Time rolls on

Several weeks ago I went to the heart doctor for a checkup. He did the normal EKG and all that stuff, but when the doctor was examining me and checking my records he noticed it had been years since my last stress test and echo cardiogram, so he recommended both. The one is way next summer, but the stress test was scheduled right away. This is one test I don't enjoy so not looking forward to it. It was scheduled two weeks off, so in my mind I had two weeks before being stressed. You know what? It's like I turned around a couple times, and the test was here. Or so I thought. Turns out I took one of my meds, which made it impossible to do a stress test. So I'm still waiting anxiously for D-day or stress-Day. But it'll be here before I want it to be.

It seems like just yesterday Marge and I got married and worked on a ranch 18 miles southwest of Arthur, Nebraska. Newlyweds beginning life together without a clue what married life was all about. It is an absolute wonder we made it! In the years that followed, we had two kids and were enjoying the quiet life. I went to bed a couple times, and now we're going to our granddaughter's concert with her in the band. Where has time gone? It sure doesn't seem like 50 years or so have passed, but they have.

Not many years back, well maybe 30, Marge and our two boys and I'd all load up in December and head to Quincy, Missouri, to hunt deer during muzzleloader season. We all stayed in an old frame house that had seen better days with an old wood stove as the only heat source. Some years it was warm, but then there were times when someone left the barn door open, and the cold came down from Canada. One year I remember going to bed with the wood stove cranking and a portable kerosene heater running and I could see my breath. It was totally enjoyable.

The thoughts of doing that today makes me get the shivers. I think I'll have to pass. Way too cold for these bones of mine today. I kind of like the cold, but I also like a nice warm bed at night. Marge goes in an hour or two before bed time and cranks on the electric blanket and, voila, a nice warm bed. I also like waking up in the morning and not having to thaw the water before making coffee. It sure doesn't seem like that long ago, but it is! In a way I'd like to go back but too many seasons have passed since then.

So as this year comes to an end, I wonder what next year will be like? I kind of wonder what the weather will be like compared to years past! I wonder about COVID and its future impact, both the impact of old strains of COVID and the new strains that will be coming. I guess I wonder about the empathesis on all electric vehicles. I wonder about the changes in the weather patterns.

But to break it down to where I live I wonder if there will be eggs available for breakfast with the Avian flu messing with the bird populations. My heart goes out to all those who have had to suffer through their entire flocks being killed. Last summer was a tough year gardening-wise, so I wonder about next summers or the 2023 garden. This year's potato and corn crops were a bust, so wonder whether to even plant in 2023.

Lots of wonders and questions, but then life is not assured. Saying this facetiously, but in a blink of the eye and a couple naps it will be December 2023, and the year will be history. Hopefully we'll have meat in the freezer, canned veggies in the basement and some goodies frozen and in the freezer. My one hope and prayer is that our family, friends and loved ones will be safe, happy and blessed.