3 June 2014: Tuesday ... Wonderful friends at the Y ... six straight people and their names ... signed up for HIIT w/Pamela ... nice talk w/Natalie ... Christine's apology for "picking" on me ...

14 February 2014: Friday (Valentine's Day) ... Skeesha made it today as the temp warm and the snow melted (shoveled the walk again and by midday it was clear) ... Y workout ... meet young, friendly girl Madison who hugged me ...

An appropriate Facebook post for this Heart Day ... I googled "I Love You in many languages and came up with this website":
From "Ti amo" (Italian) to "nenu ninnu premisthunnanu" (Telugu, of course -- a Dravidian language predominantly spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, where it's the official language), this is a neat web page with the written words anglicized for 35 tongues. 

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-%22I-Love-You%22-in-Different-Languages

A Facebook post regarding shoveling snow from yesterday's huge storm:

WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND:

I watched, yesterday afternoon, with some concern but with some inward laughs, too, as a pickup with a plow marauded around our neighborhood pummeling curbs and recently shoveled sidewalks with a cascade of wettish snow. My neighbor a few houses up, who I do not know, had a few choice words for the plower, which I will not share with my FB friends, complaining that the extra snow deposited on his pristine sidewalk had clogged his snow blower.

I was smug and untouched by the indiscriminate plow, until, I returned to shoveling my walk and did not see the return of the marauder. My driveway, moments earlier cleared of slushy snow, was covered again. *&^*%# ...

Sometimes a simple "Hi" can make your day. As I prepared my coffee after my workout -- styrofoam cup, creamer and sugar -- a young girl (about 8 years of age) came up to get a cup and said, without compunction, "Hi", to me, and I responded in kind. Later, when I took a plum from a bin at the front desk (absolutely delicious by the way), she wished me a "Happy Valentine's Day".

When I returned from the locker with my wallet, keys and iPhone, I asked an older man, sitting with her, whether he was her grandfather. He said, "Yes", and I commented how friendly his granddaughter was and how her gestures made my day. She proceeded to walk up to me and give me a hug. She gave me a hug. Extraordinary. Her name was Madison. What a delight to encounter such an open and loving girl in our litigious, predator-conscious world. 

It's a full moon tonight. The walk was lovely, a little over a mile but that black ice can be tricky and disastrous. A few times, inadvertently, I hit a spot and the Nike would slip in the opposing direction and I envisioned a plummet to the asphalt with leash in one hand and dog potty plastic in the other. Not pretty, but the night sky was. I forgot what star was partnering with the moon tonight but it was to last most the evening. Wish I knew more about the stars and our universe. (Pondered a question tonight as I walked ... do a lot of thinking when I walk, thank goodness no music or radio station to detract like the many at the "Y" ... Just how did they figure out the speed of light? ... and then the debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham, all thirteen letters of them, and how reality staring you in the face can be obstructed by suffocating dogma and myth). 

My JibJab videos went to their digital addresses today. One to Katia in Florida, another to Lindsay in Nashville, one here of mom & me doing a Brazilian dance, and the same Silent Film skit held the faces of Doug and Norma Virginia, which I sent to Johns Creek. He had not received it when I spoke to him by phone shortly after. Hopefully, he got it. There a lot of fun and so easy to do. The people who write the code for these websites are absolute wizards. They make it child's play. 

In remarkable serendipity on the radio station WHYY, which continues to fundraise due to all the catastrophic weather events in the Philly area, Terri Gross, 63; Dave Davies, 61; and Marty Moss-Coane, 65; all were born on Valentine's Day. They got together to, you guessed it, fundraise this evening during a rebroadcast of Fresh Air interview with Robert Redford. 

5 November 2013: Tuesday,

• 

  7:55am
  

  Joseph O'Hara
  

  
  

  hello Rudy! Just wanted to tell you how wonderful you are for taking care of your parents. That's God's work for sure. Jamie and I were speaking the other day and we agreed you might be the nicest man on earth. you are a good man!

  God Bless You!
• 

  8:01am
  

  Rudy Nyhoff

  You are so incredibly kind Joe, but the superlative might be going a bit too far. I'm a nice guy and what I'm doing is worthwhile but it is also so necessary. I really have no choice but in having no choice, believe it or not, I have been granted great liberty and thus great joy in taking care of my parents.

  I appreciate your reference to god and I use the lower case not in disrespect but to let you know that as a humanist -- an agnostic, atheist, whatever you want to label me -- my belief system is set within human interaction and compassion and love. In no way do I discount or look down upon theistic systems of belief, but I look at life and its meaning from a different perspective. It is my heartfelt belief, though, that in the end, our belief systems come to the same result and that is the care and loving of those who have loved and cared for us.

  Thank you again for you and Jamie are just wonderful people and it is a great honor to call you my friends.

  In loving humankindness, rudy

  After a Day Break ... A Dancer Photo on 11/5/13

  Just-behind-the-ears pet by my neighbor Chris puts Dancer into a relaxed pose. She just loves attention.

  
  

  We got Delaware Hospice at the right time. Dad is having it rough. He is getting more confused and he's coughing more sputum and his demeanor is just less positive. He still asks about mom and just said "nothing serious" after I went down to the bathroom upon mom's call and got her the dress that she'd laid out on the bed and handed to her in the bathroom (carefully covering up any view of my mother's body from the bath ... in the words of Schultz ... "I (saw) nothing."
  
  But now I hear the lawnmowers working and they'll be in and out in 20 minutes.

  
  

  Called Dr. Grubb's office and left a message for his triage nurse, Michele Glick, and she got back to me, not long after I'd spoken to Liz and then to Robert Leroy Jones. She left a message and I phoned her right back and actually spoke to her. She is quite a nice person. The doctor ordered prednisone for dad and phoned in the prescription to Pathmark Pharmacy. I took a short nap and then told dad, who was little taken aback that I hadn't told him earlier but he forgave me and I went on a few errands that included the pharmacy, where the Indian (?) pharmacist, Darya (?), who works with Ed, actually went out into the store aisles and tracked down the iron supplement that I needed, Fergon. So nice of her. I then paid, using my new debit card for the first time, really, and the old/new PIN number that I'd just changed at the Wells Fargo up Limestone Road by banker Christine Pinnock. I also deposited, for the first time, a check into our joint checking account, actually dad's, which was the refund from the car insurance that was sent to us when I was placed on the policy ($322.00).  

  
  

  On a strange, coincidental note, I read the article in the November National Geographic issue, the 125th Anniversary Photo publication, about the cost in human lives and misery of the precious metals taken from the Democratic Republic of the Congo early this morning, before the News Journal arrived (it was a little late this morning). Well, today, one of the most well-known, notorious groups, M-23, has given up. They are responsible for 1000s of abductions and placement of children into warfare and into slave labor mining the soil for elements that run our fancy electronics in the 1st world countries. It is good news but many rebel groups still terrorize the people of that country.
   
  
  

  

  Boys' brigade: soldiers from a Congolese rebel group. It is estimated
  that there are tens of thousands of child soldiers across the world Photo: AP
  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/4360268/Child-soldiers-the-brothers-trained-to-kill-each-other.html

  
  

  Just had a good walk of 2.5 miles that was punctuated by 4 calls to family -- first Nick, at work who'll I'll call later; Lindsay, who is planning to come up after Thanksgiving my plane (will arrange flight this week); Doug, who is planning to drive up the week of Thanksgiving (perhaps Nick could accompany him???); and finally, Susan, who I briefed on the Hospice situation and checked in on her work with the Church -- busy as always but really enjoying the preaching and working with her parishioners, Jan will be getting a treatment tomorrow and is being challenged by the chemo but mom is there and I'm certain a great comfort, Susan calls and she gets texts from her big sister. So good to be batting 1.000 with calls tonight to family. And had a good walk, too. Well, it's time to say goodnight and make sure that dad is comfortable. As Susan remarked, there will be challenges and I will need to be adaptable. Blessed be and so be it. May it be so.