Cardiac Rehab and "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

For the first time since early last spring, it was cool enough for me to wear a denim jacket when I went to Cardiac Rehab this morning. The session was pretty routine, except that one of the patients kept complaining that he had pain in the left side of his neck and chest. The staff kept a close watch on him, but decided that he was in no real danger, since his heart monitor indicated nothing amiss, and his pain subsided in a few minutes. The registered nurse said that concern arises when a patient has pain with exertion that goes away during rest, rather than pain that comes and goes during exertion or during rest.

I spent the rest of the morning after Cardiac Rehab doing household chores before putting together a chef's salad lunch for Hubbie and myself.

Mother came over after lunch, and since we didn't have a project planned, we watched a 1999 adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that I'd recorded on a VCR tape a long time ago. Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Kline, Stanley Tucci, Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, and others star in this William Shakespeare tale set in turn-of-the-century Italy.

Shakespeare is a joy to hear when rendered by professional actors. Folks who say they can't understand Shakespeare should take time to sit down with one of the several DVDs featuring top actors in Shakespeare tales. The comedies are especially entertaining, but any of The Bard's works are great. The special effects, the beautiful early-1900s costumes, and the fairy costumes, as well as the sets of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" make it worth seeing.

Hubbie isn't up for Shakespeare, no matter how well it is done, so he spent most of the afternoon working in the yard. This morning, he helped the Master Gardeners clean up one of the public gardens that they are responsible for.