YES, I AM STILL HERE peeking out my window on Main Street, and I hope you are as proud of Howard Memorial Hospital as I am.
Last week the hospital celebrated the reception of two bigtime awards.
One was for being in the top 20 rural critical access hospitals nationwide. NATIONWIDE! We were the ONLY Arkansas hospital on the list.
The other award was from a different agency and it named us among the top 100 rural hospitals nationwide.
The criteria generally were (and this is important): patient satisfaction, good medical outcomes, and financial stability.
This didn’t just happen. “We” have a bunch of talented professionals who are dedicated to this community.
In her brief remarks, CEO Debra Wright thanked the fine staff for the hard work and the patient care which made the recognition possible and which put the spotlight on our community.
Let me add my sincere thanks to CEO Wright, Chief Financial Officer Bill Craig, and the members of the hospital board and the hospital foundation board. And all of those people wearing colorful ‘scrubs.’
My family moved here from Texarkana in 1950. The halls of Howard County Memorial Hospital probably still smelled new.
It was “Memorial” because it was to be a reminder of those who died in defense of the country in WWII.
It was “County” because it was owned by the residents of Howard County (although it has always equally served nearby residents who live in Pike, Sevier, Hempstead or Little River counties). We dropped the “County” from the name in order to enact a tax to support improvements at the hospital. The hospital is technically owned by the board of directors who are, in turn, controlled by the people because they serve via nomination by the Howard County Quorum Court. It’s an arrangement which has worked pretty well. Thanks to all at HMH!
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THE GOOD EARTH. A flower farm on a British island has taken to social media to ask visitors to PLEASE stop posing nude for pictures among the sunflowers. “Please keep your clothes on in the sunflowers,” the owners of the farm beg visitors.
The 350-acre farm is on Hayling Island. They’ve got lots of pumpkins and gourds and veggies and all kinds of flowers ….. and also about 2 million sunflowers in a separate 50-acre patch.
Apparently it is now stylish for Brits to have a picture of themselves nekkid surrounded by the giant yellow and brown sunflower blooms. I think the Brits say NAY-kid.
Remember when the old “Nashville Leader” used to invite readers to send “Leader Reader” pics of themselves reading the newspaper in unusual places? Don’t let it give you any ideas.
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ANIMAL CRACKERS. I am really afraid that there is bad news from the bluebird box. I’m blaming extended heat.
More than a week ago I took a peek in the box. There were five tiny blue eggs. Saturday I took another peek. No change. Since I haven’t seen mom or pop bluebird in well over a week, I believe they’ve abandoned the nest and the eggs. At some point I’ll have to dump the eggs way out far from my house in the yard, and hope for better luck next spring.
The bluebirds have raised two batches this year. I take great pleasure watching their parenting.
My bluejays apparently have left me for good. Haven’t seen them around the peanut table for many weeks. They’re the reason I instituted the peanut table in the first place.
I still have a few cardinals, but they don’t eat like the jays did. There must be plenty of available bird-type vittles elsewhere this time of year.
MORE ANIMAL CRACKERS. Friend of mine out west of town says he also has noted the presence of cicadas this summer. They’re not as loud as they were a month ago, he says.
AND MORE ANIMAL CRACKERS. This one is a bit worrisome.
During the damp days of late Spring and June-July, there was a frog which sounded as if it had taken up residence under my bedroom window.
He would ‘croak’ without stopping for hours or until I finally drifted off to sleep.
In the last day or so, my patio has gone quiet. Either Bro Frog has left for damper quarters, or he finally summoned Johnny NoShoulders.
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THINGS I LEARNED by opening another email: “Why is there a ‘D’ in fridge, but not in refrigerator?”
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WORD GAMES. The twins: Sweet and Low. They’re either a song about a chariot, or about a sugar substitute.
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HE SAID: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go.” Dr. Seuss, (Theodor Seuss Geisel), American children’s author and cartoonist
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SHE SAID: “Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.” Ann Landers, newspaper ‘advice’ columnist
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SWEET DREAMS, Baby
