Oh my goodness!

At Harvey and Sandy's house with no electricity because of the hurricane. Looks nice, of course. On the left of Sandy, her father, Murray and to her right, her brother Lawrence. Harvey is opposite her. Looks cozy enough. They had all gone to a wedding on Long Island and raced home to beat the hurricane.

Dear Friends and Family,

Sorry to have been silent for so long. Some of my readers have been worried about me. My only problem is my feet, which are numb and yet, strangely, also burn. I have had trouble using my laptop because my lap still has those lesions on my thighs, now diminishing. And sitting at the regular computer with my legs down is uncomfortable. It has a bar across the leg space so that a foot rest is not possible. We are making adjustments. No. 1: move the computer to the larger desk next to my computer desk. I will have to avoid the early morning hours, when sun streams onto that desk from a skylight but the sun will not be a problem because I no longer work from dawn to dusk. I can work in the midday. No. 2. Clear off the big desk so I can work there. Get RID of THINGS I haven't looked at it in many years. No. 3. Find some place to put the things I do want.

And I get distracted. I decided that the photos all over the study, including those on the two desks, could just as well go onto shelves in my bedroom, but first I had to remove books from the shelves. But after filling two plastic bags with books and managing to place only one photo in that space, I decided this was a no-win situation. When the writing group, Laury or anyone else comes by, I will ask them to look at the items in the two plastic bags and also on the shelves—and please TAKE! Yes, all the books are precious to me, and yes, they still have meaning for me, but I think I have to be satisfied with the mental picture. All this took me far from clearing the desk to my left as I type this. It will be a while till I can ask Merwin to move my computer there. And so it goes.

I find that if I push myself, or something pushes me, I feel much better. I am short of breath, but I am trying to work through it. Sonia won't be back here till next Thursday because she is spending a week with her husband's extended family in Canada, for a wedding. Most of all, aside from her company, which I enjoy so much, she pushes me and makes it possible for me to do my exercises, working against the weight she administers.

Signs of getting better: I have done some cooking, yesterday I made potato curry. Also, I have been going out more. Barbara came by after her classes on the 7th, and we had lunch together at Kiraku. I didn't write anything on the calendar for the 8th. On the 9th I pulled myself together, Merwin drove me to the Jolly Fisherman for about 3/4 of the Friday lunch session. I used the rolator for the long walk to the table, with Ilona's help: she happened o arrive just as I did. Walking with just the cane is no longer as steady as it was. That's OK. I will go from cane, to rolator, to wheelchair if that's necessary. I see many people doing this, and I will do it with a smile as they do.

On Friday I phoned Dr. K to tell her my ankles were swollen, though they had gotten better since the day before. She told me to come right in—after office hours, to check for cellulitis, which turned out to be negative. She told me she wants to see me once a month. I thought that since the bloods were drawn at home and the report was sent to her (and us) the next day, she didn't need to see me. Last month, it would have been hard for me to be in the car that long. Now I can do it, I guess. This Friday I had two outings in one day.

Saturday, Harvey and Sandy visited and took us to lunch at MP Taverna in Roslyn. That was a bit much—15 minutes driving each way and then over an hour in the restaurant. I was too tired afterward, but it was very nice, and I did recuperate quickly. They left for a party back in CT, so I could take to my bed. I like to keep chugging as long as I can and not a moment longer, but the end sometimes comes on pretty quickly. The time I allotted for the Jolly Fisherman had been just right (having the waiter pack my Orange Rouphy and my Boston Cream Pie dessert, both of which Merwin and I shared at another meal) because I collapsed into bed right after we got home—but not before! Sunday, Sylvia came with deli goodies for Merwin. She and I went for the de riguer walk and then she drove us to Rothcamps and to Youngs farms. She had just returned from Israel a day or so before and needed lots of vegetables. I was able to get some nice tomatoes and cucumbers. I did not linger. When we returned to #70, I went straight to bed and slept for two hours! That was a surprise. No matter how tired I feel, I rarely sleep during the day. Then I was energized in the evening—to make supper for Merwin and do some reading.

On Monday, big treat: Kathryn and Antonio came to visit and take us to lunch (at Kiraku, of course). Antonio is Kathryn's significant other, who lives in Trieste. He visits her; she visits him, and they have what looks like from the outside an ideal relationship. He was here for only a few days, perhaps eight, and they have many friends here—as well as Kathryn's sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren to occupy their time.

I better stop now. I have caught you up on the entire week, I think.

Love to all,
Bernice