Room With a View

Quote of the day:
"I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."
--John Adams, after his first night in the just-completed White House

In a semi-private hospital room, one bed gets to be closer to the window, the other closer to the door.

A small blessing is that Merrie has the bed with the view. And it’s a good view from the fifth floor. She can see all the way to the surrounding hills.

Last night she was sitting by the window watching the trolley come and go, and saw the lights gradually come on across the city.

It brings to mind a recent “New Yorker” story on light pollution. In it, a researcher said that Americans almost never watch it get dark anymore. Instead, lights go on all around us.

The human body is built for cycles of light and dark. In the winter we often hear reports about the importance of being exposed to light. But we never hear about the effects of not getting enough dark.

It’s sort of like silence, I guess. We see it simply as something missing rather than an entity in itself. Peace is the same. We see it as just absence of war.

All things considered, Merrie is doing ok. The doctors continue to track her blood factors and make medication adjustments.

She did have time and enthusiasm yesterday to review and choose tile designs for our kitchen. The doctor on rounds declined to participate in that decision.