98 and 98

 It was 98 degrees yesterday. I have to be real careful. For a few days I was outside most of the day helping my friend who is fixing my RV door. The heat just kept getting to me in spite of the outside fan (electric wind) and copious amounts of water. I found myself super tired and lightheaded. Then I remembered to drink coconut water and that helped me a good bit. I also use my garden hose to spray my face while outside and that feels great.

My 98 year old neighbor died yesterday. She lived across the street from me. She told me once that she gets a real kick out of seeing Harley  go by on his bicycle.  (Well it's my bicycle, but he rides up front in the basket.) Lately she has been reluctantly carted off to the hospital a few times,  but in under 24 hours she was demanding to come back home so she can be with her cat. She said the hospitals just weren't any help to her as if they had no idea what to do with her at that age and she did not want to stay there. She wanted to be home. Her lot is on a curvy corner. Out her windows she could see the dog walkers, bicyclists, golf carts and cars go by her windows.

She has a helper that comes over about 4-5 days a week. Every holiday she has her helper decorating her yard and house plus tending to flowers in her garden. House being a tiny park model RV on a corner lot with trees, grass and flowers. Yesterday her helper arrived to find the door locked. Usually she is already up and dressed by the time the helper arrives. She unlocks the door for her but this morning the aid found the door was locked. She used her own key to enter the residence. She found her employer had passed away.

We all thought she would make it to 100+. She was sharp as a tack, never losing any of her mental faculties. However she refused to wear her hearing aid, so it was a tad maddening to always have to talk so LOUD. She was fiercely independent, like so many in this park.

God rest her soul.

It's dark thirty as I write this, but I found a pic of my little garden area and it shows her brown house across the street from me.

My new neighborhood keeps changing. I bought a tiny lot here last year because my condition has changed and I needed a home port to dock my rig.  Through a bizarre twist of events, I sold my little old 1995 motorhome and bought a 1992 fifth wheel trailer about 60 miles away. A transporter moved it to my lot, I did not own a pickup truck and fifth wheel hitch to do it myself.

The yellow house on the right (also an RV park model)  was occupied by my close friend Calvin, who passed away 5 months ago. A new owner took over his place within weeks of his death. I was surprised at how quickly that unfolded. Ironically, the final trip in my motorhome (before it was sold) was the day I drove it up to the nearby hospice to tell Calvin it was a beautiful day for him to come home to sit on his front porch. I told him he didn't belong in hospice. In the past, we had so many fabulous conversations loaded with laughter on his front porch. My voice was hoarse, but I held his hand and leaned over talking close to his ear so he could hear me. Early the next morning he was gone.

A close friend drove the dog and I to Calvin's funeral and then to the National Cemetery. My dog waited quietly in the van. Then when Calvin's casket arrived, he let out this long loud pitiful howling wail that silenced the murmuring in the crowd. It was the eeriest sound I have ever heard that tiny creature make. He was saying goodbye to his friend Calvin.

To the left (not shown in pic) was an abandoned RV trailer. Recently it was hauled off and the lot put up for sale. I invited a lady I knew to buy it because I thought she would make a great neighbor. Well she managed to buy it and is very happy there.

Losing both my neighbors in such a short time, has been a bit startling.