Smoky Mountain addiction

Our Georgia clan joins Baboo and Nana in “official” record of a September 2014 Smokies visit. (Photo by Husband Walter)

This time last year Husband Walter and I were enjoying adventures and refreshingly cool temperatures with our oldest son and his family, camping in the Elkmont Canpground in the Smoky Mountains National Park.

Those memories of our grandchildren experiencing the Smokies heightened my anticipation of the July 2015 gathering of 17 members of the Skupien tribe, once again in Elkmont Campground.

A few Skupiens sharing family fun during our July 2015 gathering in the Smokies. (Photo by Husband Walter)

What a blessing it was to me for cousins to discover outdoor fun together and become better acquainted with two generations of uncles and aunts.

Good memories, anticipation, and fun with family in that restorative mountain environment all create a heady mix that feeds my Smoky Mountain addiction.

Karate master

Walker at work (Photo collage by Action Hero Graphics)

Our youngest grandchild, five-year-old Walker, is an enthusiastic student of martial arts. When we visit, he likes to demonstrate his karate moves, often to music his sister Molly Kate ramps up for dancing.

Some of Walker’s movements are more the result of his interest in popular super heroes than his afterschool instruction.

The photo collage above, borrowed from his dad’s Facebook post, captures Walker engaged in some of  the “official” martial arts skills he has learned.

Yes, I am a proud grandma!

Thank you to Kathy, Barb, Sandra and Friko for the welcome back to blogland.

Shock treatment

My stroke-survivor fashion accessory: the cuff in my Bioness L300 foot-drop system

I am test driving a new kind of electrode for the Bioness L300 foot-drop system. The Bioness helps me walk in spite of the effects of a 2011 hemorrhagic stroke.

L300 large cloth electrode

My experience so far with the L300 large cloth electrode has been good. I am gradually increasing my time wearing the Bioness cuff with the new type of electrode.

It may well be the key to avoiding the skin irritation that had developed with the hydrogel electrodes and has plagued me off and on for about a year.

What I haven’t avoided are consequences of losing track of what comes next in tasks I may be involved in. And this time, Dear Hubby suffered the consequences.

He was in the bathroom thoroughly soaking the cloth electrode, a necessary step before snapping the electrode into place on the cuff. I already had my shoes on, including the left shoe with Bioness sensor and transmitter. I also had the control unit attached to a lanyard that I had just slipped around my neck. 

I failed to realize, however, that my husband had taken the cuff with him. And I had totally forgotten that the final step--my putting the cuff on just under my knee--had yet to occur.

I pressed the control unit’s “on” button. Hubby’s voice boomed from the bathroom, “Turn off your Bioness!”

My turning the unit on had delivered a jolt of electricity as my unsuspecting spouse was snapping the electrode into place on the cuff.

Now I check and check again to be sure the Bioness cuff is in place before I attempt to “turn my leg on.”

Sorry Babe!