12/25/23

 Monday, December 25, 2023

In bed by 10, awake at 4:55.  Let Lilly out.  45°, high of 48°, rain expected late afternoon and most of the night.  Wind SSE at 10 mph, 9-18/33. 0.5" of rain expected in the next 24 hours.  Sunrise at 7:22, sunset at 4:21, 8+59.  This date last year:   3 degrees outside, high of 11, wind out of the NW at 16 mph, wind chill 16 below zero.

Pain; treadmill.  Woke up with left shoulder and midback pain, tightness in lower back & PF.   30:08 & 0.65 listening to a podcast on YouTube on Mahler's 2nd "Resurrection" Symphony.  

I'm grateful for being a member of families today though Geri & I are flying solo today.  Birth family, extended family, families by marriage, all enriching and supporting.  I'm thinking of the Kovacs family in Geretshried that has taken Sarah in as one of their own and of the Hoanh family that has done the same to Andy.  I'm thinking of my niece Chrissi in Arizona and worrying that she hasn't contacted me after getting the toffee we sent which was delivered on the 21st and after getting my text message this morning which was delivered at 9:53 a.m.  I send the coffee in memory and honor of my dear sister who I know would want me to keep in touch with her family after her passing.

Kitty's wedding which I missed because of a field exercise at USMA West Point, 

Maestro  We watched Bradley Cooper's movie this afternoon, or rather, Geri watched the first half and I the whole movie.  I didn't care much for the first half.  Cooper's Leonard Bernstein seemed larger than life, though it was probably the case that he was larger than life.  I am a little surprised that I didn't know that he was bisexual and mostly homosexual.  There were several captivating scenes in the film including the scene in which the maestro conducted Mahler's 2nd Symphony, but my attention was held mostly by Carrie Mulligan's portrayal of Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein and the challenge of being married to Bernstein.  It was interesting that the credits for the movie listed Mulligan above Cooper though Cooper had the title role, directed the film, and was one of the producers of the film (along with Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

Geri's sick today, seemingly sicker than yesterday.  I think she may be paying a price for her cooking and baking efforts over the last two days, but you can't keep a good woman down.  She is still beset with the coughing and discolored mucous this evening which at least suggests that it is a separate infection and not a continuation of the covid.  Whatever it is, she is suffering with it.  It's been a rough 4 or 5 weeks for her.  

    It has been a quiet day here.  No visitors though we are hoping that Steve will drive up from Chicago tomorrow.  He's concerned that Geri has what she has been calling laryngitis because of her hoarseness, though I don't think it's really laryngitis.  He'll check on her condition in the morning and hopefully decide to come up.  I always enjoy his visits not only because he always seems to help us with some stuff we are not able to do ourselves (like schlepping 40-pound bags of water softening salt, etc.) but because he is so incredibly bright and well-informed and a pleasure to schmooze with.  I call him my doppelganger because of our similar range of interests.  All of our children are bright as can be (I say modestly.😀)