Columbus OH

Spring seems to have come suddenly to Columbus. It was down to 2 above one morning, but rebounded to nearly 70. Today another cold front came through, but it was all bluster and wind - certainly no hint of winter. The snow and ice melted overnight, exposing all the dog feces that had accumulated while the ground was covered with ice and snow, but Bobbi cleared half the yard this afternoon. Of course this simply stimulates Lew's urge to travel - he is ready and waiting.

Health report:

Bobbi continues progress with her recovery in general and physical therapy in particular. She has been driving now for a couple of weeks) goes where she pleases on her own. However, she still is unable to get down on the floor, and too much walking does initiate pain in her new hip. She gave up on opiates some time ago, except for occasional flareups. For someone who has had three orthopedic surgeries in 2 years, she probably is doing as well as anyone would have any right to expect. She is attending mass 3 times a week (twice in English, once in ASL) and is beginning to resume her role in church. Tonight she is at an Al-Anon meeting for the first time since her surgery - support which we both value.

Recently Lew's health has left more to be desired. Despite about 4 months of the very best PT, his back pain has worsened slowly - probably not surprising in light of his spinal MRI. But there are some ups as well. In the first place, he was clued in to try a recumbent tricycle. He rode for the first time in 6 years, and did so with marvelous results. Despite at least a half hour on the trike first time out, his back pain was relieved entirely for 24-36 hr. After the pain-free period the pain did flare up again, but has receded to some degree since. On the advice of his PT, Lew immediately ordered one - which should help temporize a bit longer.

Lew's depressed spirits did get a lift with a techno-fix. Sitting around, Lew decided he really needed to try out Linux, so he downloaded a flavor (Ubuntu) from the net and installed it on a thumb drive. There were the usual problems learning how to operate the new software, but by now (less than a week) it feels comfortable - so he is using it to type this note. What this means is that Europeans (including North America and Australia) no longer are captive to the monopolies (MicroSoft and Apple) but can set up their computers entirely with open-source programs. Since even brand new copies of the latest netbooks go for under $250 - and refurbished or used units for even less - it seems like we finally have entered the era when the residents of even the poorest first- and second-world countries can afford to own and operate a computer (of course, I'm not counting the backwoods of Africa and other such places, but it won't be long even for them). Of course that also means that no one anywhere will have any privacy, but that is another rant.

Enough for now. I've got to write one of my doctors.

Columbus OH

Enforced idleness has produced at least one benefit for Bobbi: she has been bitten by the genealogy bug.

Convinced that there must be something interesting in her past, Lew long had urged Bobbi to find something out about her origins. But as her various elders aged and died, she made no inquiries. Her mother even had a cousin that we visited a couple of times, and that cousin was deeply into their family history, but Bobbi never followed up, and all the genealogical material either went to the cousin's sister, or was lost. Her mother had a half-sister (still living) who knew their father, but again, no interest.

Last week, all of this changed. Lew had a long standing subscription to ancestry.com which he resorted to from time to time. So one day boredom prompted her to use that site to try and find something out about her paternal grandfather. Personal inquiries over the years had been completely unproductive - her grandmother, his wife, did not even know where he had been born.

She was able to locate his family almost immediately. And she found it relatively easy to follow the line backwards not only to colonial Virginia, but back into Scotland (no one ever had suspected a Scottish connection). Furthermore, the names were familiar. Checking, she learned that these familiar names belonged to significant historical figures: Stewarts, Douglases, Crichtons, Alexanders, Rosses, etc. It looks like her Bruce ancestors probably left Scotland as losers after the Battle of Culloden. The line currently traces back to the both the Viking chiefs (via the Orkneys) and the Irish chiefs, who trail off into the mists of legend.

Stay tuned for additions and corrections.

Columbus OH

The great blizzard of 2011 is over - at least for Columbus. Despite the ice, we did not lose power (though there were a few around us who did). We have come through intact - at least as intact as we were before the storm.