Okay, I got Der Bingle back to the doctor. He came away with a Z pack and a stronger cough medicine that allowed him to get some sleep. The doctor was on the short side, thick white air and a slow, deliberate manner, with a soft voice – words considered and then deliberately uttered. I said later, “I wanted to go over and shake him and get him to get on with it.” Der Bingle replied that the doctor put him in mind of my dad. Actually, I was not surprised; I had had that same impression. I think when I had just learned to read, but Daddy was still reading me the funnies, I got impatient with an explanation of some humor I understood and told him to get on with it. That was probably when I was launched into my own funnies reading.

The doctor visit was on Monday and I headed back to Indiana at noon on Tuesday. Because I was heading to the nursing home instead of my house, I set the GPS, thinking perhaps it would direct me on a different route around Fort Wayne. Well, it would have, but apparently, there was construction and time-wise it put me on the accustomed path.

However, there must be warm weather GPS because I was directed onto little county roads – some without a line down the center – in order to skirt Van Wert and its stop lights. I had wondered about some of these roads before, but with weather bad and days short, I stuck with the usual way. It was interesting and explains why last week in Fountain County I was directed to another narrow road, only this one had potholes.

I’m afraid the GPS had a mental breakdown when I got near the nursing home – a bridge was being repaired and instead of giving me an alternate route, the GPS directed me on a “U-turn” – a mile square round the block sort of thing to the original “road closed to thru traffic” sign. Sigh.

That part of the county has swampy areas and small lakes and ponds and the roads meander, so I had been leery to disobey, but this time I figured repeated wrong turns would give the GPS the hint and it would adapt. Actually, it went a little crazy and by the time I got to the nursing home, I heard it directing me onto streets that did not exist in the vast fields surrounding the nursing home. I actually felt kind of bad for the patient little voice.

I stayed at the nursing home long enough for it to get dark because I figured when I drove into my drive, I would see tall grass and I didn’t want that to be when there was still enough day for me to haul out the mower. I have to get up to Lagrange County this week and it is already Wednesday – trash stomping day. I need to get new vacuum bags . . . and get pruned branches and left over leaves onto a tarp and pulled out to the street.

It is sunny so I have no excuse not to get out and get started . . . except maybe I need to wait for the heavy dew to dry off. Yeah, that sounds reasonable.

I’ve been listening to John Denver sing Take me home country roads – too bad the song wasn’t Take me to a country road all the way to California.