Passing storms

What a great morning … teaching Ms Daisy about the joys of podcasts (science/anatomy lessons on demand. Inspiring!) and just spending quality time with my amazing girlfriend (superMom, Nutritionist, skydiver, schedule juggler, student extraordinaire). Her twin daughters received iPods for their birthdays, and rather than have Daisy research the music device’s capabilities on the internet, I thought it might be fun to teach her a techie thing or two. I love my iPod and despite it being an older generation model, am happy to have the usefulness of a 60gig iPod and the space to listen to music, to my heart’s content.

One interesting and important tidbit of information that I discovered this past week about the iPod is one’s ability to lose one’s hearing so quickly with an iPod blasting full strength …. At 5 mins a day, full-on, a person can lose their hearing really quickly over a relative short span of time. It’s better to reduce the noise setting and invest in noise reducing earbuds to prolong one’s ear health. Something that I never put much thought into, listening to my iPod at full-strength when walking outside, trying to dodge the noise of traffic and such.

Daisy told us the story of her experience with the Buffalo storm that hit our two countries recently. It had knocked out her power for 5 days, flooding her basement (wet carpet and mould, ugh) and wreaking havoc on her house, pool and backyard. With no heat or electricity, the family of 5 plus boyfriend huddled within the confines of two rooms (sheets holding the warmth in from the rest of the freezing house), kept warm only by a fireplace and the gas stove. How she survived the chaos of 4 energetic children stranded in 2 rooms full-on with little food and warmth, amazes me. Her boyfriend was a hero in driving to Ohio to pick up a generator, giving them some comfort in their last few stormy days. I’m constantly amazed by her energy, tenacity, patience and dedication. Truly incredible.

I so enjoy sharing the company of my best friend when the sun is shining and we have much to celebrate in our lives. Magnificent friends, joyful times, fabulous memories.