Naomi Mitchum

A dear friend reports to me that she had chicken pox, and immediately I became curious about the name. Do chickens have pox? Do hogs or cows or ducks or  have chickenpox, and would you call it duckpox? How can you cathch it? How can you tell under the feathers?  Vets say no, that chickens do not have pox, and you can’t catch it from them. There are several variations on the word “Circe” reported to be the Old English root derived from the Latin which simply means young foul or chickpeas or any number of others things. Another suggestion is that pox are named after the imprint left on your arm when you gather eggs from under a hen and she doesn’t particularly like it and pecks you on the arm.  I also investigated a term I got wrong: Pox Vobiscum. Found out it is Pax Vobiscum, Latin meaning, “Peace be with you.” There’s very little peace when you have chickenpox since you are occupied with the itch, itch, itch. Maybe Pox Vobiscum would be better, but then my Latin is a little itchy.

My new hobby of the morning is feeding a pet squirrel who has adopted me, or maybe I have adopted him.  Early morning, I sit out on the patio listening to the birds, and a young squirrel comes begging every day. Now I take a handful of peanuts out every morning. He comes closer every day, and no longer is scared of the sound of my wheelchair. The downside is that when I have no peanuts and am just outside, he follows me around looking at me with those hungry eyes, his tail twitching and his nose quivvering.

Never to see the light of day or print is my old and continuing hobby,writing short stories. The least little event or idea will get in my head and roll around and around until I put it on paper with new characters that I can manipulate. Sometimes they manipulate me, and the story takes a new twist. Fun.

It’s pretty well known that I like classical music, but I really like all kinds.  My new favorite is the theme song for a public television program called “New Tricks,” and is about some chronologically aged persons who form a special detective task force for hard cases. The song goes like this,  ”It’s all right. It’s okay. Doesn’t even matter if you’re old and gray. It’s all right. It’s all fine. Doesn’t even matter if the sun don’t shine. Listen to what I say.” Hope I didn’t break any laws by quoting this on line! Guess I like this song because I’m old and gray (white hair instead) and, although I don’t need a permission slip, it does provide one that says, “Yes. It’s okay!”

I think I could join New Tricks and I would have made a good detective since I always love a mystery, and I was inspired by my mom’s friend, Dovie Wells, who at the age of 60 sent off for a finger print training class by mail. We all got finger printed and classified, and Dovie always thought she would catch some crooks, but the crooks never left finger prints when they took her lawn mower, wheelbarrow and other outdoor things like chairs and a hammock. But she finished the class and was ready for ‘em.

Friends of Chamber Music at Rice University brought us the Vienna Piano Trio last night, three accomplished musicians who work together so much the think as one to create the best sounds in the business.  As an “old” string player, I was awed by the first violinist who was so on target  with such pure sounds, I figure the discipline required to become this good must have cost him a lot of time.  We could all do well in using this kind of long term discipline in all parts of life.

All you Christians out there —Happy Easter, the time when Jesus becomes more and more alive to us and assures us that we can have new life both now and after death.

If you live in the Houston area, and haven’t heard the Houston Symphony, consider it now. Their playing of Elgar’s Enigma Variations last night shouted, “World Class,” and besides that it is a classy group. You won’t hear better anywhere in the world, and nothing beats actually feeling the music both inside your soul and in the reverberations from the bass that you can feel in the seat of your pants and your feet. Then there was spectacular and beautiful Hillary Hahn who opened the concert with a Prokofiev  violin concerto that used unimaginable percussion cued in to the second. Of note was the frame of huge hanging chimes that required the musician to sit atop a ladder-like structure to strike the pipes. A live orchestra is a visual treat, too, and, after a while, you choose your favorite players to watch.

I started my close up player-watch last summer when I went to Herman Park to pick up free tickets to Miller Outdoor Theater orchestra concerts there, and I discovered that the orchestra rehearses about that same time the morning before the evening concert. Eventually, I went early and got to hear the music many times.

Music has many powers: it’s good for your body, it’s good for your soul, and besides, it makes a good date. Mine loves taking me there.

I have some great doctors, some who have nursed me through very hairy situations, saved my life and held my hand. I love the doctors who see me, talk to me and call me themselves when test results are in. I hope they will take care of me forever.

But lately,  it has been bothering me that I’m paying the big  bucks to see a other speciality doctors, and instead see his or her Physcican’s Assistant , medical student or nurse specialist.  They then send the bill as though I had seen the specialist. This must be legal, but it is becoming so commonplace that I when I leave I feel like I should have stayed home and spent my $250. or more elsewhere.  In the last month, four times this has happened. I’m trying to be charitable, but it’s my body they are playing with. Anyone else have this happening?  Is it because I’m on Medicare (I have supplemental, also)?  I really appreciate technicians, medical students and physicians assistants, so I’m not complaining about them, just the roles they are asked to play by their superiors.

Circle of Friends prayer circle was huge last night as we included the rodeo helpers, teens, adults and all the leaders. Highlight of the circle was calling our minister of caring who is ill and having her listen in on the prayers. We began by telling her  (shouted all at once) “You’re incredible.”  Teamwork decorated the room and got the booths together. Not to be forgotten are the persons who stayed late to undecorate and put away the equipment for next year in a place where we can find it. No one ever, I mean ever, has enough storage space.

Circle of Friends is updating their emergency material to include additional groups that use their facilities. Hurricane season will do that to you as well as seeing a fire or power outage on the news. A new discovery last week when the power went off: have occupants open their cell phones, and, voila!, light!  Trick is to rotate usage to preserve batteries. In the news this week was a woman and her family trapped under a house-load of debris by the tornado in Joplin. She turned on her cell phone, opened it and rescuers found her in the night because of the tiny rays of light showing.

Our leaders of disability groups are instructed to grab emergency information notebooks as they evacuate. A designated person leads and a designated last person makes sure no one is left behind.

Let’s hope no one needs to use any of this, but we all think emergencies happen to someone else. Not true, is it? Do you have your grab bag and ID ready?

Networking and new information presented by Reverend Greg Edwards encouraged parents at a joint meeting of parent chat groups last week. Greg, who is on the board of directors of the Methodist Mission Home in San Antonio, talked about the arm of the Home that is Southwest Center for Higher Independence. Every parent there wanted higher independence for their student, so there were many questions about evaluation, prospects for future independence. Parents pointed out that many students do not qualify for DARS and function at a different level than expected at most transition institutions. There is a huge need in this area, especially since Texas is cutting funding to most programs that would help these students. It was an informative evening, and some of you are planning to visit the facility. I offered my cabin for an overnight bed and breakfast, but I will wait to buy the eggs and bacon until plans gel.

In light of government funding to community based and private sector partnerships, the future is bleak for students who have graduated high school. Their parents, some of whom have had to quit jobs, have become the sole companion for the day, week, etc. Many of them are on waiting lists for any sort of help, but now is the time for them to reinforce the skills they learned in school, both intellectual and social. Now is the time for them to have a reason to take care with grooming and get out there in the world.

We are exploring an exciting new opportunity for students who have finished high school and have no place to take their talents. It’s a postage stamp on a full scale problem, but it may be an opportunity for churches. A day program for service to the community is on the drawing board. Fact finding is important before we decide to undertake a new program at Chapelwood UMC. Does anyone out there have a day work program for teens and those slightly above that age level? If so, please share your expertise. Our churches aim of making disciples includes helping them become disciples, so this has huge importance.

Two students from our recent special needs confirmation class want to put into action what they learned about giving something back to the church and about helping others. At our first exploratory meeting we set goals for the students and the parents and discussed how to accomplish these goals. Every program that meets student’s needs will grow, so our preliminary fact finding is taking that into consideration. It’s exciting, but also a little daring even daunting in these hard economical times. I’m convinced that big hearts make big plans, so watch this billboard to find out if this is a go.