FaceBook

This will be a short blog. For several years I have been a member of the growing country known as FaceBook. I have lived in India, been an orchestra musician, taught strings for most of my life, and been interested in AOL and Google when they first appeared.

At first FB was mostly about family. It was a great way to instantly keep up with what was happening. It was even faster than email, because with email  I had to wait until my brother, sister, or cousin received it and then decided to answer. Email was more like writing real letters...and if the recipient wasn't into writing sometimes I didn't hear back. But there was a small group that I corresponded with and that was a circle of Woodstock School class mates. Then FB arrived and it wasn't necessary to write a long letter, just react in a a sentence or two to something that friend or family had posted.

Shortly my circle of responding folks grew larger. Former students jumped in. There were folks who lived in the same house I had lived in eons ago and were interested in photography. We made contact. Now I know it is impossible to maintain contact with 1000 friends as some of my students show on their sites. But 200 or so I can keep up  a tenuous relationship with.

Whether one has an iPhone, a pad, or a computer it is possible to maintain a satisfying connection with those who help make our lives meaningful. People that would have been lost to me forever have now dropped back into my life. Some cousins I hardly knew in  my  childhood days are now almost daily making chit chat and we're learning to admire each other.

Former students from either the near past or distant past share with me their joys and sorrows and I have come to know rather well some of  their  friends. These are all  young adults so it helps me understand how the world looks to people at that stage in their lives.

It takes some thought and some time to write a blog, an email, or to respond appropriately to a thought expressed on FB. When I began this blog as an experiment several years ago, one of my ground rules was that I would resist being vituperative. Yes, there are folks who I don't see eye to eye with...some times I see where over the years even I have changed positions, that's what growth and being human is about. But the thought remains that it is probably wiser and better to be supportive and helpful when possible rather than assuming that one is a small god and surely knows what is best in the many puzzling  situations people find themselves in.

FaceBook is like going into a large room where there are many people I know all chatting or putting up pictures of happenings near them. I can select any that I can relate to and put in my 2 cents worth, just as I would in real life in such a circumstance. There is much to be learned from each other as we journey together down this road we call life and I can't think of a better way to be so enriched. Thank all of you who have
made my life better by sharing!!

A knee replacement

I've been cabin bound for about two weeks since Lib, my wife, had her recent knee replacement and I see that  it's been about a month since I've added anything to this blog. So here goes...

By now Lib and I pretty much have the surgery/recovery routine down rather well. This time last year she was getting over a horrendous back surgery and before that it was my two hip replacements. Thank goodness for modern medicine and Medicare. It is not the terror it used to be just a few decades ago.

She was a little behind schedule after the procedure and we had a significant and unplanned snow while she was at the hospital so we were one day later getting home. Bon Secour is a fine hospital where they really go the extra mile for their patients.

Knee recoveries are a little slower than hips. We knew that going in. She experienced significant discomfort while trying to get the ligaments and muscles that support walking to stretch and bend. Two weeks out. she still will need physical therapy to keep the joint flexing.

It is times such as these that I'm grateful for FaceBook even though it may be sifting through whatever about me it can profitably sell. Not too much. I'm not Catholic, but am encouraged by the character of the new Pope. Let us pray that he will have the courage and wisdom to clean house effectively. I've enjoyed the banter and pictures from Vijendra Trigatia. We share a common knowledge of Prospect Point and have built an online friendship which actually came from his accessing this blog. Just recently I have come to know one of his friends, Milena Maglich, who has recently written a published novel, "Riding the Tiger" I hope to read.
Others in my active circle include Natasha Cooper, a former string student who is studying architecture in Nebraska, and members of my family and new friends I have made here in Richmond and from my church at large.

Sudden snow on Wednesday

It's an interesting world and since I have an abundance of time I work at cultivating my on line circle. I can do this between the moments that Lib requires attention and assistance.

Bon Secour entrance and bell tower

Walkway at Bon Secour