Ten-Finger Exercises

It all balances out.

Bill's "procedure" went well today, and he was at home playing on his laptop by 1, so I was free to make some patient visits.

The first was a man in his 90's who appears to be quite "with it" but isn't. At one time he bought a red rock quarry and invented a new saw to cut the rock out. Last week I took him a feature article from the paper about the painted rock formations and fossil beds south of us, and asked if it was near his land. It was to the north, he said. He proceeded to read the article, which identified the geology as about 30 million years old. Knowing that he is part of a church that believes in the literal reading of the Bible, I asked him how the article sounded to him. He said it sounded about right, except for the time frame. So I asked how old he thought the fossils were, and he said, "Only about 15 million years." He went on to tell me that he believes everything he reads in the Bible, and it's hard to make some things fit, but he does it.

That seems pretty sad to me, to have to force science into a mythical pattern in order to feel okay about it. But it didn't bother him, so who am I to say? I wonder where his "15 million years" figure came from, but his Alzheimers is too far advanced to make any sense about it.

Today he was in the mood to sing, and he sang "The Red River Valley" several times for me. He was pretty good at "America" too.

My second visit was to a lady who recently moved into a care facility; and last week when I saw her, she was unhappy about it. This week she's seeing little tiny imaginary babies, some boys and some girls, on her legs-- fly-size evidently, from the way she picks them up between thumb and forefinger. It makes me so sad; but, once again, it doesn't appear to bother her at all. Who am I to say?

Tonight I fixed barbecued ribs and coleslaw for Bill, who endured a clear liquid diet all day yesterday in preparation for this exploration today. The slaw had a little too much vinegar, but the ribs were a little too bland. I hope it evened out for him. It did for me.