a full urinal. He peed again a few hours later, and I thought he was fine. He said he felt constipated but thought he could wait for me to give him a suppository until the next day.
But at two thirty Tuesday morning, he woke me up and said he had to go. At the emergency room, x-rays were taken of his chest and abdomen and when it was discovered that he was, shall I say, full of shit, he was given two enemas, and a catheter was inserted temporarily to drain his bladder. He hadn’t had a bowel movement in a few days, but he said he wasn’t constipated. I told him that from now on, I’ll give him a suppository every other day whether he wants one or not. The nurse must have overheard me because as we were leaving the hospital several hours later, she said that part of his discharge instructions were that he must listen to his wife. Who knows if he’ll follow those instructions?
The emergency room doctor prescribed a syrup to help with the constipation. Bill likes the taste of the stuff so maybe he’ll stick with it. He takes two tablespoons twice a day. Hopefully, this and a suppository every other day will keep him on track.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Bill is doing much better. He has been having bowel movements every couple of days since he started taking the suppositories and syrup regularly, and he says he feels pretty good. For once, he told me I was right about sticking to his regimen. I feel pretty lucky. I don’t think there are many men who admit when their wives are right.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Hi Abbie,
Hugs!!! to you. I love the comments of the discharge nurse. You are a fabulous wife wearing many, many, hats.
I’m grateful that you find time to write with your busy schedule. I love your writing. I feel priviledged to be able to read them.
Hope to talk to you soon.
Hi, Glad to hear Bill is doing better.
I hope you are finding time for yourself.
How is your singing activities doing?
Hugs!!
Patchwork has two performances scheduled: one on April 12th at an assisted living facility and the other for a convention of the Daughters of the American Revolution. (DAR) We’re working on a repertoire of fifties music, but I imagine we’ll sing some of the religious and patriotic music we performed last year at the DAR convention.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Last Monday, we performed at an assisted living facility. We sang a lot of the religious, patriotic, and Broadway numbers we performed last year. We threw in a few new ones that we’ve been working on this year. They’re all fifties hits including “Lolly Pop,” “I Will Follow Him,” “Dream,” and “Shaboom.” I didn’t think they were ready to be performed, but the majority of the group thought we should sing them anyway. Our director rationalized that these were senior citizens, and some of them were confused, and they wouldn’t know the difference, a point with which I never agreed, having worked with senior citizens for fifteen years, but what could I say? Luckily, our director warned the audience that since we were still learning these songs, they wouldn’t sound as good as our other material.
I get disgusted with this group from time to time because I sang in more disciplined groups in high school and college where we didn’t perform numbers until they were perfect. But I keep singing with them. I’m either a glutton for punishment or I like singing with them despite their unprofessionalism. Maybe it’s a little bit of both.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Last night, Patchwork performed at a relay for life event sponsored by the local chapter of the American Cancer Society. Teams took to the track and walked or ran for about twelve hours to raise money for cancer research. Fortunately, we didn’t have to walk for that length of time, but we did have to stand and sing for thirty minutes. Luckily, there was some cloud cover so it wasn’t as hot, considering that the temperature was in the upper eighties. One or two people in the group complained that we shouldn’t do outdoor activities because without a microphone, we can’t always be heard. But people applauded, and one man complimented us.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll sing for a local church service. On Monday, July 5th, we’ll perform at the assisted living facility, on July 24th, we’ll sing at a Christian music program in the park, and on the day after that, we’ll sing for a service at a different church. I hope after that, we’ll get a break.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
The weather this week has been really nice with temperatures getting up into the fifties. As a result, most of the snow and ice has melted, and I can finally walk around town. On Monday afternoon, I walked to my dentist appointment where I received another clean bill of health. On Tuesday, I walked to the pharmacy, and yesterday, I made a trip to the bank. Today however, it’s cloudy and about ten degrees cooler, and it’s supposed to snow this weekend. I knew it wouldn’t last.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
On Tuesday afternoon, Bill and I had lunch at the senior center and attended the monthly meeting of our visually impaired support group where we heard from representatives of local Lions Clubs about their projects. On Wednesday, I went to my water exercise class at the Y, and Bill and I had lunch at the senior center again and went to a weekly reading activity Bill likes to attend from time to time. On Thursday afternoon, we got our hair cut. Today, I went to water exercise class, and when I got home, I wrote two poems, did a load of laundry, and took a nap. We have nothing planned this weekend except for my weekly writing group meeting tomorrow morning on line so I’m planning to do a lot of relaxing.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Last night during an interview on National Public Radio, a poet was asked if she remembered the first poem she ever wrote. This got me thinking. I don’t know if it’s the first poem I ever wrote, but I can talk about the first poem I remember writing.
In 1974, I started the seventh grade at Central Junior High in Sheridan, Wyoming. Because of my visual impairment, my parents took me to visit the principal beforehand so we could arrange for accommodations. Dr. Wright was a jovial, pleasantly plump elderly woman, and in an attempt to describe herself to me, she said, “I’m sixty-two years old. I have gray hair, and I’m fat and sassy.”
One day during my English class, we were treated to a poetry workshop by Peggy Simson Curry, a Wyoming writer who recently passed away. I don’t remember much about the workshop except for the poem I wrote, and the memory of that is rather vague. I don’t know if we were assigned to write a poem about school, but that was my subject.
I believe the poem was mostly about the sounds of school: bells ringing, locker doors slamming, the roar of the crowds of students in the halls. The atmosphere was so different from that of the elementary school I attended the previous year. At the end of the poem, there was a reference to our fat and sassy principal.
After writing, we were encouraged to share our work with the rest of the class. I was the first to read my poem, and the line about the fat and sassy principal elicited plenty of giggles from the other students.
Somehow, Dr. Wright found out about the poem and called me into her office. I didn’t think I’d done anything wrong. In the past, when she wanted to talk to me, it was to be sure things were going smoothly for me at school.
In her office, she introduced me to Mr. Popovich, the assistant superintendent of schools. He questioned me about Mrs. Curry’s workshop. What had we done? What had I learned? I didn’t feel like I was being punished at all. I was glad to answer his questions.
Years later when I joined a local writers group, I was re-acquainted with Mr. Popovich and discovered that besides being a retired math teacher and assistant superintendent, he was also a poet. Maybe he was trying to evaluate the effectiveness of Mrs. Curry’s workshop many years ago. I never saved that poem, but I’ll write something similar.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Bill went to the nursing home this afternoon with the same problem as before. He has been taking stool softeners for the past couple of weeks, but they don’t seem to be working. He won’t take anything else, and he won’t let me give him a suppository. I guess we’ll just have to let the staff at the nursing home straighten him out. I don’t know what else to do.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Bill came home earlier this afternoon and is doing fine. I hope that with the help of a stool softener twice a day and a suppository once every other day, we’ll be able to keep him regular.
I’m not a sports fan, but my husband is. Naturally, we have to observe such events as the Super Bowl and the World Series. Last night was no exception. Dad came over and watched the game with Bill while I attended a writers’ group meeting via conference call. We also had pizza to celebrate the occasion. I think we all had a good time.
Abbie Johnson Taylor
Author of We Shall Overcome
http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com
Hi Abbie. I enjoyed reading this entry. I’m not that much of a Super Bowl fan either, but I did attend a party in my building. It was supposed to be downstairs in our community room, but the TV wasn’t working right so we came back upstairs. We had turkey burgers and some other good food.
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