September 15, 2017 (Friday)
Before the storm, I had written a number of blogs in advance. None of them anticipated Harvey. Below is one of them, writtten on September 1.
Dan’s apartment now has power, and he returned to it yesterday. He has been working at his Wal Mart job in Aransas Pass, discarding and replacing stock, as the building was being repaired. The store opened Wednesday, selling only groceries.
Yesterday I watched a huge truck load debris from the roadside on my street. A man atop a double trailer is operating a crane.
On Wednesday I went to Corpus and got a bone density test. They said it was normal. I later saw the doctor who told me my PSA is only 1.82 (down from 56.3 before the first injection of Eligard). The doctor was elated about it. They gave me another injection, second in the series. The next one will take place December 13.
The storm will be with us for a long, long time. The blog today may give us a chance to think about something else.
September 1, 2017 (Friday)
September is here. It will bring Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer. It also brings anticipation of cooler days, colorful foliage, some types of hunting, and, sometimes, romantic songs. Like “September Song,” for example, written by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson. Here are the lyrics:
Oh, it’s a long long while
From May to December
But the days grow short
When you reach September
When the autumn weather
Turns leaves to flame
One hasn’t got time
For the waiting game
Oh, the days dwindle down
To a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days
I’ll spend with you
These precious days
I’ll spend with you.
The song has plaintive lyrics, reminding us that winter is on its way, as each day is shorter than the previous day, creating the impression that time is running out and we should pay more attention to the preciousness of our loved ones and friends and the splendid opportunity of helping another person along life’s pathway.
I think of my loved ones who have died, and how I have missed them in so many ways. If the words of this song help us to pay more loving attention to others, we will be the beneficiaries of that love. A song that came to us from Hal Davis and Burt Bacharach in the 1960s reminds us, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love, No not just for some but for everyone….”
The song, “September Song,” was introduced in a Broadway show in 1938, so it’s been around a long time and has been recorded by most of the popular artists of the last 75 years. I could have chosen any artist from a very long list of performers. I decided to go with Willie Nelson.