Summer Come and Gone

Dear George,

Here is another summer winding itself down.  Sometimes I delude myself into thinking it doesn’t matter because we get endless summers.  Of course, that’s not true.  Even if one lives to a ripe old age, they might get only 90 in their entire lifetime.  The older one gets, the more precious each one becomes.  My 2017 summer started off terribly because I’d pulled my Achilles tendon and was limping around for two months. This eliminated many of the enjoyable activities in my life: hiking at Miami Whitewater Forest, camping, neighborhood walks with friends, flea markets, working out and doing exercise classes, even routine activities like walking to the library or the grocery store. Thanks to stretching, ice, Ibuprofen, and rest, I finally did recover by early July and was happy to regain my lost life.

Things perked up a lot with a visit from NOLA by our son J and grandkids V and L.  We had planned to meet them initially at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, but I wasn’t ready for the walking and so they did it themselves on their drive up.  In Cincinnati we went to the zoo, took in the Star Wars costume exhibition at the Museum Center, had three-ways at Skyline Chili, and topped it off with ice cream at Graeter’s.  We celebrated the last day at the world’s largest swimming pool at Coney Island.  V tried to persuade me to come with her down the 100-foot high water slide but I claimed my spinal cord wouldn’t survive the plunge.   

Katja bought a new Smart TV, and, with some help, we  hooked up our Netflix subscription to it.  We are still trying to figure out how to use this sanely.  We started watching a murder mystery called “The Killing” and got so taken in by the suspense that we binge-watched 26 episodes in less than a week, sometimes staying up till 2 a.m.  Then I wanted to watch a football game, and Katja couldn’t stand it so she watched the entire next season by herself.  I think one day the coroner will find us there with the TV still running.

We did take in some higher culture this summer, attending La Boheme, Frida, and The Magic Flute at the Cincinnati Opera.  The Opera program listed us among the fans who had subscribed for forty years or more.  We started in the late 1960’s when the opera was held at the Zoo and the arias were frequently interrupted by animal hoots and howls.  We also enjoyed the folk art exhibition at the Art Museum and British Paintings at the Taft.  We watched a lot of tennis on TV:  the French Open, Wimbledon, and recently the US Open.  We were saddened by Roger Federer’s early quarterfinals departure.  Thanks to friends Paula and Frank, we went to two sessions of the Western & Southern Open at nearby Mason.  We watched most of the NBA finals, rooting 50% for our in-state Cleveland Cavaliers and the other 50% for the Golden State Warriors, the darlings of our California siblings, Vicki and David W.  We were happy for their team’s victory.  Friday nights we frequently went to the movies with friends Donna and Marika.  My summer favorites were Lost in Paris and The Big Sick.

I had my eightieth birthday in late July, and it required some psychological juggling.  I associate age eighty mostly with my grandparents, to a slight degree with my parents, and not at all with myself.  I go to the cardiologist once a year because of having had an angioplasty a couple of decades ago, and he said my heart was doing fine.  My primary care physician checked my feet because of elevated blood sugar, and he said he wished he had feet as excellent as mine.  Then the insurance company sent a visiting nurse who checked me for dementia by seeing if I could recall the words “boy-red-house”.  I passed the test (and have recalled “boy-red-house” every day since).  All in all, I conclude that what one mainly needs to survive at age 80 is a good heart, good feet, and the ability to remember three words. 

Katja and I went to the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, and we had a fun time.  It’s absolutely gigantic, probably a mile long.  I particularly liked the art exhibits, crafts, quilts, woodworking, etc.  I’ve been annoyed about living in Ohio ever since the presidential election, having decided that the state is populated largely by deplorables and idiots.  The arts and crafts displays at the Fair, however, altered my impression.  Now I see Ohio as full of highly talented people (none of whom voted for Trump).  Inspired by the state fair, we also took in the Boone County Fair across the river in Northern Kentucky.  This was a lot more like the fairs of my youth.  Katja and I rode on the big ferris wheel, which allowed us to see the entire world at its peak.  Then we recklessly went on the “Silver Streak” which hadn’t looked that bad until we got on it.  Katja had recently been to the doctor to check out lower back pains.  She screamed, “Stop, I want to get off” multiple times during our ride, and we worried whether she would walk again.

I’m enthralled with my Wednesday evening Zumba class.  I’m the worst dancer in the mostly-woman class, but I’m happy that I can get through sixty aerobic minutes and pleased that I’m not as self-conscious as I used to be.  Katja and I celebrated our 57^th wedding anniversary with dinner out at the Bonefish Grill.  We’ve also made multiple visits to the Cincinnati Zoo to see six-month-old hippo Fiona and her parents, Bibi and Henry.  We enjoy shopping for groceries at our new Clifton Market which struggled during its initial months but seems to be doing better.  Each evening before I go to sleep I read episodes from Batman and Superman comics from the 1940’s.  I can’t remember why I ever moved on to books without pictures. 

We had thought about a West Coast trip during the summer but scheduling didn’t work out.  Then we decided on a seashore vacation in South Carolina, but Hurricanes Harvey and Irma forced us to cancel those plans.  Happily J came to visit last weekend for his 30^th high school reunion, and we had a wonderful time.    Our autumn OLLI classes at the university begin tomorrow.  Katja and I signed up together for Israeli folk dancing.  I was too immature to do folk dancing in my youth, but now I’ve gotten my priorities in better order.  We’re looking forward to the fall.  

Love,

Dave