The Motor City

succulent bunny doing well in our bathroom  Soon he can be taken outside...

Florida clouds and me: July 1958

My mom would have been 89 years today

Who doesn't need a big metal K above their mantel

more 'art' for the guest bathroom

My friend has been in the bone marrow transplant unit in a Detroit hospital since Valentine's Day mainly dealing with host versus graft disease. Her boyfriend has been unable to visit her due to being ill himself with something she can not be exposed to and few people are willing to drive all the way to Detroit. Would I please, please visit her? She is doing better and now can sip broth though for food, she is relying on a bag of white goo which goes directly into her veins. Once her system can handle real food, she can go home in about a week.

 

I thought I would bring Steve and visit the Detroit Institute of Arts or the Heidelberg project and eat at one of those restaurants in Ferndale but alas, he had a doctor's appointment to see about some strange benign growth on a finger. This will be removed in a few weeks. The new snow had melted again so I was good to go by myself to the huge medical complex. I found it quickly but finding the appropriate parking garage with NO signage took a while.

 

When was I last in Detroit? Half of the time on my many trips to Boston, I would go through it to get to Canada (the other times heading to Port Huron with less wait times at customs). Maybe when I drove Shanna  and the kids to Michigan once they left Boston for good in 2012?

 

She is on the tenth floor. At night, the view would be impressive but in the day, not so much. The CDC came in to deal with the C. diff epidemic the unit had. She was officially no longer ill with it so I didn't need to get into the full body suit I would have a week ago. Still they wiped everything down and I wore gloves and touched nothing of hers. We walked the halls for her to get some exercise. I suspect she was the healthiest patient there. We did come across one woman all made up with a sparkly head cap ( my friend wore a Red Wing stocking cap). We marveled that she had the energy to do that but then she was in a wheelchair despite being fairly young. I suspect only my friend had the energy (and blood cells) to walk.

 

We gabbed all afternoon. Turns out, we had attended the same elementary school in some dismal downriver suburb my father rented a house in while our house was being built. But during the semester I went there, she hadn't been born. She is 9 years younger.

 

The last day of winter. Hopefully it is today. This entire week has been slippery snow overnight that eventually melts by the end of the day only to be repeated the next night. Lots of slippery roads. Finally a path melted by late day yesterday. I will have to wait until almost noon today.

 

I should be concentrating on things to do inside here.