Today is Presidents Day. This is the day the President came out of his hole and saw his shadow. That means 1353 more days of chaos. Oh for joy.

We are now at Bosque del Apache NWR having arrived here on Saturday. If you are keeping score on FB, this is old news for you. Our original plans called for us to be here starting on March 1 through the end of June. Because of our medical challenges causing us to spend a month and a half in ABQ, our schedule has changed, and we are starting early at Bosque.

We also have a volunteer gig campground hosting at a NWR in Alaska starting in May. Our plan was to leave Bosque the first of May rather than the first of July. However…I’m getting to hate that word… because of the uncertainties of Shannon’s heart issues, we are running out of time to fully address the issues, and now her regular doctor told her last week that she  should not go to Alaska. Sigh. Alaska. The Mecca, the Holy Grail, the Bali Hai, the Emerald City of RVing. We were not going to make a definitive decision re Alaska until Shannon sees her Cardiologist in March. However, the more she thinks about it and with her strong desire to not make that trip without having answers to her questions regarding her heart, she is ready now to contact the volunteer coordinator in Alaska and cancel. We also know the longer we delay in making the decision the more difficult it will be for the volunteer coordinator to find someone to replace us. So a sooner decision will be better than a later decision.

I'm still only hearing noise in my implanted ear. I am doing word exercises without my hearing aid in my other ear, and I can recognize words. I actually scored a 100% on a twenty word test, but mostly I’m scoring in the 70’s and 80’s. The voices I hear sound very much like Donald Duck, and that’s a common characterization of voices for new cochlear implant recipients. I understood a few words from Shannon sitting across the table from me again when I was not using my hearing aid. But mostly I hear constant noise in my implanted ear when I am functioning “normally” with my hearing aid. I did have my hearing aid adjusted before leaving ABQ, and I now can hear every disparaging remark made about my good looks. I can only think progress is being made.