The Mayo Clinic experience....

Now, I cannot explain the importance of Minnesota as the hotbed of all things farming. This big ole corn cob is located quite near our hotel. Not sure what it is...water tower, a piece of farm art, a radio tower....who knows?

This is our hotel room below...we have a small kitchen, bathroom outside of the bedroom, and below a very nice sitting room with a recliner, dining room table, two TVs and very convenient. Nothing is beautiful but everything is clean and comfy. Beds are wonderful. At first, I thought it odd that the bathroom is outside of the bedroom, but it became clear that someone smarter than I had a plan. Heidi takes a nap and I can use the bathroom without disturbing her. I can close the bedroom off, watch TV, read, or talk on the phone and she can rest.

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Curtains are ticky-tacky and probably the worst feature. However, we decided we aren't here for the drapes!

The artwork, statues and displays found all around the Mayo campus is relaxing and very lovely. One example here and below, we were looking down from the lobby level to the subway level. Note the outdoor garden. Everything is wide open, clean and to us, quite amazing.

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The Mayo experience is totally awesome. I knew this would be a huge, state of the art facility but I didn't understand how huge the campus is and what a machine this system is.

From the moment the shuttle bus arrives, we are greeted, directed, assisted and made to feel welcome and special. Heidi's first doctor's appointment took more than an hour...with an MD who asked questions and listened to the answers. Every appointment ran on time and within two hours, we had a complete print out of all appointments through Friday afternoon, along with preparations for each exam, what to wear, eat or drink. This afternoon after we went back for an appointment which was in another building a couple of blocks away, I took Heidi to the appointment in a wheelchair. Think a "normal" hospital allowing you to take their wheelchair out of the hospital and down city streets. Not one person asked us where we were going....this behaviour is just the norm and expected.

Interesting to me are the TV news shows. They talk about the price of corn, wheat, milk, and more. And allergies must be a biggy because each station has an allergy index. This morning, there was a county fair queen milking a cow! News? The farms we drove past were incredibly large as we passed through Wisconsin and into Minnesota. I haven't seen that many before with six silos and ten out buildings. These were farm compounds with equipment that we thought would take a full time person to keep running. I realize my farm experiences and knowledge of operations are quite limited. I'm OK with that limited info also.

There are a fair number of Muslims here and, this morning, while waiting for the shuttle, an older man launched into a diatribe against Somalis and the immigration of Muslims into our country. Then, later today, there were two young women, scarved and covered in their burkas, sitting alone and an older man and woman were talking about them and sneering. I really wanted to bitch slap them. Ummm...we have a constitutional right to worship however we please which is not the case elsewhere. Thankfully, our military are fighting to uphold our Constitution so that we all can continue enjoying these freedoms. Loved the news segment where the reporter asked the minister who is going to burn the Quran on 9/11, "What would Jesus Christ say to this?" The minister thought...Jesus would be OK with it. Hmmm...

p.s. Sorry. This is not a venue for preaching. I dislike bigotry and hatred.

We went to two of the Mayo buildings today and will be visiting others tomorrow. Many laughs and much to see.