docendo discitur

Another day of low energy and feeling sluggish. It's a bit irritating as I have plans of things I'd like to do. On a positive note, my nurse was here today, and all of my readings are in the "normal" range. Funny enough, my blood pressure reading was exactly the same for the last 4 weeks. Textbook  perfect! 20h My temperature, too, was unchanged for 4 weeks. My pain level is lower than at the beginning, but is annoyingly still present I'll have a review by my doctor tomorrow. I don't anticipate problems.

I'd like to congratulate my dear friend on the birth of her second grandchild and first grandson. And, of course, congratulations to her son and daughter-in-law! Welcome to the little one.

My dad and sister are both wrapped up in cricket this week. Meanwhile Don is glued to baseball. Personally I don't pay attention to either, but frankly I prefer cricket of the two. People- mainly north. Americans,-mock cricket for being slow, and laugh about the 5- day test matches.  They say that it's so slow that it takes so long to play even 1 inning. I had been inclined to agree until I found that the baseball game that was on was game 3 of 7 and they were going to. play extra innings. I laughed and said that it was a 7- day match. That started a small feud, not very serious, but at least it ended the anti-cricket sensibilities. He had to watch a one-day international, and he grudgingly admitted that it wasn't as slow or boring as he thought.. Baby steps!

I've learnt that if I refer to baseball as a kids' game, I can start a small civil war... (why is it called a "Civil" war? It's a war, full of all the mess that goes with that.) I have learned a bit about the game, even though it still bores me stiff.

We're both learned from each other about things that were strange to us. For instance, his idea of Chinese food is chicken fried rice; sweet and sour pork, Cantonese style; chow mein and chop suey. He admits that they aren't Chinese, but ther's what he first had as a "Chinese" meal, so it stuck If I prepare anything else, not only might it sit, uneaten, but he's likely to douse it in soy sauce and eat the resultant mess. I've learned lots about "classic" country music and why there's good Western country music from down East! I've also learned the difference between a hoedown and a hootenanny basically, I understand country & western music at a level surprising in an islander!

I'm of the view that learning each other's culture. and interest is vital to effective interpersonal relationships. And it keeps the brain engaged. I'm not about to start a country music collection, but I can appreciate another genre of music. I don't expect Don to suddenly become fond of Peking duck — it would mean that I'd have to share! But at least he's willing to try different foods. And while he won't fly with me he is at least open to learning from my trips and to encourage me to plan more.

Speaking of travel, I'd love to start planning my next trip. Is there any hope that the pro-plague crowd will see any sense and more to get their shots? Or that we'll be able to travel freely anytime soon? I have things to see and do! I think I'll go dream about that tonight. XOXO