QC94-02 A Working Stop

July 27, 2009 (Mon) Englewood, FL - In our previous post we should have parenthetically noted that Bom is Joy's mother. When Joy and her sisters were young they gave their mother this endearing name to go along with the whimsical names they'd given each other - Dur (Joy), Diu (Gail) and Reh (Frannie). They still use these names among themselves. I might add that Bom is 97 and has been living alone in her condo here in Florida for many years. But the time has come when assistance is needed, if only for her daughters' peace of mind. A fall while shopping in June, though without serious injury, generated a lot of concern .

The job of sorting through everyday necessities, to say nothing of a long lifetime of accumulated treasures, has been difficult on many levels. That and watching a fiercely independent woman adjust to a new and different environment has made our stay here fall somewhat short of restful. Fortunately there has been plenty of time for all to work through the adjustment. Joy and Frannie spent their mornings going through the condo item by item deciding what should be done with each. Things so essential for everyday living - furniture, dishes, kitchen utensils, cleaning supplies, linens, books etc. - are no longer needed, or wanted, for drastically scaled back living but have become so much of who Bom is and has been that decisions are hard to make. They, and Gail when she came last week, spent hours going through treasured keepsakes sorting and reminiscing about their childhood. Most important though is that Bom is beginning to think of her new digs as home. She has even proudly taken casual visitors on tours of the facility.

Spring in the Northeast was cold and wet. The three or four warm sunny days were wonderful but only added to the frustration of missing "real" Spring weather. Well we could use some of that chill now, if only for a refreshing break now and then. It has been hot - hot and humid, the whole time we've been here. Going outside has been repressive and not very conducive to exercising much. We did get a heavy rain, with thunder and lighting, last Monday morning and that was relief. Although it cooled things down for a few days, this is Florida in the summer.

The thunder storms that scrubbed several attempts to launch the space shuttle stayed north of us. The skies here stayed mostly clear giving us hope that, this time, we might see it - if we remembered to look. But alas, it was not to be. On the evening of the launch the skies were overcast. We looked but saw nothing.

Temperature inside Q, parked unoccupied in the bank parking lot, has exceeded 110° in the afternoons. Running the air conditioner a while each afternoon seemed a good idea and we did that a few days. But with the blessings of the assistant manager here, we have brought Q into the condo complex to park it in the shade. Most residents have gone north for the summer and the rest don't seem to care. This has helped and since it's right outside the door, we can pack things we are taking as we go along.

We are planning to finish up and start our drive north on Wednesday (July 29) - or Tuesday if we finish up sooner. The Goodwill Industries truck is scheduled to pick up the last of the furniture tomorrow. If it comes early and we can get the last minute cleaning done in time, we'll make a short hop up to a Flying J in Dade City, FL for the night. Otherwise we'll go all the way to Savannah, GA on Wednesday. Our aim is to get home Sunday afternoon.

Q052945 Sun Trust Bank and Quail's Run Condo parking lots (parked)