The Cellar / Death

**Posted by griff** 3/01/2024 8:03 am

Oh, it's coming for us. We had a funeral for my second youngest uncle this week. He only had 20 years on me.
He finished his time at Mercy House in Endicott which really was a blessing. Pete and I are feeling like we're in the cue. Gather ye rosebuds...

**Posted by Flint** 3/01/2024 12:41 pm

jeez

**Posted by Anon** 3/01/2024 9:42 pm

You old people give me the creeps.

**Posted by griff** 3/02/2024 8:28 am

I did my chopping meditation. I wrapped my head around a number of things and unwrapped a couple others.

**Posted by glatt** 3/04/2024 8:05 am

Well done! Nice day for it too.

What are you chopping?

**Posted by griff** 3/04/2024 3:50 pm

I'm working my way through a lot of maple falls right now.The 6lb maul is really effective for most of these. I'm using wedges for the tough ones and a pole axe for the light stuff. It is a good activity for clearing the mind.

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 3/06/2024 12:54 pm

I also used to enjoy splitting firewood. It was almost like meditation.
These days I wonder if my current shoulder problems are partly the result.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 3/31/2024 8:39 pm

I have on occasion pondered (usually when up pretty high) just what would cause my demise.
But in all these years it never occurred to me it would be...

**Posted by griff** 4/01/2024 5:29 am

I could be home by lunch!

**Posted by monster** 4/21/2024 9:52 pm

I mean... beest was 46.

Never. Ever. Have a bucket list. Just do the fun things. If you think "Oh I want to do that before I die" ...make plans to do it at the first realistic opportunity.

**Posted by monster** 4/21/2024 10:02 pm

Those who do the Cellar Zooms know what I'm currently working towards....... hating every moment, but the end result will justify the prep.. Saw the opportunity and decided not to put it off.

Also why I took a day off to go sit under the centerline of the total solar eclipse

Do The Things, folks.

This is my favorite track that is currently in rotation on my radio station (video sucks, sorry -never seen it before, won't bother again) but this is my earworm right now, and I don't mind

**Posted by glatt** 4/22/2024 1:44 pm

monster wrote:
Do The Things, folks.

Abso-fucking-lutely. Sing it, sister.

The total eclipse will pass through Spain in 2 years. It should be a sunny August day without a cloud in in sky. Right across the middle of the country. I'm going to start looking into it. It would make a very nice 2 week vacation. I'm picturing a nice countryside chalet right in the path of totality.

Also, I almost have the Missus convinced that Madeira might not be a bad idea. I think it was the "effortless and perfectly level" mountain hikes that I promised her.

**Posted by tw** 4/22/2024 6:36 pm

Many Airbnb sites did not realize why they had so many bookings. And then realized they had not raised their rates for an eclipse they did not know about. Book early.

**Posted by monster** 4/22/2024 8:23 pm

In Spain you'll be able to camp. The Iceland one should be pretty good too

**Posted by griff** 4/23/2024 6:04 am

Pete and I took a hard look at what retirement was gonna look like and we realized we need the mountains if we are going to stay active. I pulled a chunk out of my 401K last week which is eventually going into construction costs. The odd part for me is that particular pile of cash was earned in the late eighties. I don't even know that dude.

**Posted by Clodfobble** 4/23/2024 9:08 am

Looming death is very much a part of my world, right now. My 40-year-old brother has a massive brain tumor (diagnosed 6 weeks ago, didn't talk about it because I had too much to deal with,) and he's got maybe 3-6 months to go if he's lucky. Then this past weekend my dad suffered a very bad fall (after climbing on a bathroom counter to change a lightbulb, because, in his own words, he's an idiot) and now has 5 broken ribs. Which will heal, eventually, but the thing about rib injuries is they make you breathe shallowly, which if you're old is a straight ticket to pneumonia. So he might bounce back from this just fine, or he might suddenly spiral at any point in the next 8 weeks, and I could end up losing both of them at the same time.

**Posted by glatt** 4/23/2024 9:55 am

Jeez. Sorry Clod. Your brother is so young I can't even imagine how it would be in that situation. And I imagine I'm going to eventually do something like you dad did well after I should be doing such things. It's all so predictable. I hope he heals quickly and without incident. And I hope your bother (and his family?) find peace and get through this time with dignity (that's the wrong word, but something like being in the moment and taking the time to be present and strengthen connections in the limited low quality time that remains.)

I assume there is talk of hospice for your brother, and I know there are some really good and talented caregivers in that field who set the right tone and are emotionally supportive. I hope he finds good help. Maybe it's a word of mouth thing to get somebody really good, but it might be worth it to check around.

Also, if you haven't had a chance yet, it would probably make you feel good to have made the effort to fit a visit in.

**Posted by Clodfobble** 4/23/2024 12:21 pm

Oh yes, we've visited--he lives in town, no wife/kids, no job. He ended his apartment lease when he was diagnosed and moved back in with my mom, partly for support with his meds and partly because, having had seizures leading up to the diagnosis, he wasn't allowed to drive anymore. He's got a positive attitude and is working on some new songs with his old band, so he's enjoying that. Right now he's being held in stasis, basically symptom-free, by an incredibly high dose of steroids. At some point that dose won't be sustainable due to the side effects, and then I expect it will go very quickly. He waited for almost a decade to go see a doctor about his symptoms, so he basically was already tiptoeing the edge of the cliff by the time anyone knew what was going on.

**Posted by griff** 4/23/2024 4:15 pm

Damn. Sorry Clod. I second the hospice mention. Those folks are amazing.

**Posted by glatt** 4/23/2024 4:15 pm

I forget that not every family has scattered all over the world like mine has.

I'm glad he's got the family around.

**Posted by monster** 4/23/2024 9:58 pm

sorry Clod, teh suck it is.

**Posted by Flint** 4/23/2024 11:23 pm

I wonder if, minus the death sentence, you had asked your brother what he would like most to be doing in the world, he would have said, "working on some new songs with my old band" ... It reminds me of Neil Young's lyric that gets me every time.. his confession..

"..One of these days
I'm gonna sit down and write a long letter
To all the good friends I've known
And I'm gonna try
And thank them all for the good times together
Though so apart we've grown

And I'm gonna thank
That old country fiddler
And all those rough boys
Who play that rock 'n' roll
I never tried to burn any bridges
Though I know I let some good things go.."

...

eta: I'm not sure if I ever told anyone, but please find a way to make sure they play this song at my funeral

Last edited by Flint (4/24/2024 1:24 am)

**Posted by griff** 4/24/2024 6:07 am

Neil gets it.

**Posted by monster** 4/28/2024 11:56 pm

"I'll know that I was a person that you were proud of" -lyric from that song, still my current earworm