There is no heat in Ohio

A quickie while I moderate comments, fix the layout theme and then update; Mom I believe was released from the hospital yesterday today but is still on oxygen. A full recovery is expected but she does have permanent lung damage (I believe). It was a gift to visit her and my siblings. Maybe next time we’ll do it without the hospital. I’m sick as a dog but finally feeling better after sleeping for about 300 hours.

It has come to my attention that certain words are NOT, contrary to my belief, international words. At the Houston airport, between flights, I purchased a sandwich. I’ve become so accustomed to spicy food that while I eschewed any idea of dairy, I definitely needed something hot. I asked if they had a “salsa picante” and honestly, I’m still having trouble believing that phrase is not universally understood. The sandwich maker had NO idea WHAT I was asking for. I translated for him, “do you have a spicy sauce?” and his co-worker, spurred to action with a translation they could deal with found some Louisiana hot sauce. Louisiana, I’m sorry. If that sauce was indicative of your spice quotient, we’ll be giving your hot sauce a pass. Twarnt neither hot nor spicy.

We were so lucky to be able to stay at my Aunt Marge’s house in Akron (or was it Barberton?) but those Ohio people sure have a funny idea about what is warm. I had frequent fantasies of donning a downy warm coat. I took my warmest item; a sweatshirt, but it was no match for the frigid Ohio summer. When I was packing for the trip, I added shoes and socks but never imagined I’d use them as summer weather, even in Ohio, should certainly be flip-flop weather. I can only hope that Akron was experiencing a freak summer cold snap; I was so cold the entire time. It was incredibly disconcerting to walk out of a building into weather that was COLDER than the climate inside! I’m used to an invisible wall of heat; weather from a furnace blasting at your body when escaping the A/C of the building. It only took me a couple days to remember that I needed to brace for cold instead of heat when leaving a building but it never left me, the oddity of leaving a building and not being hammered with heat. And I can’t tell you, how oddly comfortable it was, to return to 90’s F and 90+% humidity. I was finally warm. But those poor Akronians in shorts and short sleeved shirts; I can only believe they were trying to encourage warmth to errupt.

Don’t get me started on the lack of spicy food in Ohio; apparently my taste buds have changed such that Ohio “spicy” and my spicy are worlds apart. It was so nice to head to Costco, immediately after Jamie and the kids picked me up, and get samples that activated my spicy buds.

But not all of Ohio was cold; we siblings had an amazing opportunity to visit with Mom and Dad and each other, completely unencumbered by children; so much so that we have vowed to make it happen without a parent hospitalized. The amazing warmth, hospitality and care we received from our Ohio relatives was mind blowing and so appreciated.

Tomorrow will be back to business as usual; find out if and when the abaniles (cement workers) will show up; see what was done in the week I was gone and figure out how much we’ll pay for what. We also need to renew our car permit as it looks like we’re not going to be able to leave before it expires. And I’m sure you’ll want progress photos of the palapa. I spent today in bed; sleeping the day away after a week of progressively less sleep each consecutive night. That and sitting next to a woman hacking up a lung exhausted me. It’s good to be home again.