This afternoon we met with Ron’s new neurologist, the head of the department at BMC. We had a long conversation and booked a follow-on appointment in three months.

I rather like this doc. He moved here from Boston to head the practice at BMC and has taken a shine to Pittsfield. His reviews at Tufts Medical are outstanding.

Earlier, Jett pulled and chewed the living room rug and vomited his breakfast.

In the morning, I met with the optician at our eye doctor’s office. She charged me for adjusting my glasses, which are better but still a bit off. The people at Eyeconic will replace the lenses but need a prescription with the pd and Seg height. The doctor’s office will email a new script to me, which is appreciated!

Still going through the paperwork pile which is getting smaller.

Ordered transfer station stickers for the truck and the Corolla.

Skipped Sunday and Monday workouts because I forgot so did two workouts today.

Looks like we may have the start of cukes.

Everything did well in yesterday’s and last night’s rains.

Ron had an accident.

Tree work on our street and North Hoosac today.

I showed Andi my progress on scanning.

Played a little fetch with Jett.

OTC benefits arrived!

Changed sheets.

Did a liquor store run to Pownal. I’ve had a yen for Margueritas. Thinking about birthday celebrations with Cindy and Cathy.

Avocado and cheese for evening television snacks.

Ron wanted to finish mowing – one small section of the back yard – but the grass was wet this morning and it’s been raining pretty much since.

I punted on going out. Having been going through an ungodly pile of papers that have been sitting around for years. It feels like the more I go through them, the more they multiply.

Good Dog has been keeping me company.

We made a great mac and cheese with vegetables for supper.

Spilled pizza in the oven last night so I turned on the clean cycle. Started wiping up the charred remains this morning, still at it this afternoon.

Ron mowed the front and most of the back.

Jett escaped and ran over to see Millie.

Looked up Edgewater roofing records for Peter, he’s reviewing their insurance policy.

Attended the Solstice ceremony sponsored by Wild Soul River at the Williamstown Historical Museum. Gorgeous evening, well-attended event.

On the way home we splurged on ready-made margarita mix for two.

After they fixed his ears at Urgent Care, Ron and I got strawberries, basil plants, cookies and two kinds of cheese at the Farmers Market.

Later we dropped off recyclables and paper at the Transfer Station. We also returned three buckets of sand and gravel which have been annoying me since Winter. Dropped off a book at the library. It was nonfiction and I didn’t enjoy it.

Ron is working on his framing project.

I am creating barcodes in Excel. Downloaded a Code 39 font, eventually got it installed. Reader can’t seem to parse it. Nothing is easy!

We drove down Route 7 and back on Route 2.

Route 7 is flatter but we went through Troy, which was no fun.

Route 2 was clear all the way but mountainous.

The appointment was a bit of a bust. Ron’s ears are so plugged with wax that the tech couldn’t do a hearing test. He did drop off his hearing aids to get new batteries. They’ll be adjusted when we go back after Ron gets his ears cleaned. I made an appointment for a “flush” tomorrow at the Williamstown Urgent Care center.

Picked up blueberry baked goods and Biscotti at the A-Frame on the way home.

We had salad, bread and cheese for lunch.

Had a hard time over the past two days with the HP printer. It had run out of black ink but insisted on having the multi-colored one replaced as well. Tried clearing the cache, the spool, etc. The only thing that worked was a hard reset: unplug it, wait 60 seconds, plug it back in.

Did a small trim of the Japanese Spirea in the slope garden. Tore out more of the loathsome Canada goldenrod that was choking the Tickseed (Coreopsis).

My new glasses arrived today. I’ve been doing okay with them except for tripping over something of Ron’s.

Gorgeous evening out there.

Solstice is in a couple of days. I will miss the light in the sky at 9 PM. If only there were a way to keep it.

Local Twilight Times in Williamstown, MA

Because of Williamstown’s northern latitude, twilight hours change depending on the time of year. A breakdown of local sunrise/sunset and twilight conditions includes the following: [1, 2]

• Sunrise: ~5:15 A.M.
• Civil Twilight Begins: ~4:40 A.M.
• Sunset: ~8:33 P.M.
• Civil Twilight Ends: ~9:10 P.M. [1, 2]

For the exact twilight schedule, check the daily updates provided by Sunrise-Sunset.org or Time and Date.

I placed an order for OTC benefits, including eye drops. Was thinking about visiting the new Urgent Care office for my trigger finger but am hoping with care it’ll loosen up in time.

Scanner came in handy today, used it look up the specs for one of Ron’s flashlights.

Frustrated with printing barcodes. The printer kept choking on the Word docs. Will keep trying.

I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago with our artist friend about our German ancestors. Turns out my great grandmother’s region of origin was incorrect in one source so I thought we were Austrian.

Couldn’t have been further off: she was Elizabeth Mertin Buettner, born in Köln North Rhine Westphalia. My great grandfather was William Buettner, born in Königsberg Giessen Hessen.

I need to do more reading about the German migration to the American Midwest, specifically Illinois.

The peony flowers were knocked down by the rain the other night so yesterday I cut them for arrangements.

There was such an abundance of flowers this year that I was able to give half to Alyssa.

Ron went to the eye doctor for testing yesterday in preparation for his examination next month. He had an accident this morning.

I picked up lots of groceries and produce this morning at the Williamstown Food Pantry. So much so that I might skip the Northern Berkshire pantry this Friday.

We had lunch at the Berkshire Food Project and chatted with a delightful gentleman from the West End. Hope we see him again. Stopped for coffee, bread and a couple of other goods at BigY.

On the way home we picked up another Million Bells at Aubuchon to finish the planter I started yesterday. I pruned the Montauk, not very much, just the tallest stalks.

Helped Ron find his phone in the truck. Thought I’d lost my wallet then I remembered Ron put it in the Corolla’s glovebox. He’d made a mistake by shoving my phone at me while I was putting groceries in the house and that threw me off. It doesn’t take much these days to unbalance me, evidently.

Jett bit Ron again, a good gash on his left arm. This was because Jett was mad that Ron finished playing fetch with him. I did load an enrichment device for Jett when we left to do errands, so I’m not sure what else he needs or wants to stop being on edge. Maybe it’s the Moon or the upcoming Solstice.

Changed sheets.

Cooled off, good work day.

I cleared most of the Forget-me-nots from three gardens: the porch, the center and the corner. Almost filled a leaf bag. Might want to do a little more but for now the gardens do look improved.

I made another trip to the North Adams School District nursery and brought home some annuals to replace the pansies and two more Penstemon, totaling five in the center garden. They might bloom next year if we’re lucky.

Some of the Sweet 100’s have flowers. Stellas have started to blossom in the back yard. The Shasta daisies should be blooming this week. Unfortunately, the rainstorm knocked down the peonies. I may try to put together a cage for them tomorrow.

Ron made an appointment to get his hearing aids adjusted at Belltone this Friday.

I filled the Corolla at the Ashland, North Adams Cumby.

Ron and I showed up at the Bloodmobile in Williamstown this afternoon for my 1 PM appointment. We flunked the physical, too anemic, but I’m glad that we did.

I had a full blown panic attack for reasons that have nothing to do with giving blood or the workers.

The bloodmobile staff didn’t react as one might hope medical people would when a patient is in distress.  They smirked, bullied a little and argued.

The important thing is the reason why it happened. It occurred to me afterwards that this was the third time I reacted like this and interestingly enough, two of those times were here in Williamstown.

The first time it happened was on an airplane from Washington DC to Boston. The plane landed off schedule to allow a small, dark-haired woman to be taken off for medical care.

I got off the plane, too, and refused to get back on, fearing that something terrible would happen.

Earlier this year, similar event: I had started to join an exercise class at the local senior center but when I saw that the other participants were thin and nice-looking, I felt that I couldn’t stay there, that I didn’t belong and something terrible would happen if I stayed.

I’m not sure of the source but it’s clearly a trauma I suffered earlier in life, or maybe the sum of similar traumas. Good-looking people terrify me. Maybe some day I’ll understand why.