HAL Sailer

@Quartzsite Cruiser It's so good that you are getting some respite -- even if it involves some work. @HAL4NOW What a wonderful attitude! -M.

Just home from a beautiful color drive on a lovely, unseasonably nice 74° day. Our stop for cider, apple spice donuts, and pumpkin ice cream has dented our appetites. So, tonight it will be beef vegetable soup along with cheddar cheese and crackers. I've put the soup on and, while it warms, I am enjoying this view from my third story perch. So pretty, so peaceful... I love Fall! -Melisa

@aliaschief Yum! Where's a human transporter machine when one needs one? "Beam me there" please! -Melisa

@Quartzsite Cruiser Wonderful news that DD and DSIL will come! @aliaschief Thank You! (But I trust you won't let my solo info request impact your own enjoyment.)

@aliaschief A request: I know you are not traveling alone, but would you please report on anything you observe about solo travel with Scenic? My late mother often traveled solo very happily with Tauck but I'd be interested in any observations you have about Scenic. Your thoughtful reports on HAL, about Azamara, and your other trips plus your unique travel planning are testimony to your detail and discerning eye. -Melisa (Note: DH's travels are now very limited in scope and duration, so solo travel is on my horizon...)

@Quartzsite Cruiser Don't worry about your 'rant'. We all need a sounding board for our frustrations -- and you've had more than your fair share of late. Add my 🙏prayers🙏 to those already sent for you, your DH, and his medical team. May answers and solutions soon be known. And, may you find some quiet moments of respite for yourself. -Melisa

After a day of intermittent power outages, I think I am caught up with the posts from Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. @kochleffel I am sorry to learn of your friend Fran's death and pray she had a peaceful passing. @msmayor The Display Shower is a marvelous idea. Thanks for sharing it. @grapau27 I pray Pauline did not find the 4th Memory of Her Mother too difficult. @MISTER 67 Wow! New Water Heater! $$$ New AC! $$$ I guess the good news is that, like me, you still have a home standing after Ian. @StLouisCruisers What a shock for you to learn of your friend Beverly's accident and passing. May you find comfort in her memory. @Seasick Sailor How lovely your neighborhood's tribute is to your neighbor. May you all be comforted in this time of loss. @cunnorl My condolences on the loss of your friend. Even an expected passing is difficult for friends, family. To all those celebrating 🎂HAPPY BIRTHDAY🎂, to all those on BHBs 🚢ENJOY YOUR CRUISES🚢, to all those untangling tangled plans, may you have ✈️EASY TRAVELS✈️, and to anyone I've missed, please know it wasn't intentional. And, 💐THANK YOU💐, to all for your comments and 💙 / 🏆reactions to my post about our visit with DSIL. It was a very special and treasured time. With gratitude, -Melisa

Thanks @rafinmd for continuing Ardis on the Rotation. As the Daily-ites know, she had not wanted her brother (my DH) to visit. But, after her most recent (and not good) oncology report, she agreed we could come. We visited yesterday. I made lunch, my DH selected a bouquet, and we took in a cake for a slightly delayed 90th Birthday celebration. Ardis was tickled as she hadn't had a party. It was a good day. DH caught up with his sister while I cooked, they had a frank talk about her prognosis, and the tears shared as we left included some tears of joy about the time together. And, today's blessing is that my DH remembers where we went yesterday and the time he spent with his sister. After the long day and four hour drive home, I slept in and have not caught up with Monday's or today's posts. Part of our city is without power due to heavy winds and I now see power trucks on the street below our condo, so I hope I can catch up without delay... Thank you, ALL, for your continued care and prayer for my DSIL. -Melisa

🙏Prayers for your step-son, his wife, his medical team, and for the success of his surgical treatment.🙏 -Melisa

@kochleffel 🙏Prayers for your friend Fran's peaceful passing.🙏 -M.

Like Gilligan, today we set off on a three-hour tour. Two differences: 1. It was a road trip, and 2. We returned. I needed to go to an artist's shop about an hour away to pick up the grandkids' Christmas ornaments. It's our tradition to give each an ornament every year. That way, when they have their own first tree, it may not be as bare as ours was starting out. (Shhh! Don't tell them, but this year's ornament commemorates a nearby National Park and its sand dunes that they love to climb when in Michigan.) Afterward, we enjoyed a leisurely trip home enjoying the stunning fall colors, taking a drive past our former Lake Michigan ridgetop home, and making a stop for the pizza we still crave after moving away six years ago. It was a lovely three-hour tour but, upon arriving home, we acknowledged that our downtown condo in a walkable neighborhood less than a mile from a great regional hospital is the right place for us. Now, if I could only get that pizzeria to move closer... -Melisa

@erewhon I did see it and appreciate that you graded my effort on the curve. -Melisa

Here it is from a screenshot I kept. -Melisa

Everyone -- Thank you for your words of support and your 💙s and 🏆s. It means more than you can know for my DSIL to be held in your prayer and care. I will keep you updated on her journey. -Melisa P.S. Please excuse my very clumsy attempt at multi-quoting.

😪Difficult news.😪 Due to new symptoms, my 90 year old DSIL (DH's sister) had a follow-up to her PET scan as that scan is not good at detecting melanoma in some tissue. Sadly, it has spread further. She will continue aggressive treatment; now with Keytruda immunotherapy . There is some hope. Always hope. And, since my DH's dementia doesn't let him understand her battle, I will continue to pray with him for his sister's cure. But, a medical friend has warned me that my DSIL's agressive treatment decisions may be more an attempt to stop the melanoma from reaching her brain – with agonizingly painful results – than about any possible cure. As a retired RN, my DSIL would know the unrepentant march of melanoma and understand her choices. Previously, she had not wanted us to come, but she has now suggested a visit next week. I will take my DH then. Thank you for your continued prayers and thank you @rafinmd for keeping her on the Rotation List. -😪Melisa😪

@Heartgrove My condolences. May you and your family be surrounded by love and comforted by memories. -Melisa

This was posted last night by one of my favorite restaurants. In addition to hosting customers, it has been serving linemen each day since it got power, water, sewer restored and was able to reopen seven days after Hurricane Ian. __________ __________ -Melisa

@Quartzsite Cruiser I'm on late again today but, please add my 🙏prayers🙏 for your DH and his medical team to those already given. (And, please don't feel the need to respond. You have higher priorities.) -Melisa

@StLouisCruisers Yesterday got away from me, but I can't let it go without cooing over Elliot Rose. What a beauty she is and her name is such a lovely tribute. Congratulations to all! -Melisa

+1 -M.

@summer slope Please express my family's thanks to your nephew and his buddy for all they did to help in Florida. Out-of-state workers like them helped restore power to my family's place last night. And, I pray they know that, as difficult as their discoveries were, the reuniting of the deceased to those grieving families gave comfort and closure. My thanks, my prayers, -Melisa

Last evening @Quartzsite Cruiser concurred that the electric linemen working to restore Florida power after Hurricane Ian are truly unsung heroes. Well, I want to do a little singing: In 1998, the Michigan town we lived in and many other communities nearby were hit by 130mph straight line winds. Thousands lost power and lineman came to help from throughout the nation. On the 11th day, while driving, I heard a local radio announcement thanking the linemen and wishing them safe travels home as all power had been restored. But, when I reached home, we were still out. Knowing where the lineman were being fed, I drove there hoping to plead our case. A group of Texas linemen were just heading in for dinner but they stopped, listened, marked a map, and one said, "Ma'am, we were headed home, but we'll be there right after we eat." I went home and excitedly told my DH about the Texans who were coming to our rescue. He suggested I was wasting my excitement as he doubted they would. In fact, to prove his point, he parked himself on our front lawn to await their arrival that he was sure wouldn't materialize quipping, "I'll still be here tomorrow!" Imagine DH's surprise when two trucks with longhorns on their hoods came to a skidding halt in our driveway! Followed by a lineman emerging saying, "Sir, your missus tells us you need power. We're here to figure that out." It didn't take them long to determine that our house was at the corner of two power grids. Both grids had been restored but we hadn't been reconnected to either. An hour later, and after 11 very long days, we had power. And, with nary a whoop nor a holler but only a "Welcome ma'am" to my thank you, they were headed on their long road home to Texas. Just like the linemen (and women) helping in Florida today, those Texas linemen were then and remain still -- HEROES! -Melisa

We're still waiting for power, too. I'm not there, but a friend posted this picture of what was happening tonight labeling it, very aptly, "TRUE HEROS". -Melisa

@marshhawk Great news about CROW! In the midst of recovery from Ian, we need good news! @MISTER 67 If you see this post from your "lemonade cruise" you may want to make some more lemons into lemonade as I just received this notice from Florida Power & Light: "Restoration of customers affected by Hurricane Ian in Charlotte County is estimated to be completed by 10/9/2022 at 11:59 PM." Hopefully, October 9 is FPL's worst case scenario... -Melisa

Wow! Thanks for posting this helpful traffic site, @cat shepard. I've added it to my home screen for future use. -M.