Cafe Hitch-hike

2021-01-19

Sort of on duty

Give me the serenity to...

...not loathe hideaway sofa beds forever. I'm camping out on one at my friend College John's house (for reasons to be told soon), mainly to assist with taking care of his elderly father for the next 2 days. I may stay a day after to be sure CJ has what he needs and gets settled in.

...find out if I should get a pneumonia vaccine. CJ's sicker than a dog and is in the hospital for 2 more days to get treated for pneumonia. We didn't know if CJ had an inaccurate test result for COVID, so it turned out to be a relatively serious lung infection. I sterilized many surfaces, but I sure don't wanna get sick, and I waited 20 minutes on a damn nurse help line to see if I should get one just in case (I probably won't need one).

...let other people do the work. I'm here to be sure John Senior eats and to look after him. He does quite a bit on his own like serve himself a meal, make coffee and usual activities of daily living. He's just really slow at them and can't cook. JS's mind is still fine otherwise (just works a little slow) and he has a steady disposition. Then, I have to mind CJ's kitty, a sweet tortoise-shell cat. She didn't like Marley (who is with me) and got over her fear of the dog, so now she just ignores her. (Marley actually likes cats and doesn't understand why they don't like her).

Cassie, CJ's cousin up north, is helping him arrange help for when he gets home. Some house cleaners are here to clean up the house debris from 2 solo men, so I am very glad I don't have to touch that. I'm definitely not going to attempt to rearrange a damn thing in the house. What I can do is serve food to JS and make some meals that CJ can reheat with minimal effort, and can last him for the next few days (which I imagine will be the hardest for him). I made a gluten-free chicken soup, and will add kale for the vitamins. I'll probably make a beef stew that he and his dad can graze on, and maybe make a gallon of fruit smoothies towards the end of my stay.

CJ's family are the commensurate do-it-yourselfers. They only agreed to hire housecleaners towards the end of his mother's life (she died last summer). CJ has a demanding job where he works remotely and takes care of his father full-time. I've begged him to consider a part-time caregiver or homecare just to take some of the stress off; they can do it financially. These are big decisions to make, so I'll gladly mind my own business. However, I tried to tell Cassie to encourage them to use the help they can get.

...be present to enjoy the natural beauty of where I am. I took a beautiful picture of a sunset. Since we're in BFE, I walked outside and saw stars I usually can't see in my backyard. It's so quiet that my ears literally degassed (for lack of a better word), like it rings because it's so quiet here. The air is cooler and felt fresh against my skin when I walked the dog last night. I wanted to bring my paddleboard to try out the a nearby spring, but changed my mind; it's probably not a great idea to do anything too adventurous while I'm sort of on duty.

...stay healthy, stay healthy, stay healthy.

downwind | upstream