Sunday, October 19

The house was chilly this morning, making it difficult to crawl out of bed. Since the central heat and air conditioning system was inspected and declared safe a couple of days ago, Hubbie, for the first time this season, turned on the heat long enough to knock the chill off the house.



After a hot breakfast of 8-grain cereal for me and cream of wheat for Hubbie, I donned shorts and a t-shirt and headed for the treadmill for a 40-minute workout. Mother came over while I was exercising and put together a meatless lasagna for lunch. It was very good at noon, served with salad, French style green beans, and cottage cheese. Even at 86 years old, Mother, who enjoys cooking, hasn't lost her touch in the kitchen.



We chose Jazz for our Sunday music today: "Canadian Brass Basin Street," "The Great Jazz Soloists, Finest Performances," and "Small Town Stories," from a group called Unified Jazz Ensemble.



This afternoon, we went downtown for an hour-long program sponsored by the local historical society, which was held at the old Pioneer cemetery. An emeritus professor/historical interpreter, in period costume, portrayed the first 1800s sheriff of the county, and a local museum educator, also in costume, played the wife of a 19th century doctor.



It was a beautiful, blue-sky, mild autumn day for strolling with the interpreters, as they moved among the old, weather-beaten headstones, relating stories about the lives and times of the Pioneers they portrayed. Competing events in town kept the crowd small today, but still about fifty of us gathered for this history tour.

The woman playing the doctor's wife was obviously suffering from a head cold. We were amused when she remarked, completely in character, "If I wasn't already dead, this cold might kill me."

Her statement made me grateful for modern medical science, because if I'd been born in Pioneer days, I'd have had several chances to perish. Over my lifetime, I've experienced appendicitis, diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, mumps, influenza, and heart disease, all of which are serious diseases today, but which were more deadly in the 1800s. Many women also died in childbirth, while I've been privileged to safely deliver three, in a modern hospital, under doctor supervision.