Friday, October 5, 2007
St Vrain SP, Longmont, CO - Sept 24-Oct 3
The main reason for our return was medical, for Doug and Amber. When Doug was last in town, his eye doctor noticed a small discoloration on his right eye and wanted to check it out in a few weeks. She could not be there for the appt, but her associate was able to find it and reported that the size had diminished from "smaller than 1 mm" to "the size of a pinhole" (ouch). 
Doug had also noticed, around the beginning of Sept, that the index finger on his left hand would not uncurl when he woke up in the morning. He could work it out, but it seemed to be getting progressively worse. He saw a hand doctor, who called the condition "trigger finger" and even had a write-up telling all about it in layman's terms. He gave Doug a cortisone shot (REAL OUCH!!!) and said if the condition returns, he would need surgery. Other medical appts & follow-ups were non-eventful. YAY!
Amber had blood in her urine when we last visited, so we took her back to the Humane Society, where she sat hunched up all day, looking miserable & hissing whenever anyone walked by, but not producing any urine. So we drove her back and locked her in the bedroom, and FINALLY at 11:30 she performed (they give you black plastic crystals to use instead of litter for this process). The next day we took in her sample and they confirmed she still had blood, so then we had to take her in for an ultrasound, and of course they had to anesthetize her, she being "fractious", as they call it. They couldn't find anything wrong with her (physically, that is) which actually is the good news, if you don't consider all the money we just tossed. Anyway, Amber is back home safe & sound(?) and as affectionate as ever, and if she's ever diagnosed with blood in her urine again, we can just say "tough". They will culture the urine retrieved while under sedation and if she has any infection, we will have to give her antibiotics -- much cheaper and less traumatic than surgery or visits to the vet!
We went on our usual social binge, but were able to drive into the mountains one afternoon to look at fall colors. We especially enjoyed the town of Nederland, which is where all the hippies moved after the yuppies took over Boulder. 
Every year, for example, they celebrate Frozen Dead Guy Days, which honors Bredo Morstoel, or as he is better known, Grandpa in the Tuff Shed. For full details go to http://www.nederlandchamber.org/info/frozen.htm,
but in brief, he is the grandfather of Trygve Bauge, whom we have actually met and can attest to the fact that he is a real piece of work. Bredo was cryogenically prepared after his death in 1989 and has been on dry ice ever since, awaiting that time when medicine is sufficiently advanced to bring him back to life. 
Trygve meanwhile, a libertarian supreme, got shipped back to his native Norway for failing to possess a Green Card. While waiting in the airport during his deportation, he loudly joked about hijacking the plane, thereby assuring that he would never set foot in this country again. 
These are the slices of Americana that we frequently run into in our travels, and that people who travel 400-mile days and sleep over in Wal-Marts never get to see. Who knows -- maybe Crawford NE has its own Trygve Bauge.# posted by Doug and Willie @ 4:10 PM 
