Tuesday,July 12, through Friday, July 22, 2016: A Varied Eleven Days:

Because of the ugly scars on my head due to the three cancer surgeries I had in 2015, I’ve been thinking about investigating the possibility of getting a toupee or wig to cover them up.  It’s not from vanity, it’s out of concern for people who have to look at my head.  Whenever I expect to see people, I’ve been wearing a hat; and I got some strange looks at the Buckelew festivities, being the only person out of hundreds who was wearing a hat---indoors.  So on Tuesday I contacted Classy Sisters Wigs in Phoenix to start a dialog.  We’ll see how it turns out. 

 

Also on Tuesday there was a terrible accident at the canyon.  A 35–year old woman stepped aside to let someone pass her at Ooh Aah Point, and she fell off the trail, falling 400 feet to her death.  I’m not sure people appreciate how dangerous hiking at the canyon can be. 

On Wednesday, Becky went all the way to Flagstaff to try to give blood, and was rejected because her blood pressure was too high.  She immediately made an appointment to see Dr. Gibula. 

On Thursday, Becky took the dogs to Kaibab Lake for a nice long walk.  We received a shipment of four new white-wine glasses Becky had ordered.  One of them was broken.  The company said they’d send us another four-pack.  It arrived two days later, with another one broken.  Oh, well, we ended up with six new glasses for the price of four. 

Friday was my day at the dentist.  While Becky paraded the dogs around Flagstaff, Dr. Stark made me two new crowns with his magic machine, and I was in and out in less than three hours. 

It was a totally painless experience.  We picked up a Pablo Picasso Mexican Salad at Oregano’s for dinner on the way home.  As usual, it was delicious. 

On Saturday, Joe and Stephanie Hap stopped by for lunch. They are a couple who attended Becky’s first wedding more than 40 years ago and whom we ran into at my (and their) doctor’s office in Flagstaff four months ago.  They now live in Williamson Valley---outside Prescott, Arizona.  It was fun getting acquainted. 

Our backyard hummingbird feeder was not working out well, so Becky moved it to the front of the house, and we now have two of them there that Becky has to refill every few days. 

On Sunday, we spent the time to watch the two-disc set of The Godfather-Part II.  I realized early on that I had never seen it.  It was very good, probably better than its prequel. 

 

Monday, we were visited by Isabelle Karsh, a long-time friend that Becky met when she lived in the desert---before meeting me.  Isabelle brought with her Walter, Marilyn, and their daughter Fabienne, who are from Austria, and who had hosted Isabelle’s daughter, Alexina, a few years ago.  They were on their way to the canyon and stopped by for a late afternoon snack and drinks.  Very nice people.   

Monday night, I somehow fell in our bedroom closet and in the process broke apart part of the built-in cabinetry.  Tuesday, Becky joined Isabelle and the Austrians at the canyon to give them the insider’s tour,

 while I stayed home, fixed the closet cabinetry I had broken the night before, and baby sat the dogs---who slept the whole time, as usual.  

Wednesday, I had my usual visit with Natanya.  Becky then had her hair job in Flagstaff, and later I started drinking the more-than-a-gallon of a solution I had picked up in preparation for my colonoscopy on Thursday.  The worst part of a colonoscopy is the preparation.   

 

I also finished The Fifth Horseman, a James Patterson novel I’ve been struggling to finish for weeks.  It’s a novel on which he had a co-writer, and is part of his Women’s Murder Club series.  It’s not up to his usual standard.  A lot of the dialog is cheesy, and some of his legal details are clearly incorrect. That’s why it took me so long to finish it.     

We dropped off the dogs at the GC Railway Kennel early on Thursday and headed to Flagstaff.  

The procedure, itself, is a breeze, and I danced out of there a couple of hours later, feeling just fine.  Maybe it was the anesthesia still wearing off. 

Thursday evening, Becky matched my Monday fall with a slip and fall of her own due to some water on the kitchen floor.  She woke up on Friday with a magnificent black eye.  She now has a match for Libby’s very prominent black patch on her right eye.  Becky wore big sunglasses while walking the dogs in the neighborhood.