Where to begin? So much has happened since my last post in 2009. During that time, I have many had losses: both of my parents, my best friend Barbara, and my bird of 26 years. It hasn't been all about loss though. I found my soul mate, I got a promotion at work, I found a new circle of friends and a new way to live via the buddhist temple. Life is good, tinged with sadness if I let it.   

Howeara Lava Burst

I recently purchased this orchid from a grower in Wisconsin. It's a multi-bloomer hybrid. It arrived two days after I ordered it and in great shape. I didn't know what to expect, but there are 3 stems loaded with blooms. I'm going to give this one to my dad for his birthday. Hopefully it will do great. The culture is similar to oncidium.

I did notice that there is some styrofoam poking through the holes of the pot. I got nervous, but then did a search on styrofoam and orchids and apparently it is common practice to use styrofoam peanuts (white only) to promote drainage at the bottom of the pot to prevent root-rot.

It's a beautiful plant and compact. I'm tempted to keep it for myself. Hopefully, he'll eventually get some keikis and I'll be able to propograte a new plant. I've had some success with that before.

Tondre le Gazon

A gauche, voilà mon nouveau jouet. C'est une tondeuse à gazon manuelle. J'en ai choisi une car je n'ai qu'un tout petit terrain derrière ma baraque. Mon voisin à gauche tond le gazon en face et à la côté, mais pour une raison inconnue (à moi), il ne tond pas le gazon de derrière. Je lui ai demandé et il l'a fait une fois, mais après, j'étais frustrée et je ne voulais plus attendre.

Mes voisins à droit, ils ont tondu ce gazon pendant 2 ans, et cette année ils en avaient marre (encore pour une raison inconnue). Ce terrain ne prend que 5 minutes à tondre avec une tondeuse ordinaire (avec moteur). Je crois que la femme ne m'aime pas car je suis jolie et célibataire. Une fois, je l'ai remerciée pour avoir dégagé mon allée en hiver. Elle m'a vite répondu, "Ce n'était pas moi. C'était mon mari." Bon. Je comprends vite, moi.

Je dois avouer que tondre la pelouse avec cet appareil était très amusant. Je l'ai fait en 15 minutes et je crois que ma pelouse est plus entretenue que celles de tous mes voisins aux alentours. Il est vrai que je n'aime pas dépendre sur personne.

Autrement, je passe la soirée chez moi. J'ai commencé un nouveau séries de télé, "Le sang vrai." C'est génial. J'espère aussi me coucher avec mon bouquin. Oui, c'est une vie pathétique, mais je l'aime.

Rainy Thursday

This spring has been rainy and windy, sometimes together. I woke up at 3:30 to a crack of thunder and a downpour. Now the rain has passed but the wind has begun.

I called a friend this morning to wish her a safe trip to Europe and I barely recognized her voice. It sounded so weak. She isn't feeling well and has vertigo plus nausea. The poor thing. Then I talked to my dad who always looks at the grim side and he told me it could be her heart since women seem to have more heart problems than men now. Thanks dad. I will check in on her later. I'm too far away, unfortunately, to check on her.

As for me, I go to California in a couple of days. I'm trying so hard to stay well. Last year I was in the same boat as my friend. It's an awful feeling not being in control of your health and wanting to get better and knowing it's not going to happen.

I'm Back, but Different

It has been a long winter that I'm glad to see is ending. It was going fairly well for me until January. I was going along day to day enjoying the challenges of running. The coldest day I ran was 0. I just wanted to see what it was like. It was hard. I got sweaty and all that, but breathing was difficult. As I said, I just wanted to see what it was like.

Then my grandmother ended up in the hospital in early January. I was very happy I had decided to visit her over the holidays. She didn't know me, but I think she appreciated me. Anyway, because of her age, she went downhill very fast. We all thought she was going to pull out of it like she had so many times before. She had a few small strokes, but they were enough and she was old and tired. She was 103 and passed away on the 22nd. The funeral was actually lovely and a fitting tribute to her. I was quite shocked to see pictures of her at age 15 and 18. To me she had always been old. What were her dreams back then?

Then the day after a I got back home, I went for a run. I had planned to run 6-7 miles. The trail was mostly clear and I thought very enjoyable to run on. Well, at the 3-mile mark, I turned around to head in the other direction and continue and I hit a patch of ice. My legs were both airborne. I didn't see it coming at all. I landed hard. On my face. I was wearing sunglasses and they broke and cut above my eye. The blood started pouring out. My cheek was excrutiatingly painful. My first concern was my teeth. My face was numb and I couldn't feel them. I used my sunglasses as a mirror and could see they were there.

I knew this was bad. I got up feeling dizzy and headed for my car. Fortunately, I was close to it. No one else was around. My cheek throbbed so I picked up some snow in my glove and held it to my cheek as I drove to the emergency room. I willed myself not to pass out. I was hoping I wouldn't. This was all new to me and I didn't know what was going to happen.

The Emergency people took care of me right away. They took x-rays and a CT scan and put sutures above my eye. It turns out I had a blowout fracture and a zygomatic fracture. The doctor referred me to a plastic surgeon. He mentioned surgery. I wanted to cry.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I had surgery about a week later to repair the orbital fracture. 2 metal plates were inserted to hold the bone and a piece of plastic behind the eye to keep the eye from sinking. I am now 8 weeks from surgery and still feeling pain. I also have dry eye and can't blink fully, but I think things are slowly improving. It has been a long ordeal.

I've asked myself why this had to happen. I try not to dwell on it too much and try to take each day as it comes. I am back to running again after a 5-week rest. For that I am thankful. Getting back to it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. My first run was a 1.5-mile. Anyway, it is nice to start feeling normal again. I can even wear my contacts all day now. All of these little things are so important. Something like a fall can change your life forever and you appreciate what you have so much more.

Chilly Tuesday!

I may be nuts, but I got up at 5am to go running this morning. It was 23°. I have to say, however, that it was a good run. I got almost too warm during it and when I was done I was sweating pretty much. It always feels good to run first thing in the morning and know that the rest of the day I don't have to try to fit it in. I also feel energized and very awake for the rest of the morning. I even caught myself humming as I was putting together my lunch! I'm not a cheerful morning person by any means.

So here is to morning running. It's not just for summer anymore.

Fall Has Arrived

It's a lot cooler these days. I say "these days" when actually last weekend it got to 85° on Sunday. It's cooler now though and only got to about 60°. I went for my run around 9am on a trail that goes along the river. It did 6 miles total and my legs feel like it. Trails are nice because they give a variety of terrain and it's less boring than a straight road or bike trail. The hills can be killer though.

Not much is happening otherwise. Tomorrow I am heading out to my parents and we're going to visit my old homestead. There is also a nice country shop there where you can buy apples and local produce. When I think of fall I always think of that place. Apples and squash seem to be the thing this time of year. Maybe they'll have some hot apple cider too. Yum!