Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 111

Feeling like Humpty-Dumpty

I went to bed last night not able to decide what to blog about today – our camping trip last month, our trip to the Brewers game last weekend, more about my travels to Kenya in April or maybe just a complaint about the crazy weather we’ve been having or even world events. I woke up this morning thinking that instead of all of that, it was time to come clean about how I’ve really been feeling the last five months.
It started around the first of the year when we started losing people at the clinic where I work. When fully staffed we are at four physicians and four advanced practice providers (i.e. nurse practitioner or physician assistant). Right now we have two NPs, two full-time doctors and one doctor working three days a week. A new NP just started, but she is not up to speed yet and won’t be for a while. We have two doctors coming in to help out a few days a week, but they are mostly seeing walk-ins and not really picking up the slack of our regular patients with their chronic needs.
You would think that at least this would mean we have plenty of help with these few providers, but we have lost as many patient care staff as we have providers. Also, management has made cuts to some of our ancillary staff as well, so those of us who are left are doing multiple jobs.
And finally, add to that that we went to a new electronic medical record on February 14. No one cares too much for the new system. Everything we do in it seems to take a few extra steps and I am getting too old to remember all of that. I come home late from work every night wanting to do nothing but crawl into bed.
Then, as you know, the very next day, my mom passed away. I was ready for it and have written about it here already. I know that a person doesn’t just get over the death of a loved one and I have to deal with it over time. Shoot, I’m still not over Dad dying 24 years ago or Pat 18 years ago. I suppose that’s part of the problem. How many people can I keep stored up in my heart without giving them wings to fly free?
I really, really, really thought I was coping, though. Then I went back to Africa. Only people who have done volunteer work in a third world country can understand what kind of a loss one feels when they return from such a trip. And having returned from Kenya four times now, each time that feeling is stronger.
Since October the one bright star on my horizon has been that my first novel, “Where the Sky Meets the Sand”, was going to be published this spring. However, through a series of events on not only my publisher’s part, but mine as well, that process continues to get moved back. All of the internal work on it is now done, I am just waiting for the cover to be finalized. But I still don’t have a date for when it will be released. I’d like to start marketing it, but without that date as well as the finished cover, it makes it tough. Besides, along with not feeling like doing anything else, I don’t feel like doing that.
So, my to-do list, which I have not been tending to includes: marketing that novel, scheduling some book-signings, writing a business plan for my writing career in general and that book in particular, cleaning the spare bedroom where a bunch of Mom’s stuff ended up, scanning all the old family pictures I inherited from Mom, starting to plan the next trip to Kenya with Tumaini Volunteers, promoting Tumaini Volunteers, setting up some arts and crafts sales for Tumaini Volunteers, finishing writing the second novel that I am half-way done with, trying to work out and getting in shape and I am sure there are about ten more things I should be doing.

So, yea, it’s overwhelming and I try to sit back and not worry about it all. Try to just enjoy the simple things, appreciate family and friends, my house, my yard. But I feel like Humpty-Dumpty – just don’t see how the pieces are all going to fit back together. Hoping that getting it off my chest is cathartic. 
But right now, I really should be getting ready for work. I will keep you posted. 

Fathers Day and the American Pastime

 Fathers, do not be too hard on your children so they will become angry. Teach them in their growing years with Christian teaching. (Ephesians 6:4 New Life Version)
 I have so many memories of my dad as I was a kid growing up. Playing cribbage, sitting on the couch next to him watching TV shows like The Art Linkletter Show and later on Columbo. Helping him in the potato patch, or more like watching him plant or hoe or dig up potatoes. And on hot summer nights, with windows open, one fan blowing and only one light on in the house, to supposedly keep it cool, we’d listen to Bob Uecker give the play-by-play on the radio for the Milwaukee Brewers. Dad would make us chocolate milkshakes using the electric hand mixer, as we didn’t have a blender.
I vaguely remember going to a Brewers game in the old county stadium, but for the life of me can’t remember when that was or who I went with. Maybe I dreamed it.
In any event, I went to my first game at Miller Park this past Friday. Beautiful stadium and a great game. I just wish Dad could have been there with me. Oh, but maybe he was. In spirit.
Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. And to you kids whose fathers are still alive, take them out to the ball game.
Lord God, thank You for blessing me with a dad who raised me right and left me with so many good memories. And God, thank You for being my Father in Heaven forever. Amen.  

My Crocodile Diary

Surely one of the more misunderstood creatures in the animal kingdom is the crocodile. We tend to view him as nothing but a vicious carnivore who has one thing on his mind – food and killing to get it. I can’t say that I’m so different though, except maybe about the killing part, but the eating part is pretty high on my radar during my every waking moment.
I recently saw a video of a man with a pet crocodile (or in all honestly it could have been an alligator – there are a lot of differences between the two but I think we see both of them as killing machines). So this guy was swimming with his reptilian friend and kissing his scaly snoot. I would never suggest doing that or think of doing it myself, but I think every creature needs a friend.
There are fourteen distinct species of crocodiles. The most aggressive, largest and most common is the Saltwater Crocodile. Second in each of these categories is probably the Nile Crocodile, which is most common in Eastern Africa. Here are my encounters with that ancient beast on three different trips to Kenya.
On safari in 2006, we saw him from a significant distance. I zoomed the camera in as far as I could and still zoomed some more when I put the picture on my computer.   On safari in 2015, at least he was on my side of the river. This past April, we visited the Mamba Village Nairobi Crocodile Farm. Though they look pretty docile dozing in their enclosure, you don’t want to fall in with them.
Then there are the young ones. Who can resist the babies of any species?  At first, I thought, "I am never gonna hold this critter."But we did kind of bond. 

First Camping Trip 2017

Hard to believe that it was almost a month ago that Hubby and I took our first camping trip of the season. Also hard to believe that it got down to 33 degrees outside both nights (probably hovered in the 40s in the camper!). The rains have continued since then. Hubby wanted to go in the early spring to see waterfalls when the water was high. Ha! At the rate the weather is going, his wish would still be granted.
We stayed at Bewabic State Park, just west of Crystal Falls Michigan. My sister Pat and I had camped there a few times in the early 1980s. At that time, we mostly wanted a site which was private and level for our tent. Now, with the popup camper, we need a larger site which is easy to get in to. Can’t get much easier than a site you can drive through. I think I could even park here by myself, but Hubby has serious doubts about that.   My side of the camper. 
 Hubby’s side. Ok, this was after spending a night and a day here, but my side was still as neat as when I set it up. 
 Bewabic sits on Fortune Lake. A little cold that weekend for anyone to go swimming except for the geese. 
  A few miles up the road is a roadside park with a well-marked trail to Canyon Falls on the Sturgeon River. 
 I want to post more pictures sometime, when I have scanned the pictures from those earlier trips. 
 Canyon Falls. Some day I’ll have to share a comical story about this spot from one of those earlier trips.  
    Powerhouse Falls on the Falls River just outside of L’Anse. I don’t clearly remember having been here before, but it was a little like Deja Vu.
 One of our other goals, besides seeing waterfalls at full power, was checking on our favorite campground, McLain State Park. There had been more erosion over the winter. Incredible the power of Lake Superior, huh? 
We’ll return to camp there again some time, but not this year. 

Look for the Rainbow

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”Genesis 9 (New International Version)
I was having a hard time last night coming up with something to write about here this morning. I wasted time, as usual, scrolling through Facebook posts. Someone had shared a picture of a rainbow, and I thought – ah-ha – that’s it.
Why are we so fascinated by rainbows? Why do we drop what we are doing when we see one? Or if it is late in the day and it’s been raining when the sun suddenly comes out, why do we start looking for the rainbow in the eastern sky? (Or am I the only one who does that?)
A lot of people have read the passage above or at least know the story of God sending the rainbow after the flood. But I think that without even knowing this story, we want to look for something beautiful after the storm. We have an innate desire for there to be something better on the other side. God knew this about us when he created us and so He sent the rainbow to Noah and Jesus to the rest of us.
Thank You, Lord God, for all that you send us, for granting us something good at the end of every trial. But mostly thank You for sending Your Son to save us. Amen.   While in Kenya in April, we witnessed not one, but two rainbows. The first one was as we were going into the Rift Valley one morning after a rain shower
 The second one was late in the day right in town while we were waiting for one of the girls to get her hair braided. 

Baby Elephants!

I once again frittered away much of this week and woke up this morning realizing that I haven’t posted here since Tuesday. There are so many adventures (misadventures, more like it) that I have left to share, but my laziness leaves me with only time to post pictures.
While in Kenya, two months ago today, we spent the day touring various animal parks in and around Nairobi. I feel I bonded with the baby crocodile the most, but that is a story for another time, since today I wanted to just share the baby elephant pictures instead.
All these pictures were taken at the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. How can you not fall in love with an orphaned baby elephant?









For more information on these elephants and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, click here. 

He ain't heavy, he's my brother.

I don’t write much about my brother, perhaps because I never thought there was much to say.  He’s sixteen years older than I am, so he wasn’t much of a part of my childhood. When I was in middle school and high school, he lived at home in a room above the garage for a while, but I only ever saw him at supper-time.
For many years now, I’ve only seen him a few times a year and talked to him on the phone only a few times more. Since Mom passed away in February, our contact has been much more frequent. This past Sunday, we spent the day together at a niece’s family picnic. He shared some stories from his youth that I have never heard. I’m sure he has a lot more to say, and maybe I need to make the effort to hear them.
In honor of his birthday today, I’m sharing some of the old pictures of him that I found in Mom’s stuff. Lucky for me, he doesn’t have internet, so if you know him and run into him this week, don’t tell him I posted this. But you can wish him a happy birthday.   Happy birthday, you dashing older man.

Graduation Day 2017

Today is high school graduation here in my hometown. I haven’t been to graduation since my second-born graduated in 2008. I’d be proud to call the girl graduating today my daughter, but instead I just got to borrow her a few times a month over the last seven years. I wish her the very best and I hope she knows that I will always be there for her.  2011 July - my backyard   2011 September - at Timm's Hill 2012 August - my backyard   2012 September - at Kelly Arms Castle    2013 May - Colton Dixon concert in Milwaukee  2013 October - Bowling  2014 August - Chism Ranch for our yearly horseback ride   2014 December - Christmas! 2015 December - Another Christmas  2016 February - modeling her new outfit in Petsmart   2016 April - going to Prom  2017 May - with her art at the Senior Art Show Ciaara, I'm so proud of you. Remember, you can do anything you put your mind to.

(It only takes an hour a week or four hours a month to change the life of a child and change your own life as well. Get involved. No matter where you live. http://kinshipinc.org/affiliate-network/ or http://www.mentoring.org/ )

This Time of Year

When I was growing up, every year in May, Mom went on a rhubarb cake frenzy. Her sister, her boss, several friends and even herself all had birthdays in May. A friend of hers, who raised corn and gladiolas (probably other stuff, but those are the things I remember), also grew rhubarb plants. So every May, she would fork over paper grocery bags full of rhubarb, which Mom baked into nontraditional birthday cakes for everyone she knew.
At the time, I didn’t like rhubarb cake. I didn’t like raisins, walnuts, or oatmeal either. I still can’t tolerate a bowl of cooked oatmeal – it’s like eating phlegm – but at least I’ll eat me some oatmeal cookies now. I’ve expanded my tastes and textures (except when it comes to phlegm), so have grown fond of rhubarb cake.
Here’s Ma’s recipe, as I copied it from her hand-written index card.
Rhubarb Cake1/3 cup shortening1 cup sugar1 egg¾ cup milk1 2/3 cup flourSalt 1 tsp soda2 cups raw rhubarbMix as for cake. Put in 9 x 12 panTopping½ cup white sugar½ cup brown sugarCinnamon½ cup chopped nutsPat on topping. Bake 350 for 40 minutes 


 For those of you who want exact measures, I use ½ teaspoon salt. Mom had an old yellow coffee cup with a broken handle that she kept on her stove filled with salt. Whenever she was cooking or baking, she’d dip a kitchen spoon in the salt and add a random amount to whatever she was making. It always worked. And the cinnamon? At least a teaspoon, coz you can’t have too much cinnamon. Also, the pan needs to be greased. I also cut back on the brown and white sugar in the topping to a third cup. It’s good with more, but messy coz it’s too thick to bake into the cake.

















 

One last thought on rhubarb cake. When we were camping one time, Mom took a rhubarb cake along to eat. She stored it in the camper’s oven when we were traveling, but forgot it when we got home. A couple weeks later, looking for that metal cake pan, she remembered where she’d left it. I don’t remember what was left of the cake as being a moldy, dried up mess. What I do remember though, after we scraped it out, was that the acid from the rhubarb had eaten holes in the metal pan. Just a word to the wise. 

A Ride with my two Besties

I’ve really enjoyed sharing my pictures from my recent trip to Africa, but as promised, I will start sprinkling in other adventures. I’m not done with Kenya, though, so stay tuned if you aren’t completely bored with it yet.
Earlier this year, as I was beginning to make our summer camping plans, I found out that the state park that we always go to in the UP had a significant amount of damage over the winter. Lake Superior eroded away so much of the shoreline that they lost part of the road and there was damage to the water lines to the restrooms. They didn’t know how much of the campground would be open for the summer or what services would be available. With heavy hearts, Hubby and I decided maybe we should try a different place this summer.  The last weekend in April, we took a ride west of here to check out a few places.
Of course, we made a lot of stops along the way. The first was the historic stone bridge in Spirit.  Next we stopped at the church in Ogema, just because they had a rummage sale. We surely don’t need any more rummage at our house, but couldn’t pass up the baked goods.   The South Fork of the Jump River at Copper Dam campsite. I bet the water is even higher now. The campsite, however, was a little too rustic for us.
 At Lions Memorial Park on the Chequamegon Waters Flowage. 
 My handsome Dino. 
 Chippewa Campground near Hannibal in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Still rustic, but I think it could work for us. At least the campsites were large.
 The Chippewa River near Jim Falls.
 The only picture I took at Lake Wissota State Park in Chippewa Falls. I must have just been tired by then. Or else…