bad news and blessings on a beautiful day

as about 250,000 minnesotans basked in st. paul's grand old day sunshine (at left), i indulged in a long trail run. i spent a dozen or so blissed-out miles organizing, categorizing, and generally getting my head around work and home projects.

my plans all vanished when i returned to the house, though, as i learned i've got family in the emergency room. i raced to the hospital, where it was better than i'd feared (whew!). i'm now optimistic that things might turn out reasonably okay, but scared, of course, that they won't. so i'm blogging now to publicly count a few blessings.

let's see,

1. as near as i can remember (and i'm not thinking all that clearly), i haven't had cause to visit a friend or family member in the hospital since about december of 2000. eight years is a nice run for anybody, but a very nice run for a dad with two teenagers in the house. i realize that i'm very fortunate in this regard.

2. i was also lucky to find a job in my hometown, so i could race to the hospital when word came -- just a few miles from my house and even closer to my office. academics aren't supposed to consider "geography" when they take positions, but it is good to be close to family at such moments. i hope that "geography" somehow factors into my kids' long-term plans.

3. there are no major health insurance worries. again, i realize my family is pretty fortunate here as well.

4. based on the abundant health information available online, i could learn a lot about the situation in a few hours. as i recall, i had much greater difficulty getting such facts eight years ago.

5. when i told the lad about the situation, he went to the shed, gassed up the mower, and got to work doing something -- anything -- for the family. i don't know why this was meaningful to me, but it probably has something to do with feeling supported

unless the situation changes drastically, i'll do a few hours of chair work at the office tomorrow and a bit of contexts emailing as well. i'll do what i can on everything else, but may be even slower and more distracted than usual in completing other tasks or returning correspondence.