ok, i don’t really believe i have alzheimer’s disease, but i truly do think that some of my mental facilities are slipping away.

that and my sense of balance.

although actually i think i’ve always had a rotten memory.  of course i can’t remember if this is truly true.  i’ll have to ask mom, because she’s been around since the very beginning of since i’ve been around.

the klutziness, i know that started the day they named me grace.

on sunday amy and jim and i took another long walk, this time on the Lost Bridge Trail, which goes from the IDOT building on Dirksen Parkway to Rochester.  The trail is about 5 miles long.  this time, though, we started in rochester, for a change of pace and also because it was getting hotter outside and the first part of the trail leading from IDOT involves a big sunny hill.

we walked and walked and it got warmer and warmer and jim suggested that we go three miles out, to make a total of six miles.  it was a fine walk, and at one point on the return trek i pointed to my glasses which were once again hooked over the front of my shirt.  “see, i have them again but i’m keeping close attention to them this time” i said, quite proudly.  amy and jim were nice about it and didn’t point out the stupidity of doing the same thing that caused me to lose my glasses just a couple of weeks ago.

too nice, that’s what they are.

we made it back to rochester, climbed into the car with all the dogs, drove home, pulled into amy’s driveway…AND THE GLASSES WERE GONE.  AGAIN.

how did this happen?  again?

we scoured the car.  no glasses.

amy was going to make brunch, but said she’d wait till kevin and i got back from rochester.

i was sure i must have dropped them at the end of our walk.

kevin and i drove back, and no glasses.

nobody said “grace you moron why did you put your glasses on your shirt again when you already lost them once?” because i was too busy saying that myself.  kevin suggested we stop at the rochester police dept to see if anybody had turned them in, but for some reason nobody was there, so we went back home again.

amy made brunch (delicious), and then she and i went back to rochester again, with our bikes in the car this time.  by this time it was about one in the afternoon and was quite toasty.  at least maybe nobody rode over them and smashed them because it was too warm to be outside, we thought.

we slowly biked along the trail and it made me remember how much i love riding my bike.  it was funny to go that slowly, and a lot easier than when we had to ride across the open field the last time.   i was sure we’d find them this time, because last time they were so easy to spot.  my confidence started to wane, though, as we got closer to the turning-around point.

no glasses again.  as we rode back amy said we should call jim and tell him to look in the car again, and then we should ride on the trail again.  i nixed that idea because i was sure we’d have seen them and i didn’t feel like biking in the heat any more.

she called jim, of course they weren’t in the car, and we started to head home.  i said “let’s go to the police station again, because i’d feel stupid if we got home and i called and they had them and then i had to go to rochester FOUR times in one day.”

amy said “of course we should do that.”  i figured that there was only a very slim chance of somebody turning them in, because if i’d found glasses on the trail, i guess i wouldn’t know what to do with them, except to put a “found” ad in the paper.

we went back to the station and it was open this time and i started to tell my saga to one of the nice police officers and he said “the other officer’s sister was walking on the trail and found them and turned them in.”

i cannot tell you how ECSTATIC i was after that.

amy gave me bag on a string to wear around my neck so i won’t keep losing my glasses.

i need a bag for many things in my life, including my keys and my watch and my very short-term memory.

i hope you have a lovely weekend.

ok then,

friday afternoon grace.