I love the longer days of June. And it was downright hot until three days ago when the weather kicked us right back to April. It is still not as cold as when we left Pretoria, and can be quite pleasant in the middle of the day.
The through hikers are walking the Appalachian Trail, which Fred and Carol's house is located on. We can hear the crack of the aluminum bats from softball games across the street at the park. (I always liked that sound and the smell of freshly cut grass as indicators that summer had arrived.) The flowers are coming into bloom. Summer is absolutely the best time to be in the Berkshires, I'm convinced.
Russ' mom Carol is a much better nurse than I am. I'm ok with that. With doctor advice, we adjusted Russ' meds so he has more energy during the day.
We did not need to be in our current situation to be thankful for socialized medicine, but we are doubly so now. Health insurance in mandatory in Massachusetts and we signed up for the state care which seems remarkably comprehensive. We can go to all our previous doctors and it's based on a sliding scale (of which we have slid to the bottom). Gone is the stigma of having to sit hours in welfare offices just to fill out forms. This process could not have been simpler. Some people will be relieved to know that Mitt Romney did everything in his power to go against the plan when he was governor; we think it is one more reason not to vote for him as president. Is he for the health care plan now (because it is so successful) or against it (because he needs tea party votes)? Hard to tell; he is one sly chameleon, but once again I digress. It is a huge relief to have medical coverage.
Who knew that I would need settlement papers from when Russ bought the house in 1996? Turbo Tax obviously did, but not me. After much sweat and a few tears, I could not find the box with the records in our storage room on Old Windsor Road. Sigh. We filed today anyway, but the program would not let me e-file because I cannot get rid of a form that we do not need. I know this must be some kind of test but I am not quite sure if I passed.
We are shocked at the $3.89 price per gallon of gas and surprised that no one else seems to be. That is about what we paid in Botswana, but not quite what South Africans are paying.
Most peculiarly, the money transfer from the car sale in Botswana never went through, although Zane tried it twice. Maybe it is just on Africa time and will take a couple of months instead of days. I am not holding my breath though.
The little bumps in the road are just that. We are completely glad to be home, and every day gets better.
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