Just a quick trip to see mum

There had been a lot of disruption on the Harbour Bridge this morning because of an accident on the north side so at about 9.40am unusually I headed up Victoria Road instead of the motorway to the nursing home. The trip took about 50 minutes, which is about 50 percent longer than it takes on the motorway, and I checked in at the nursing home at about 10.35am.

At mum's room I could see that she was asleep sitting on her bed. More accurately perhaps I should say she was taking a nap. After I entered the room with a knock on the door I went over to the windows and picked up the iPad to dial up my brother but he wasn't in, so when mum sat down in the recliner chair next to me I asked her if she would like to go out to the park. She was amenable to this idea so we got ready to go out.

In the lobby we bumped into one of the care dogs who was all waggy-tailed and grinning to have new people to pet her, and mum started to say something about getting a dog herself. She began to say that it was hard in a hotel to have a dog but changed her mind and said instead that it was hard "in one room" to have one. She's still a bit confused sometimes about explaining to people where she is living, but she at least feels at home there, which is the main thing.

We went outside into the heat and made our way across the road to the park, where we sat down on the second bench. It was hot so soon enough mum had taken off her jacket. We only sat there for a short while. It was a very hot morning so I didn't want to spend too much time in the sun. Back inside, we found that they were getting ready to put together the flower arrangements for the dining tables - they always have flowers on the dining tables at mealtimes - so I steered mum toward the big table they had prepared for this purpose, and got her a chair to sit on. I took her jacket and cap and sunglasses back to her room, then I left. I stopped at the petrol station on the way back to the motorway to buy petrol.

On the way back down the motorway I listened to the radio as usual. I felt comfortable, having done my duty, and was content to look forward to an afternoon on social media. I usually put on the TV to listen to the news in the late afternoon while I drink wine and watch the social graph in the browser. Driving on the motorway I had a settled feeling. There was nothing major on the horizon  - apart from the trip planned for this Friday to New England - and I felt I could just relax into the afternoon. The road pulled away behind me as I tootled on down toward home in the car and the sun was shining. I was home by midday.