Through The Fog And Back Again With A Few Thoughts

Yes, for the last several months my life has been immersed in a mass of overwhelming detail, a plethora of responsibilities and the thickest fog of deceit.  The latter has been by far the most harmful for lies dressed up as candied truths are often difficult to sniff out.  It has taken a lot of determination and a reawakening of the mathematical side of my brain to navigate the turbulent drops life has forced me to negotiate.  But, after clearing my lungs from cold water and miasmic air, I feel a new sense of strength and direction.

In the interim, we had to sell our family home in Medford Oregon, because of financial difficulties.  This was hard for me as the home represented more than 20 years of memories.  I had also stored my better minerals there along with a myriad of books and records.  Fortunately, my manager, Charles Decker, brought my minerals home to California and put the remaining items in his guesthouse.  Thank you, Charles!

Again, for financial reasons, I decided to sell my mineral collection.  Luckily, Ryan Christianson, eBay’s mineral man, was in need of new inventory and bought most of the collection:   a green variscite, a small cluster of bright purple amethyst crystals, a geode with quartz crystals and a fascinating light brown incrustation escaped the sale.  There was also my mineral room in the garage with specimens caked with dirt and shiny metallic grains.  I set up those specimens along our brick wall.  Now, the line of specimens is 70′ long!  But, clearing the mineral room felt like a death.  The young boy who collected specimens vanished into the shadows forever.

I also decided to sell my Lewis Collection of books and other memorabilia.  That meant cataloguing each item as well as researching for a reasonable price.  Then, I set up a file that included all the pertinent data and the condition of the item.  That collection is still for sale.

In the meantime, my sister and I continue to work with Dad, giving him simple arithmetic problems to keep his mind alert.  We try to waken his mind in other ways:  by bringing up memories, taking him to places from his childhood and encouraging him to talk with others.  His mind continues to surprise us as when he translated a French passage from Alexis de Tocqueville into English!  His knowledge of Latin also remains intact.  And sometimes he makes us think!

I continue to have health problems, but some sort of equilibrium seems within reach.  So, I look forward to putting up occasional posts in the future.  I do hope they prove of interest.