Good early morning GH. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City," where the current temperature is 34°. Depending on which part of the internet forecast you consult, our high today could be anywhere from 37° to 42°. About the only thing that seems consistent is that we will have a mix of rain/snow early on, starting about 8:00 a.m. until the temperature gets high enough to have only rain falling. That will happen until 8:00 p.m. However, much to the chagrin of Sugar the Weather Dog, the later afternoon rain will then be accompanied by thunder.

We may get as much as .8 inches of rainfall before it is over. Then the temperatures will fall, and we will have a thick coating of ice on top of the already plentiful snow. With Mary's help, I took some pictures of what we had for conditions yesterday afternoon. If I like how they turned out, mine not hers, I'll include them later in this blog.

I got to my P/T appointment yesterday afternoon. My therapist reports that I am doing well with my range of motion, and I am only short 10 degrees of maximum range of motion in two directions, and 20 degrees in another. So I am now down to one visit per week and when those are complete, I may be done. The rest will be up to me. I still need some strength, but that will come with time and effort.

I heard a doctor from a famous hospital on the radio on Wednesday discussing rotator cuff tears. He noted that 40% to 50% of people over the age of 60 have a tear in their rotator cuff. Whether to have surgery or not depends on several factors. First, one's willingness to tolerate some pain. Second, their willingness to tolerate a limited range of motion. Third, their willingness to tolerate a limit to some activities. All of this is after a non-surgical regimen of P/T doesn't resolve the problem. As someone who plays guitar, I wasn't willing to tolerate those things, so I elected to have surgery. Overall I know it will be the right solution for me.

Speaking of playing guitar, I did, yesterday afternoon. I only lasted about 30 minutes, but I had some good finger picking and strumming during my session with "Blue." Once in a while, you have to go back to your roots and play a six string versus a 12 string guitar, just for the fun that that brings. I did and it does.

Wednesday I thought I finished highlighting for Mary, only to discover that there is more where that came from. However, I did get partial payment for my efforts, in the usual form of payment, beans. Good thing I like them. I also made the remaining apples into apple sauce. The apples lasted a long time, and there were only six left, but it is better to make them into sauce before they get totally brown under the skin. I still have slightly more than one box of Cheerios to go from the ones that Mary got for me several months ago. Crisped rice, here I come.

I haven't heard a train tonight, but it is likely that I was sound asleep and didn't hear one go by in either direction. If I hear or see one before I return to bed, I'll report it.

Today, more highlighting and more reading when I am tired of highlighting. I may or may not play one of my "Girls." I also have to do more home exercises to strengthen my shoulder. I always ache more the day after P/T, so I may have to limit those.

Sunrise today will be at 7:35 a.m., just before the rain begins, and shortly before...Tea time. Sunset will be at 6:21 p.m., shortly before the rain is forecast to end at 8:00 p.m.

Train update, I heard a train approaching from the south at about 4:10 a.m. Twin EMD GP 38 locomotives in the usual livery, followed by a long string of covered hopper cars and one lone box car. That's all folks.

This snow will soon be on the deck.

Mary's efforts at drainage.

We can't decide if it is eroding or falling.

Mary's shadow taking a picture of her efforts at drainage.

Far from gone.

Ciao.