The Non-Medical Part of a Day in Philly

The first part of the day was amazing in one sense, but the latter part of the day was the best in terms of personal fun. I love the city of Philadelphia and my favourite part - and I go there every time I visit - is the foutain in Logan's Circle. It is a really wonderful piece of artwork. It's actual name is Swann Memorial Fountain, and there is a lot of meaning to it. It represents the meeting of the three major rivers in Philadelphia: the Delaware, the Schuykill and the Wissahickon Rivers. The artist, Alexander Stirling Calder, designed the characters representing the rivers after Native American gods.

The young girl leaning on her side against an agitated, water-spouting swan represents the Wissahickon Creek; the mature woman holding the neck of a swan stands for the Schuylkill River; and the male figure, reaching above his head to grasp his bow as a large pike sprays water over him, symbolizes the Delaware River. Sculpted frogs and turtles spout water toward the 50-foot (15 m) geyser in the center, though typically the geyser only spouts 25 ft (8 m). The use of swans is a pun on Dr. Swann's name.

We left the hospital at 1420 and it turned out that Logan's Circle was just a few blocks away. In real life, the distance is minimal. In city traffic life, there is no such as "close" when driving. It took us until 1500 to finally get there. We did get really lucky, after fighting through unbelievable traffic and weird construction, we pulled into Logan's Circle and there it was! A big, beautiful parking space for the handicapped! We pulled up; I loaded quarters into the parking meter, Ray set up my mother's scooter and we headed over to the fountain.

I immediately took off my Ren boots and put my feet into the freezing cold water (I was warned by the very sweet guy next to me, but took the plunge anyway. It was cold, but I still loved it. The fountain is populated with kids, usually, but this time of year the little buggers are in school (especially on Friday in April) so it is mine. All mine! There were a few people there sitting around on the edge but except for myself and the really pleasant fellow to my right, no one else put their feet in.

I did walk around a bit in the water (me and my hairy legs... clearly can't let the hair removal go on for seven weeks!), then finally pulled my feet out, let them dry off and put my boots back on. We then began walking to what I kept calling the Independence Hall (it was actually the City Hall - I was close) with the lovely workmanship and the quad with the astrological circle and four directions. I love seeing these two sites.

The walk, unfortunately, was way too much for Ray. My mother had the scooter and I typically push myself too far in the name of travel and seeing sights. But for Ray, this was way too much. And the 8 blocks or so did not look nearly that far at the time. But we got to another fountain (I don't remember the name of it) with the LOVE sign that is famed in Philly. It was wonderful. I took a picture of my mother under the sign but she's turned away.

We did make it to the City Hall and I got to see the astrological circle. I was very happy. We were there briefly and then began the walk back, which we made but once there, the general consencus was that it was time to head home. We made it back to the car at 1615, with 6 minutes left on the parking meter - we'd seen the meter reading guy walking away from our area and were nervous because Ray and I knew we were cutting it close.

The downside would be leaving Philadelphia at 1620 on a Friday afternoon but for all of that, we really did not have nearly the kind of trouble we were sure we'd have. (Mind boggling... how is it that we couldn't move three inches in twenty minutes at 1430 but at 1620 we managed to find our way out? It's a mystery, to quote Henslowe from Shakespeare in Love.) We managed to wend our way out of Philly, across a different bridge and headed through a very industrial area. i have to say that it is very, very impressive what the city of Philadelphia was doing to really make the city more beautiful. Everywhere we went there was artwork on walls, oil containers (the big round collapsable things in the refineries), the bridges, etc. I loved it, so did my parents.

Ray and I had a delightful time talking on the drive home, and it was fun. We really get along so well. My mother is another story. I love her but I have a lot of issues with her behaviour and how she handles her illnesses and the way she speaks to Ray. I find it hard to spend much time with her. She does not really get out and she doesn't really live. She won't manage her diabetes at all and is determined (in a totally unwitting way) to kill herself early. Her feet are so cold and her legs are turning red (soon they'll turn blue) and she insists on eating chocolate and ice cream and cookies and desserts. It would be one thing if it was just whilst traveling or once in a while, but this is a daily thing with her. ANd worse, she left it out when telling the doctor her history - of course, she says that Ray and I are beating up on her for mentioning this occasionally.

The fact is, the doctor that she'd been going to for the diabetes management has stopped taking any interest in her care because clearly my mother has no interest in managing her own care. She eats what she wants and plays fast and loose with her insulin injections. Why should this doctor have any active interest? She knows it is pointless and she is better served helping those patients who are totally committed to managing this destructive disease that once you have, it is yours until the end of your days.

But I digress.

Anyway, it took us about three hours to get home, but it was well worth it and fun. I got in to the house at 1930 and went to bed at a reasonable time and did a full day at work yesterday. Since Friday was a very exhausting day it means I had a one-day weekend this week but it was still worth it. And I really got a lot done yesterday - despite the many interruptions. The moment word gets out that I am there, suddenly every employee wants to stop in to ask me things or change things.

And I have to say that at this very moment, I feel I have worked out some of the issues with an important relationship there. This was a big thing that was pulling me down and it has been such a struggle to work with this issue. I hope this isn't just my perception that things are better or - worse yet - that it is a temporary cease-fire.

I still feel good. This weekend was magic for me.