Me 'n' Huck

"Reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated," said Huck Finn (or something like it) as he watched his own funeral from the rafters of the church. Well, all week long the neurologist repeated I'd had a stroke, a "hemorrhagic event" she called it (nothing at all like an academy award or a Bar Mitzvah), so all week long I dreaded the idea that Depends were in my near future. However, when the hospital finally did a blood work up (a little thing they'd neglected) it turned out that I had an unchecked urinary tract infection that seeped into my bloodstream and caused septicemia, blood poisoning. This displays the same symptoms as a stroke but a stroke it ain't. Keep your Depends. I'm outta here. And one day later I was.

I'm home now in the place I love most in this world, getting stronger every day and feeling like my old self. Something I learned this week: one can become old very quickly, overnight, my friends.One way to stave this off is to drink tons of water. Must stay hydrated. For years my kids have been telling me to drink more water, that coffee and beer wouldn't cut it. OK., kids, so now I'm a believer. Here comes the corny part: I feel like I've been given a gift. I could have died but I didn't. Instead, I learned that toughing it out in the old ways worked well enough when I was younger, but if I'm going to live long and heartily as the tough, old bastard I'd like to think I am, I'm going to have to change my ways. Suddenly, staying alive and healthy has become more important to me than another cinnamon roll. Discipline, a concept that had become quaint, is required. There's nothing cute about a crotchety old man. Come on, ref, lemme go another round and let's see what I can do! What's more important about another Baby Ruth bar that eclipses the love I have for family and friends? Yes. There. I said it. Love. I didn't mind being irresponsible when I could get away with it. Can't no more. Whenever I do shuck this mortal coil, I want it to be after a long, loving run. Nothing is more important than the people in my life. This week has shown me that. Nothing.

So now it's August, and I'm thrilled to be here. 'Til mid-October there's no place on earth more beautiful. Still warm and temperate, but now you see the occasional maple leaf turned copper-red in the grass, and there is a crispness in the air, a hint of Fall. Jamie and I picked wild blueberries yesterday. The trees are chock full of apples, a boon year for them. A large bough from our crab apple tree in the back came down in a wind storm. I never like to lose part of a tree, but this branch is filled with apples. Every evening a young buck in velvet comes to feed from it. My kids are fine. Dear friends have come through. Jamie is seeing to it that I drink more water.

Hang in there, buddy, I got a bet on ya! Here's the clincher: other people do, too.