One month in Healdsburg

A month has gone by since our last post, so I am far behind in my blogging.  I apologize to our many friends but it has been quite hectic down here as you might imagine. 

We've settled in to a day-to-day routine in Healdsburg.  After a couple of weeks of preparation, we were able to move the RV onto my brother Chris' property and we are in effect living there now.   We keep in close contact every day, help with medication and chores, prepare food, and work on various repair and enhancement projects to make his life easier.  There is a steady stream of visitors, and we are constantly impressed with the overwhelming support that Chris is getting from neighbors and friends in his community.  They are wonderful people and they are going all out to help him.

My sister Maggie is the most constant family presence, and a vital support for Chris.  She was a nurse at Stanford Hospital until she retired, and handled many of the most difficult cases there, so her experience with the medical system is extensive.   He trusts her completely, and she works very hard to balance his medication properly, manage his relations with the hospice people, and handle many of his financial and business affairs.  His situation is quite fragile, and his quality of life is subject to wide swings, but with her help he has many good days to share with all of us.

Other family members are here, too, as they can manage.  My brother Thom is up here now from San Diego.  This is the first time that all four of us have been together since 1999, and Chris is in great form, so the visit has been very good for everyone.  We have been sharing old photographs from one of my mother's old albums, and spending a lot of time reminiscing. 

Northern California is lovely this time of year, and we've had some pleasant outings.  The days have been mostly sunny and clear, with temperatures reaching over 80 some days.  We have visited Sebastopol, Bodega Bay and other points of interest around.  This is a terrific biking area, and the streets are often crowded with bands of bicycle riders, so Ivy and I are having fun exploring the bike trails and roads in the area.  We are located very near the Russian River, and that provides a number of scenic parks and beaches. 

The birding is good here, and there are lots of species that we don't see up north.  The California oak tree is a predominant forest type around here, so there are birds like the oak titmouse and the acorn woodpecker that we never see up there.  Around Chris's house, the most common two are the mockingbird and the scrub jay, both of which battle daily over turf in his yard.  There's a baby mockingbird down on the ground near his house right now, with the parents standing guard and swooping over anyone who comes near.  Chris has five ancient and disheveled cats, so the daily drama keeps us watching.

Ivy has been doing a bit of painting and drawing as she gets the chance.  We took a very nice trip up to an Audubon site near Healdsburg called Mayacama, very remote and wild.  She took advantage of the trip to draw and paint a bit.  It's lovely country with both good birding and beautiful scenery.  Chris has a friend, Ellen, who has helped out enormously during our trip, giving us an RV site at her home for a couple of weeks and showing us around.  She is a painter also, so she an Ivy go off on trips together and are sharing techniques and sites.  

As for me, I am mostly occupied with visiting with my brother and making an effort to keep up with repair and maintenance on his old house and our RV.  I go for long bike rides when I can, or longer outings with Ivy when we have the time.  I spend a bit of time each morning in a local coffee shop, work on little projects here and there, and watch movies on the new HDTV set that Maggie and I conspired to buy Chris.  He enjoys Lord of the Rings all the time, and has it on most days as background, and we watch lots of other stuff, too, many with his friends and neighbors who share our passion for movies. 

We are plotting to get some visits with the grandchildren sometime soon, and some longer trips to scenic spots around here.  In the meantime, life is pretty good - the area is lovely, the weather nice, and the people are as helpful as we could hope.  More later.