THE KING'S SPEECH & DEJA VU

Ever since this movie was first publicized I've wanted to see it, but didn't until today, Feb. 27. Yep, the day of the Academy Awards. Remember, I saw True Grit in December during my fabulous visit with my daughter, and I loved it and predicted it would be nominated. The cast in TG was great, and the re-make terrific, and it is dear to me. However, as a retired speech pathologist The King's Speech had more than a little allure.

My trek to see Speech was definitely not in vain. It was more than rewarding; it was reliving a portion of my career. And it was not a painful experience. It was a joyful one.

Probably most viewers are drawn into the agony of the stuttering George VI, and that is understandable, and, certainly Colin Firth was outstanding in the role. How can one's heart not be wrenched by his struggle? And how can one not be moved by his perseverance despite the altering of all his perceptions of life?

However, my hero was Geoffrey Rush's character, Lionel Logue, because I had lived there. Stuttering, stammering, fluency disorder---whatever you choose to call it---is one of the most difficult problems to treat. And as I watched the movie I finally analyzed what I had done in my work. There were, of course, textbook solutions; but, take it from me, hogwash. One had to establish who controlled the therapy setting, get inside each person who stuttered (that is, find the memories, experiences-good & bad without judging anyone but seeing their effects), retain a sense of humor, and move toward one small goal at a time. One had to be the master, sometimes the enemy, then the mentor, and then the friend. And the therapist's role shifts among these venues from one encounter to another. I never knew which one was coming next. Instinct becomes the rule of the day, and it is exciting. I can't boast that every stuttering person I worked with became fluent, but I have one vivid memory of success.

As a public school speech pathologist I received a referral for a fourth grade boy who stuttered, the son of a prominent family in the neighborhood. His mom was big in the local P.T.A.; she referred him; her older daughter was also very successful in the school. Stutterers have unique patterns, and his, as I recall, was to hold the initial sound of a word for a prolonged time before completing his thought. Example: "Mmmmmmmmmmmy mother is bringing cupcakes today." And sometimes there were repititions of initial sounds: "C-c-c-c-an you come?" To summarize quickly let me say that he expressed feelings that he didn't live up to the family standard, and when I asked what he would most like to do he stated that he wanted to be on the school's annual talent show. What did he want to do I asked. Well, he was a very smart boy, but he didn't sing, dance, play a musical instrument.

In fifth grade he got his wish. His mother came to me and begged that he not be on the talent show, and I assured her he would be fine. He asked me if I would be there, and I asked him if he wanted me to be. He said he would understand if I had to be at my other school, but he would really feel better if I were there. I made sure I was there.

And what did he do on the big Talent Show? He was the Master of Ceremonies. He did a beautiful job.

OUR SNOW DAY

It's now Friday, and we haven't gone above freezing since my last post. A wintry mix onslaught was to begin during last night, but when I took Mack out a little after seven this morning the only evidence in my neighborhood was a few large sleet balls. I probably could have counted them had I been so inclined. I wasn't. When we returned inside I gave him his treat and promptly climbed back into bed for another couple of hours. Hibernation comes easily to me.

When I awoke again there was actually a shallow snow cover on the ground. Nothing was falling just then, but off and on throughout the morning we had freezing rain showers, fine sleet showers, and snow showers with varying sizes of flakes. The weather channel predicted that our high would be 34, so I kept expecting all of it to start melting. The reality was that the temp never went higher than 30, so almost all of it remains on the ground, and, of course, tonight we will be back in the mid-twenties. It's not pretty as there are still patches of green in various places in the yard; the golf course looks pretty good, but they mow regularly, and I don't in the off season.

Tomorrow's high has been reduced from 47 to 38. Doesn't sound too promising, does it? Let's hope they underestimated this time, especially since my social calendar includes a baby shower in the morning. Keep your fingers crossed! I only have to drive a couple of miles---and, of course, I have to be able to open the gate.

I was a little productive on indoor tasks, but not as much as I would like. Maybe ma~nana. We'll see. I did take this photo; hope you like it.

"HOW COLD IS IT?" YOU ASK.

Yesterday, Feb. 1, I was rudely awakened by peals of thunder, and I remembered that a severe cold front was due in preceded by storms. It was about seven a.m., and the temp. was 62. Hurriedly I collected Mack to make a quick run out to the backyard so he could have a personal moment for his bodily needs before the storm broke. A light rain was already falling and lightning and thunder were making both of us flinch, but he did what he had to do, and we came back in. Within two minutes the wind picked up considerably and the downpour began, and the light in the sky had dimmed to the point of darkness again. The storm probably lasted only about twenty minutes, but that was long enough for the side street to be almost completely covered with water, and within an hour the temp. had begun dropping.

I forgot to mention that when I got up cable had been affected by the storm so there was no internet, no phone, and no TV. Just after Mack and I came back in my public radio station had a lightning strike, and it was silenced. After a few minutes they were able to broadcast locally, but didn't get the national feed back for another half-hour or so. Talk about feeling isolated!

A saving grace was that my power did not go out as it has so many times in the past.

Later in the morning I had to take a package to FedEx which is located in one of our larger shopping malls. By that time the streets had dried due to the strong wind. That went fine, but when I moved further down the mall, in the next block, I found that all the stores were closed due to lack of power. Some of those were Petco (my next destination), Office Max, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, etc. I have no idea when they reopened.

As evening approached, and the temp. now forty degrees lower than in the morning, I made the decision not to put the lock on my gate as I normally do, for fear that it would freeze, and I wouldn't be able to go do my volunteer stint at the Interfaith Pharmacy in the morning. Meantime, PhannyCat decided to handle matters in her own way.

Mack was somewhat wary of this maneuver, but he didn't make a fuss.

Even with the little electric heater in the greenhouse the temp. out there was 42 when I got up this morning. Not a good temperature for orchids, but they'll just have to make do. Of course, outside the greenhouse it was 15 (wind chill, 2), and that would really have sucked the life out of them.

After primping with curling iron and make-up and putting on four layers of clothing I was ready to go to the pharmacy. But no; there was an unforeseen obstacle.

You guessed it! The whole d----- gate was frozen, and I couldn't budge it.

The prediction is for snow showers two days from now, and I think my "gate indicator" shows there is a chance of some accumulation as the ground seems to be sufficiently cooled down to sustain snow.