As of Monday evening (August 13th), our household was back intact. It was a long day of making, revising, and finalizing plans so that my wife could be discharged from the hospital. Since that time, I have found myself trying to figure out how to accommodate the changes in our situation. In some respects the circumstances are very different than they have been since September 2011; in other ways, they are much the same. There are still wound dressings, but a different type with a different schedule. There is also a homecare nurse, who is responsible for the actual dressing changes. I certainly appreciate being relieved of this duty. I worry about being able to manage an open wound longterm without introducing an infection and being able to identify subtle changes that would indicate an infection or other complication. The technology involved in the care of such a wound can also be daunting for the inexperienced and untrained. I suspect that after a year, I can no longer claim inexperience.

I hope to be able to resume moreorless regular entries in this blog. I have been reading and have accumulated a small stack of notes on thoughts and ideas, but these activities have not been able to break through my overriding concerns of the past four weeks. The topics are also quite diverse, yet there seems to be an underlying and common thread. Any apparent thread may simply be my attempt to tie things together; I continue to be convinced that people of genuine good will can get together, can acknowledge the sincerity of the other's position, and accept this diversity as enriching the whole of human experience and knowledge. Rodney King's question often comes to mind; "Can't we all get along?" This world is too small a place--the result of technology, geographical mobility, and the internationalization of so many aspects of our lives--that we cannot reasonably expect to live segregated lives. Our objective must be more than tolerance of the ignorance of others, that is, those different; ecumenism can not be a cover for evangelization, if we are to forge reasonable bonds across our divisions.

Last month I read two works by Kathleen Dean Moore; at least one of which was the subject of an earlier blog entry. I was able to locate the author's email address (Oregon State University) and sent a brief thank you note. What was even more surprising, than the fact that I received an answer, was that the author's response was sent less than three hours after my original email. Since this was the author's work email (She is a university professor.), I figured that even if I would receive a response, it would come after Labor Day.

What was originally estimated to be a seven-to-ten day hospital stay has morphed into a three-weeker. During the time since my last posting, base camp has been struck a number of times, interspersed with a similar number of brief returns home. We are now working towards a discharge date and return home on Monday, the 13th.

Much more unsettling than the prolonged hospital stay, the scheduled surgery was not as successful as originally outlined. This period of hospitalization was suppose to bring closure to a process that began last summer. My wife is now facing another surgery at a yet undetermined date. We trust that it will be sooner rather than later. That means there will be at least one more medical vacation for the non-hospitalized spouse.

I was either asked or the suggestion was made that I make up a pot of pea soup so that it is ready for the homecoming. The soup is now sitting on the back of the stove, where it will cool a bit, before being repackaged and placed in the refrigerator. There is a part of a loaf Swedish rye and a block of Colby cheese on hand for grilled cheese sandwiches to accompany the soup. If we are able to ascertain the medical/healing properties of pea soup with grilled cheese, these will become the subject of a future posting.