Tag Archives: koi fish

Monday 1-19-2026

“Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us

And then we’ll need no other light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

@TracyChrest989204 on Substack

I think this post from Tracy is stunning.

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We went to visit my husband at the nursing home this morning. It was a disappointing visit because it wasn’t a good day for him. He was fixated on me lowering the railing on his bed and finding his shoes so he could “get out of there.” He has no concept of his condition or situation, so it’s challenging to get around this when it happens. He was comfortable, though, and had no major complaints. He was happy we came. When I described working on the turtle jigsaw puzzle, he said, “I’m glad you’re having a good time.”

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I took a bag of clothes to the laundry this afternoon, taking a nice walk in the sunshine. I visited the koi fish while I was out –

and continued my walk after visiting with them for a few minutes. They are huge and beautiful. I could watch them for hours. The sun felt good and I finally warmed up after being too chilly all morning. I stayed on my side of the street, not attempting to cross any major streets. Doing that here is a major skill involving lots of judgment and experience, so I wait to do that when Brian is with me.

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Pinterest

Today is yoga stretching. I’m pairing that with stretches Brian showed me, plus some mini-sit-ups.

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When I finish my blog posts and yoga, I’m going to try to concentrate on sketching today. I have my windows open and a delicious breeze is going through my place. Opening the windows adds a lot of traffic noise, but I’m learning to embrace that as part of living in a city of 1.2 MILLION people…

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I hope you have a satisfying day.

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Day 3

Thank you to all of you who are bearing with me, only writing about my husband’s health lately. Please just skip over these and I hope I’ll be back soon with my more normal posts.

This is day 3 of my husband’s surgery for a stroke and fall. He is doing better. The surgery cleared the two arteries in his brain that were completely occluded and damage from the blockage was minimal, the doctors say. They are now focusing on his low heartbeats per minute and low blood pressure. This improved yesterday, and I’m hoping it will today, as well, so they will be able to take out the breathing tube

I long to hear his voice, hoping he can speak. I hope he is alert enough that we can explain his situation more clearly, see if he is able to walk without problem in the near future, and what the doctors recommend.

Our son and I are spending almost the entire visiting hours at his side, except when they are doing something where they ask us to leave for half an hour or so. There is a waiting area right down the hall. Otherwise we are watching the monitors, watching him, seeing the good care he is receiving, and are available if a doctor comes and wants to talk with us.

No one can no the future – even the good doctors.
We are all essentially waiting and doing all we can for him. We are there every time he opens his eyes, taking his hand, kissing his forehead, letting him know he isn’t alone. It’s sad that they are having to restrain his hands and feet, but it is essential now that he not disrupt the equipment. He tends to flail a lot when not restrained, putting himself and the equipment in danger.

Brian and I enjoyed a nice delivered breakfast of eggs and cheese, bacon, and a salad. We then took a walk to the laundry farther out, out by our koi pond, since the one in the building was closed. He showed me that he weighed the bag of laundry on a scale. There was a chart on the wall re the cost of the weight. He put the ticket with his name, phone number and email address and the payment in a bag and then put the bag inside the tied up laundry bag. Then there was a chute where you dropped your laundry. He says they will call or email him when the clothes are ready to be picked up. Interesting system!

We visited the koi for a bit and then continued our walk around the block. We will leave again in a minute to get a Grab to take us to the hospital for the day.

I hope to bring good news, and more regular blog posts in the coming days. Thanks again for bearing with me during this scary time.

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