57. Whew!

 Type A ‘Ole Personality me- when I taught school, I went in early- way before we had to report to work. I got three or more weeks of lessons done, copies made, (before the Xerox machines were crowded or broken), and my room decorated (or “living room” as they called it) for my kids. I brought and served a meal for all the Janitorial and Maintenance folks and then took the Principals and Secretaries out for lunch. (“Paybacks” for that were great! A Janitor can always take a long time to get to your room when a student “hurls” if you have been rude to them- or not! The AC- I didn’t care about the heat- ;)) can also take a long time to fix or not!) I was amazed, when I retired, how many of the blue collar staff told me I was one of the few teachers who knew them by name! Anyway, as a school year began to wind down and my Seniors had really begun to file their brains elsewhere, I too was ready to close the grade book for another year. I was at the “WHEW!” stage. Been there, done that-stage! At the “Show me the way to go home, I’m tired and I want to go to bed”-stage ( Not the drink part- but, hey, maybe that would have helped!). “Not sure where my brain was either”- stage!

Well, Whew! Five Days left. However, just as in school, I have to keep the Patient Panties at the ready (I have only 2  P-nut M&M’s left!), keep cleaning MPH- trying to keep things clean and ready to go before needed- and keep things running, have fun with folks (have taught them a lot of my favorite Tshiluba words and we all use them for “situations” here at MPH!), let them know I really do care and understand as well as I can. One of the cooks asked to come home with us in Ken’s pocket. He would love to work for us because we are like “the old Missionaries, Papa” and “Pas de sauce de tomate, Mama!” Sweet!

Clint’s promotion ceremony to Colonel went well. Jon videoed it for us! So we will get to see it all in a month! As I told those of you on Facebook, his Oath of Office was given to him by Master Sergeant Daniel Robles- a double amputee. Clint has been taking care of this man since 2006 and asked him to do the Oath. He has massive infections that re-appear in his legs. So far they have been able to keep his legs below the knee- which gives more “freedom” with his artificial legs. Many of the infections are now resistant to the “regular” antibiotics. So Clint tries old drugs and combinations to control it again for a few months. For those of you who have seen Clint speak or seen his slides, Master Sergeant Robles is the very graphic picture on the OR table in the tent. One question Robles kept asking Clint was why they couldn’t save his legs. Clint invited him to one of his presentations and at the end introduced him to the crowd. Later after the slides and presentation Master Sergeant told Clint, that he could now finally-after seeing the pictures for the first time- understood why the “legs” could not have been saved. When Clint’s girls were younger they prayed nightly for “Master Sergeant Robles.”

It POURED last night. Rainy Season started September 15^th, but no one told Mother Nature. It had already rained three times by then. A friend here at MPH shared this poem with me when she heard I was including poems in my blog. This little poem describes it so well that I’m just using it! I didn’t have to work and think in “poem-ery!!”  I wish I could down load the unbelievable sounds of the thunder and lightning here. Considering my luck with pictures I am not going to make a recording. Just take my word for it or go to your memories! Since all of the Living areas at MPH are open screens to the outside- a storm here is quite sobering! Can scare the Patient Panties off a person! So far the rains have arrived in the order of this poem. But all tell me Mother Nature often just does the last two stanzas!

Listen to the Rain

 

Listen to the rain,

The whisper of the rain,

The slow soft sprinkle,

The drip-drop tinkle,

The first wet whisper of the rain.

Listen to the rain,

The singing of the rain,

The tiptoe pitter-patter,

The splish and splash and splatter,

The steady sound of the rain. 

Listen to the rain,

The roaring, pouring rain,

The hurly-burly topsy-turvy

Lashing, gnashing of teeth rain,

The lightning-flashing

Thunder-crashing

Sounding, pounding, roaring rain,

Leaving all outdoors a

A mishy, mushy, muddle puddle.

Listen to the quietude,

The silence and the solitude of after-rain,

The dripping, dripping, dropping,

The slowly, slowly stopping,

The fresh, wet, silent after-time of rain.

Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

 

So I will close for this post. Wasn’t going to take my computer to Kananga etc. But realized I could not do the blog with out it. So it is going!

Love Ya! Me