Hearts And Dreamers Both Murmur

Word of the Post
Today's word is: fibrillation
/fi'bril*la"tion/ noun
An act or process of forming fibers or fibrils; a muscular twitching involving individual muscle fibers acting without coordination; very rapid irregular contractions of the muscle fibers of the heart resulting in a lack of synchronism between heartbeat and pulse, caused by the abnormal discharge of electrical nerve impulses. Ventricular fibrillation is life-threatening.
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I have had a busy week. Last Tuesday I left home to go be with some friends in St. Louis. I drove there from here... and that took me 9 1/2 hours. I stop a lot more often when I drive alone. I think it is because I have to stay awake, so I get out and move more often. I don't have anyone to keep me awake, to navigate for me, to help me merge onto the new highways in strange cities. I just go as long as my legs, back and bladder can stand, and I jam to loud music all the way. I stayed there until Saturday, and then drove home in two days, with a pit stop in Kansas to see family.

Let me show you the reason I went.



This is the little girl, my friend, Ani. She is Ferret's daughter. This is her back before the surgery that she had on Friday, May 11. The surgery was to straighten her back, and put supporting rods next to it, so that her back will grow straight, and her ribs will not crush her lungs and other organs, due to the curve of her spine. Being straightened gave her new height, we guess about three inches.



This is Ani, after the surgery, feeling good enough to drive, and learning early to drive while talking on the phone to her great-grandmother. This is after the actual conversation. I told Ferret that she was teaching the girl bad habits early. We all had a good laugh, and then took a picture with Ferret's phone (with Ani using my phone) to send to Daddy. Notice Ani in her new back brace. It now wraps around her completely, in two pieces, not just one, and she got to pick the design they put on the overlay. There was a boy there who had picked camouflage. Hers is lilac with butterflies all over it. Now she does not have to be embarrassed about her "ugly" old brace being on the outside of her clothes. She has a pretty, and original turtle shell that she designed.

Speaking of turtle shells, countless armadillos, skunks, and opossums littered the roads in both directions. I was about 20 miles away from my aunt's house, at around 11:00 pm on Saturday night, and I nearly hit a deer. The doe just decided that the grass must be greener on the other side of the road. That will make your heart work overtime for a while. Also, was talking on the phone to DH on Sunday afternoon around 4:30 pm, and had just folded the phone to end the call, and nearly hit a HUGE turtle who also decided the grass must be examined from the comfort of being in my way. Visions of Mario Bros. danced in my head, spinning turtle shells, and scoring points for jumping on them. He was as big as my hubcaps, maybe bigger!



The fact that we were in St. Louis was an excuse to get Ferret out of the hospital with a friend, while Grandpa stayed with Ani for a morning. Hooray for Sunlight! Poor Grandpa got a very late start to getting home to Wichita, but Ferret needed to get out for a while. We went to the Arch, and got a few amazing pictures, and then went back. We didn't go up in the arch until Saturday, when we had Ani and Daddy with us.



This is the apex of the arch, from the inside, and then from the outside. Cool, no?


If you click on the outside picture, you can see it closer, and tell that there are windows up there. The windows are not much bigger than a standard QWERTY keyboard. They can't be any bigger than that, or they would simply shatter from the air pressure at that height.

And then for the simple joy of tormenting my mother....



This is a park with a pond near the north base of the Arch. It is a quiet little spot. Mom told me that if we drove into downtown St. Louis, not to get out in strange neighborhoods, lock all the doors, and get out fast. I never went into the East St. Louis side of things. The Arch is as close to downtown as I got. But, if you look carefully... this is a shot of a man getting arrested, while his two buddies sit quietly by. They must have been read the Miranda rights already, and were just being good little (insert crime here: druggie, gunfighter, thief, wife-beater) citizens Joe. Reminds me of a comic named Ralphie May. "I live in a dangerous part of Los Angeles. It's called... Los Angeles." I went to the dangerous part of St. Louis, it's called.... St. Louis.

The train was fine, except for the strange lady with huge plastic bags all over three seats around her, and the conversation she seemed to be having with an empty chair. I turned around once to talk to Ferret, and the lady told ME to mind my business. Yeah, sure, whatever you say, creepy lady. We were happy to get away from her; we got off at Busch Stadium, and got a few pictures, and then waited for the train to take us back from whence we had come.



And, finally for today, you get a rare treat. I don't like having my picture taken, I would rather be behind the camera. So... I give you the rarest of sights. Me. This is me, standing in the middle of the Arch, that is the north end; photo on my digital camera by Ferret. She is a photographer by trade, her alter-ego is a Title Clerk at a car dealership because the photography doesn't pay enough, yet. But, if she can make me look small... she can perform other minor miracles with a camera, as well. Happy Trails!