90 years young

I spent a week in Iowa a couple days back. It rained, the wind blew, and fog hovered low above the rolling hills dotted with early autumn reds and golds. Were I not eagerly waiting to fly home, it might have been a very pleasant week. In fact it really was anyway. Mid-westerners are very friendly people and unplanned hibernation allowed countless school assignments to get themselves done. But finally on Friday I took off into strong westerly winds that pushed me all the way to a small mountain airport in Kentucky, then on through layers of a glowing gold sunset to Sumter, South Carolina and home.

The next morning Sandi and I tried out landing our new baby on the grass runway here before putting the large “N” (north) on the nose and flying to New Jersey.

We dodged the airliners along the east coast inbound to my Grandmother’s airport. It’s not her airport, but one does fly right over her house right after taking off from it. After exchanging passengers, I turned lazy circles in the sky while Grandma gazed over the edge at her property. She was a wonderful passenger on this, her 90th birthday celebration flight! I hope I have as much courage and mobility in another 50-odd years.

Right now, however, both Sandi and I have lost significant mobility in the last week. He’s limping from Tuesday’s arthroscopic surgery on his knee due to a rock climbing incident. I’m doing everything left-handed due to Wednesday’s elbow surgery from tennis elbow that I developed while rock climbing. (We’re currently taking time off from rock climbing in our triathlon off-season in order to get fixed.)

To speed the recovery, or perhaps to distract ourselves from it, we’re hanging in Hawaii for a week on Kauai with the Kohout parents. I suspect Dad (“the unexamined life is not worth living”) will be content with our focus on seminary schoolwork, while Mom (“the unlived life is not worth examining”) will be climbing the walls! I’ll be the liaison between the two, commiserating with both!

Hope you’re having a good and colorful autumn!

Donna