Take a hike

Ten miles. That's how far the kids and I hiked this morning. We looped through Dunwoody, headed over to the Perimeter Mall area, then trekked up Ashford-Dunwoody, back through the Village, and home. Finished in just under 3 hours, with a stop at Starbucks. Urban hiking rocks!

A has to complete five ten-mile hikes plus one 20-mile hike to earn his Hiking Merit Badge. That, and Personal Fitness, are all that stand between him and his Eagle project. It was a great morning for a hike - overcast, 50's. He's already completed hikes on the Big Creek greenway at North Point and Stone Mountain Park. He opted for an urban hike this time so he'd have access to restroom facilities. Just two days since Remicade, and things are still settling down. These physical merit badges are really hard for A, but he's gamely trying to meet the requirements.

It's been a hard month on so many people around us. One lost her mother to a horrible automobile accident and weeks of hospitalization. A friend is in the Northside ICU with double pneumonia and collapsed lungs. She has three girls between the ages of 5 and 14. Two weeks on a ventilator and still counting. Another mom of three young girls between the ages of 2 and 10) visited her last Tuesday, then was admitted to the same ICU the next day with Type H Influenza (the 1918 strain that was so deadly). Flu has been roaring through our preschools and schools here in Dunwoody. She contracted one of the rarer strains that is always around, but usually affects only the very young and the very elderly. She's in critical condition, also on a ventilator.

Awful.

I worry about A being exposed to flu and pneumonia - his immune system is compromised at best, and at the moment it's completely suppressed thanks to Remicade. But we can't keep him in a bubble, so keep hoping and praying for the best.

Knitting Progress

• Finished: another prayer shawl for the knitting ministry at St. Luke's. This one, also in the Comfort Shawl pattern, combined black and cream in yarns of various textures.
• 90% complete: At the instep for Jaywalker #2! I expect to finish it in the next few days, thanks to some unexpected waiting room time at Curry Honda. The van's transmission is hinky.
• Starting: Swatching for a felted runner idea, Ice Queen.
  
• On hold (temporarily): Mukluks.