Way Overdue

It's been over 1 month since my last post, in which I announced my hasty get-away to the mountains. Well, I made my escape, with the help of my family, and spent 3 restful nights in the Wolf cabin at George's on Blood Mountain. Being totally impulsive, I picked up the phone and made my reservation before thinking about all the help I would need to get up there and back. I can't drive that far, can't lift my bags and oxygen machine, and just generally needed a lot of help to get up there with everything I needed to stay for 3 days and then to get back home.

My family came to the rescue. Mom and Dad came over on Sunday. Dad and Michael loaded my bags and oxygen machine into the van, then Michael drove the van while Dad drove the car up to the cabin. When we got there, Dad, Michael, and Will unloaded all of my stuff and put everything where it needed to be. Will was hungry, so he had a bowl of pasta with Marinara sauce.

I think everyone was afraid to leave me alone - change that - I know everyone was afraid to leave me alone. I think they were afraid that I was suicidal. I was not. One big hint was that I took 2 suitcases. One was full of clothes. The other was full of beads and jewelry making supplies. I wanted to sit in the cabin, enjoy the view, and string beads. I don't think suicidal people do things like that. Here is a picture of my kitchen table, all covered up with beads and things----------->

They lingered for a long while before leaving me alone in the cabin. While "lingering", Will and Dad made a few trips up to George's store for coffee, cocoa, and video tapes for me to watch. The dish was out that night, so I asked for some "chick flicks" to watch later in my jammies. The lingering continued, so I finally hopped in the shower and took a looooooong hot soaking shower and put on my thermal pj's (it's still cold up in the mountains in May). It was the first thing I wanted to do when we arrived and I just couldn't wait any longer. So I politely excused myself and headed into the shower. Pure bliss. Steamy and hot, no one coming after you so you can use as much hot water as you want. Plus, I stayed in the handicapped accessible cabin, so there was a nice little seat in there I could just sit on and absorb the steam and warm water. I felt great, and somewhat like a limp noodle after that.

After everyone left, I settled in. I watched "Blue Sky", which was pretty good. It is about an Air Force family in the era of nuclear testing. The wife is very attractive and can't seem to "behave". It costs her husband a lot of trouble on the job, and eventually, his career. Then I tried my cell phone, and amazingly it worked - I got through to home and said goodnight and love you to everyone. That was the only time my cell phone worked during the whole stay. Next, I tried to watch Notting Hill, but I fell asleep. Oh well, I've seen that one before anyway.


It was very chilly at night - too cool to enjoy the deck. However, in the mornings I went out on the deck with my hot tea. The entire time I was there, it was overcast and misty - very foggy and not much of a view. I liked it anyway. It made things seem close-in and sort of cozy in a strange way.


On Monday, George and the cable guy came down to my cabin and fixed me up with TV. My craft lamp switch had broken that morning, and I showed it to George. He took it back to his office and hot-wired it so that whenever you plug it in, the light comes on - bypassing the switch. That's the kind of thing George does, and the reason we've been going back to his cabins for 13 years now. George confided in me that Michael (my husband) had already called that morning to check on me, saying that he was very concerned about me being alone with all of my health problems and making George promise to check in on me every day. Now that's a sweet husband, don't you think?

Outside my entryway, there was a huge patch of blackberry bushes just loaded with blooms. George said that around the first of July the bears would be frequenting that spot to get their fill of the delicious treats. I think that would be so much fun to be in the Wolf cabin around July 1! Here's a picture of a bit of the blackberry patch - just a tiny bit.... the patch is HUMONGUS!!! -->




On Tuesday afternoon, Mom and Dad came back up. They went up to George's store and got a Scrabble game and played for awhile. We all took an afternoon nap and ate leftovers from the fridge. They slept in the loft and drove me home on Wednesday morning. That's a real switch. We used to let Mom and Dad have the downstairs bedroom and we would sleep in the loft. Now I'm the one who has trouble negotiating the loft stairs, so I stayed downstairs and they took the loft. I think this is the first trip to George's ever that I didn't climb up into the loft at least once.
Here is a picture of the stairs to the loft. -------------------------------->



Before I got sick, I travelled all over independantly, flying everywhere, renting cars, staying at luxury hotels, all very self sufficient. It was very humbling to need so much help to take a simple 3 day trip just 1 hour away to Blood Mountain. I'm so very grateful for my family for supporting me, letting me have my space, and enabling me to take the trip. I really needed it.