April 18, 2008
Spring it appears has finally sprung in the northlands. The past few
days we have been blessed with warm southern winds bringing the early springtime heat to us. FINALLY!
As
I sit here performing various updates to our Web Page here, I can't help but think of the horrible winter which we have all
apparently survived...once again! This winter we witnessed record snow falls. Bone-chilling sub zero temperatures
for days on end. Financial difficulties with the County Road Commission making it next to impossible to maintain the
area roads to keep the snow and ice off of them.
On a personal level, I pray another winter such as the past is ever felt by
me. Things went well until after the Christmas Holiday and the beginning of the new year. Then the troubles started!!!
1. No water at the house. Thought the pipes had froze. Fortunately
it ended up to be only a frozen pressure valve! So after four days with no water, the problem was discovered and had
water once again.
2. I being a Klutz, stuck on the lanes while bowling and ended up landing
on my knee. Has been over 4 months now, and that knee still is tender to touch it. Oh well, the bowling alley
should keep their lanes cleaner, and this Old Lady needs to remember the ground is a lot harder now than it use to me.
3. By the end of January, things seemed to be headed on the right track!
Then ended up being rushed into the hospital in the middle of the night with three "precious" (NOT) kidney stones. Two
in my left kidney and one in my right kidney. After almost two weeks of pain meds, and a whole lot of pain, I
finally passed two stones about 1/4 inch in size from my left kidney. Went in for surgery a couple weeks later to have
the stone in my right kidney smashed so that it would pass easier and to my delight I had also passed this stone. No
driving bus during this time for almost three weeks....nothing I wish on my worst enemy.
Going to take this time to thank a very special man who resides down south
in the land of magnolias, sunshine, and unfortunately hurricanes. During my time of being ill this winter, I could not
focus on much at all, nor could I sleep for extended periods...if I was lucky I could sleep two hours at a time.
During these foggy days in my mind, I developed a very strong friendship to this very special man I mentioned above.
He sat with me online and just talked to me. Reminded me to drink my necessary fluids, and also when to take my pills
as I was not able to remember if I had taken them or not. (Extended pain medicine use does this to a person...you sort of
live in a drug enduced emphoria...not fun) He sat with me over 20 hours a day online most days. I know I could
not have survved without his support and devoted care. I wish I could shout to the world of the wonders of this man,
tell you all who he is...however, that would be a definate invasion of his privacy and something I would never wish to do.
You know who you are...my very special man. Thank you so much for being
there for me during my days of pain and agony. Your humor and care, I know is what made it bearable for me to survive
the ordeal. Thank you so much also for encouraging me to write again. The words were in my mind, but I did not
know if I could bring them out again. You taught me to believe in myself again. To trust my intuitions.
To believe in dreams.
Upon my recovery, I learned of my friends love of the sea. Below is a
poem which I wish to dedicate to him for all his tender love and devotion. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed
writing it and learning myself about the life of the sea!
The Sea Ghost
Ghosts of the deep,
Scull through my brain mysteriously,
But not forcefully.
They journey the crested waves of my feelings,
Because at the moment the ocean is calm and gray.
Their ancient fermented shanties,
Wade the murky depths,
Next to long since sunken clippers.
Barnacles swamp down long since tossed flotsam,
As reflections of elder shipwrecks jetsam buckle,
Tumble and drift in the undersea currents,
Vanishing away,
Out of ghostly sight.
A tarnished telescope of brass,
Rests eternal blind beneath the faint glassy water.
The ships wheel,
Once manned by the brave and just,
Is now controlled,
By submerged currents and tides,
Restricted by the moon above.
Present destination unknown.
A calcified ancient mariners brass sextant,
Lies on the bottom covered with the rust of history.
No longer marking the directions of passage,
It lies forever in the graveyard,
Of endless time.
Crimson algae cascades from the tarnished prongs,
Of Neptune's long since sunken trident.
Ironically providing a impenetrable dense cover,
For the diminutive marine creatures,
It once delivered to death.
A seafarers chest long since forgotten,
Lies submerged against an ancient hill,
Now memories of golden dreams,
A residence at the present of local crustaceans,
Covered with limpets on the bottom's encrusted rocks.
And I a victim of the notorious Davy Jones,
Am always walking into the murky depths,
Toward the yellowish light,
Of a low lying sun with heavy feet.
Stepping over the debris laden coral skeletons,
Of times long since passd.
A rusting anchor settles on my lower jaw,
Its' chains hold me back from my escape from the sea.
My weary head is heavy,
As out over the translucent surface,
From this undersea prison I seek to view.
Sandpipers scamper before me,
On the sands of the distant coast.
Their ceaseless patterns of weaving,
Braid a path of freedom down the grainy shore.
Their simplicity of life is captivating,
It is their inherited routine.
To just roam the sand for a morsel,
Without a care it seems.
A pleasure for this mariners' eyes to watch,
For the shorebirds do not appear to be affected,
By the ghosts of Neptunes' Locker.
Unlike me.
Sue A. Wilcox-Hosbach
2-24-08
(Written to a very special Seaman who has like Neptune's
Golden Trident, with his friendship and love, captured my heart and soul. Alias: Beachcomber.)
