Happy Saturday morning:

“It’s possible I suffer from iatrophobia, or fear of doctors. The only way to be certain is to be diagnosed by mental health professionals, and they tend to be doctors.” ~ Cindy Lane Poch

Yup. I got caught. A couple of weeks ago I had my eye exam. This week, via a hand written note, my insurance company informed me that this would be the last time they would “authorize” a visit to a specialist (my eye doctor) without me first having my wellness exam.

My kids will happily parrot all the old saws regarding ‘prevention.’ The insurance company sends me bi-weekly flyers dealing with the joys of wellness by showing happy folk walking about with elephants following them around. Personally, I am doing great, hike (without an elephant), kayak (with a life preserver – I am no fool), and merrily swim in 65 degree water at the lake (yes, 65 degrees is the near mid-summer temp). Problem is, I am managing my wellness without co-pays and it frustrates them.

Dr. Marcus Welby, where are you?

Kitchen design – Last Monday, exactly on time, the IKEA kitchen specialist arrived. I had my portable workbench set up for his laptop and three bag chairs placed around it. For three hours he measured, he drew, he re-drew, we discussed, and he drew some more.

Finally, with a “Sharpie,” he drew outlines of the key elements on the kitchen floor and packed it in (no worry, eventually that floor will be torn out). Two hours later I got a mail from him with attachments and a password protected link.

There was our kitchen plan. Subsequent pages had every component broken out and priced. Purchase and installation pricing were totaled. And a 3D rendering completely able to be rotated was made available.

Aside from actually having the final product we were thrilled with the rendering and the detail.

Selling is a Pain – For most all of the winter we’ve had a small piece of rental property on sale. Over time it had become more of a management burden to keep it. Now we are dealing with an offer.

Slowly it’s sinking in by both Marcia and I that this part of the process might actually be more of a pain than dealing with it as a rental – even as we had p.i.t.a. tenants to deal with.

This coming week we should have closure – one way or other. Fingers crossed.

Today is a special morning with a Red Tail – Shortly after finishing this post I’ll be heading for our Local North Avondale Montessori School for a pancake breakfast. “Ho-hum” you say. “Wrong”, I say. This will be wonderful and very special.

Special guests at the breakfast will be two gentlemen; Herb Heilbrun who was a B-17 bomber pilot during WWII and John Leahr, a P-51 fighter pilot – one of the famed Tuskegee “Red Tail” pilots assigned to protect the bombers on their missions.

And that is just the beginning. Heilbrun lived on the street immediately behind ours. Leahr lived a half mile away from our home. One black, the other white, they attended our neighboring North Avondale School (in fact they were both in the same third grade). And yes, this is the same school three of the grandkids currently attend. And yes, this school was one of the very first in the nation to be an integrated school.

Due to Jim Crow restrictions and life events it was not until 50 years later that these two re-connected only to complain that they’d lost 50 years of friendship.

Anyway, unbeknown to both during that time, it was Leahr who flew cover for Heilbrun. Their story is chronicled in the pages of; Black and White Airmen: Their True History.

This morning it will be a true privilege to spend a little time with them and listen to them tell their tale.

Can you tell I am excited?

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Animal Planet –Keith who owns the Trading Post near Northern Comfort was right, early in the week the ice came off the lake. Keith is HUGE when it comes to forecasting.

What else is becoming a pain is the stray cat who thinks he’s home. We don’t feed it, we chase it away with a water spray, and guns are frowned on in the city. But, every time you look around it’s back resting on the mat by the back door. The grandkids think it’s absolutely super, while I just smile and talk about ‘swimming’ lessons for kitty. What to do, what to do.

Fini – Now, before everything else kicks in, I am going to listen to a bit of Ray Wylie Hubbard. Last evening Marcia and I happened to watch Jammin at Hippie Jack’s ( ) where Ray Wylie was the featured artist. If you’re not familiar, he’s a Texas Country singer noted for his call-out; “Screw You, We’re From Texas.”

Make it a great week everyone, stay safe.

Cheers.
Dirk

From the Archives (due to time constraints no Archive – it’ll reappear next week)