What Light there Is.

The main reason for our Michigan trip was to visit my father in law.  He's 98 years old and living alone in an apartment.  Family closer to home has been diligent....but it is still miraculous that a guy who can't hear or see much at all has been hanging in there through a year and a half of social isolation.  He is in his own way one tough old guy.

Prepared for things Much Worse we found him sitting in his usual chair, right where we left him roughly two years ago.  Shouted conversations at ridiculously short range ensued.

And a hair cut.  And some food from the Outside World.  And cleaning.

So much cleaning.

Bathrooms, cupboards, drawers, carpets.  The fridge - usually a Red Zone in homes of the elderly - had been replaced recently and was in great shape.  Walls, light switches, shelves....there is always one more thing that needs a swipe.

Eventually I took a good hard look at the sliding door/windows that are his sole source of outside light.  Time to scrub.

This is obviously a weird and/or artistic shot with intentional reflections.  By the time I was done you'd need the reflections to tell that there was a window there at all.

People seem so fragile these days.  But they can also be so durable, so indomitable.  I'm not sure I could exist for so long with this reduced level of social and sensory contact, but it can be done.  At least on driving away I could take a measure of pride in this:  If his window on the world is imperfect it is at least scrubbed, polished and letting in what Light there Is.