Unexpected Excitement

Life with Elliott is never dull.  We’ve had a few good days, if you discount the fact that our air conditioning stopped working Friday evening.  Fortunately, Elliott likes warm temperatures, especially since we couldn’t get anyone to come out and look at the system until tomorrow.  I can’t tolerate the heat so I arranged to spend most of the weekend out of the house.  

On Saturday, I was in DC on the National Mall with my friend Michelle (and about a million tourists – ugh).  We went to see the Gustave Caillebotte exhibit at the National Gallery of Art.  It was delightful to see his Impressionist paintings, especially since I’m not very familiar with his work.  His scenes of Paris life, portraits of friends, boating on the Seine, and market displays made both of us so nostalgic for France.  One of his most well known works, Paris Street, Rainy Day, traveled from The Art Institute of Chicago for the exhibition.  But the painting that set my heart a-flutter was Fruit Displayed on a Stand, on loan from Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.  I stood in front of that painting on countless occasions during the decade I lived in the Boston area (1973-1983).

I was at the Workhouse Arts Center on Sunday for my fused glass class.  I’m working on some new photo transfers.  Matt was there, too, assisting the instructor.  He’s been accepted into the emerging artists program, which means he’ll have studio space in the Glass House.

Our houseguests arrived from Yorktown on Sunday afternoon.  It was much too hot to cook so I took everyone out to Wegman’s for dinner.  It was the perfect solution – pizza for Tyler, General Tso’s chicken for Matt, barbecued wings for Elliott, etc.  Shortly after we all settled down with our trays at a large table in the café area, someone cried out.  Everyone looked up.  Blood was pouring down Elliott’s face, flowing out of his nose at an alarming rate.  Within seconds, his shirt, vest and pants were drenched with blood. Elliott tried to staunch the flow by pinching his nose, but it continued to gush out.  Of course, he couldn’t keep the cannula from his oxygen concentrator in his nose and I was concerned about his oxygen level.  While I called 911, the others kept busy mopping up the blood with fists full of paper napkins.

The emergency responders arrived a few minutes later.  The bleeding tapered off soon afterwards.  They checked Elliott’s vital signs.  Aside from a stress-related spike in blood pressure, he seemed all right and decided to forgo transport to the emergency room.  I was impressed with how calmly everyone, including Elliott, dealt with the crisis.  We cleaned him up as best we could and headed home, where I stayed up late washing blood out of his clothes.  So, thank you, Elliott, for adding a little excitement to our evening!  

Elliott, after the bleeding stopped