No Time Like the Present in Everyday Ramblings
- May 3, 2017, 2:48 p.m.
- |
- Public
The pink dogwoods are particularly gorgeous this year. It may have something to do with the gray mist, glare and fog we have had that make them stand out or it could be, like with the iris a couple of years ago, that conditions are just right for them. Maybe they thrive in the rain.
It is not raining right now though. It was damp earlier and drippy but now it is, oh gosh, getting warm. Warm! As in not cold. The clouds have moved back to the edges of the valley and the sun is actually shining!
Go ahead, laugh, you have no idea… you kind of need to be here.
A local poet who has a big Facebook following put a picture up last week of his wife sitting on their front porch reading something and said, if you are in Portland, you have an idea how extraordinary a moment this is as the sun made dappled patterns (provided by brand new leaves) on the porch.
Diego is standing right up next to my laptop having a bath while I type this as he is telling me it is lunch time. I managed to get about half of his nails clipped this morning. Yesterday he was snuggling and snagged a claw hole smack in the middle of the chest of my favorite sleeveless t-shirt. I am determined to get the tips of the rest of those claws sometime today.
I even got a few of Carlo’s and he is squirmier.
The things we put up with from our pets.
So yesterday I went up to the outpatient clinic to a special place where they have soundproof booths that are like something a kid would design given a big cardboard box and some pegboard to have a baseline hearing test.
I had to wait nine weeks for this appointment.
Both Kes and my oldest sister and my natural aunt, my mom’s baby sister have/had experienced some form of hearing loss and I wanted to start documentation about my hearing now so in the future…
I was surprised to learn that in my right ear I already have enough hearing loss to merit a hearing aid. But I am compensating fine she says and wants to see me again in a year.
It is good to know but also disturbing, another thing to deal with. As hearing aids are expensive as all get out (and not covered) I need to plan for this and now I know I need to.
What she said that I found interesting is that hearing loss is not age related. It is genetic and or situational but that there is no hearing loss baked into our aging process. I have noticed this with my older friends.
Some can hear just fine and some not. So it isn’t inevitable if one hangs around long enough. :)
I am procrastinating on something at work. Today is literally the first day in weeks where I haven’t been too busy to even think of doing this thing that needed to be done weeks ago.
Sitting here watching the last of the pink blossoms on the trees out front float off the trees I better button up and get to it.
No time like the present. No sir.
Last updated May 03, 2017
Deleted user ⋅ May 03, 2017
They are gorgeous ! I think we may be getting your kind of weather ; it's rained for ten days except part of one day and now it's supposed to rain the rest of this week until Sunday . We have record flooding . It's very cool and damp .
Deleted user ⋅ May 03, 2017
I lost some hearing after going to a firing range with my brother a couple of years ago . I had ear plugs and headphones on but the guys on either side of us were firing AK 47s and it definitely injured my ears . I knew it as soon as we left the range . My brother thought it would restore itself but it never did. I get so frustrated now when someone " mumbles". And they get frustrated with me because I am frequently asking them to repeat themselves . It's such a change as my hearing was always quite acute before the injury :-(
noko Deleted user ⋅ May 03, 2017
I'm sorry. How frustrating. It certainly got that way with both my sisters but as the audiologist said, I am still managing to compensate at least for now.
Deleted user noko ⋅ May 03, 2017
I make myself compensate although I am fairly certain it's annoying to some other people . My oldest son's voice is very low and he speaks extremely soft and fast . I am always bugging him to repeat himself :-( . He is the one I have the worst time understanding . So far I don't have to turn up the TV or music unless the audio is just bad . Frank definitely has some hearing loss ( too much playing rock music too loud :) so he speaks loudly normally . I am always telling him to talk softer !
Lyn ⋅ May 03, 2017
Beautiful dogwood.
We have some rain forecast for 4 of the next 7 days and I'm feeling soggy.
Smart to start getting ahead of your ears.
Good luck with Carlos and Diego pedicures. 😸
Ragdolls ⋅ May 04, 2017
My mother had exceptional hearing all of her life. She lived to be 93&half. When she was in her 80's she would ignore my sisters and I(or ask us to repeat things) so we thought she was losing her hearing. Not so! When we would whisper or be in another room she could hear us perfectly. We then realized that she had selective hearing, almost like a child does when they tune out their parents. It got to be a game she delighted in playing. I am sorry that you are having to deal with a real hearing loss. I can't imagine the frustration. I love dogwoods. We have naturalized ones throughout the wooded areas here, mostly white ones.
Deleted user ⋅ May 04, 2017
Yes, hearing aids cost a small fortune.