Yep, it’s been an entire month since my last post. Fight me.😆
Lots going on within our semi-quarantined little zoo. Rory just got his first dose of the Covid vaccine, I’ve received my second dose (both Moderna), the girls are enjoying their last days of spring break, we’re making plans to pay off the Subaru with the stimulus money we received, Basil’s school theater group has advanced to the next level on their way to a hopeful State competition, the weather is warming and everything is blushing an incredible lovely shade of green, we didn’t lose many shrubs during Snovid 21, and I’ve applied the first of two skim coats to the walls of the dining area off the kitchen!
It’s the Spring Equinox. I mark the year by the seasons and the angle of the sun and it makes me happy to know that as of now, we have more daylight than darkness. I haven’t yet poked my nose outside to greet the day but at some point today, I plan to park myself on the back deck just to chill and offer gratitude. I’m still alive, my health is pretty darn good, I’m able to do almost what I was capable of pre-diagnosis, and I have a lot to be thankful for. I asked the Difficult Question at my last check-in with Dr. Santiago, which was basically, “What are the chances of recurrence?” He was encouraging but offered me an unbuffered answer. In adults with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, the chances of the disease coming back after remission are about 20-25%, which means that I have a 75-80% chance of dodging that particular bullet. I’ll take those odds. I wish they were higher but I’ll take what I can get. Dr. Santiago also said that because my outlook is so good and I have a strong supportive family, my odds are a bit better than in someone who is dealing with the disease alone. Lord, I can’t imagine that. Rory has been my rock and my girls have been my lifeline; without them, I would have long since chucked in the towel.
So, I’ve been really looking forward to wildflower season here in our weird little corner of the Lone Star State but so far I haven’t seen a single bluebonnet waving its pretty little noggin. (Last year I was hospital-bound and missed all the blooms. Dammit.) I’m sure the extremely cold weather last month impacted seed germination but I sincerely hope the freeze didn’t kill them all off. We haven’t had a lot of rain so far this year so that may also be playing a part in the blossom delay. I still have hope though – our old live oaks in the front yard shrugged off the cold with little to no damage to show for it and all three of our big red oaks in the back yard are coming back strong, as is our young Mexican sycamore that we planted in our first summer here. Ephemerals like wildflowers are entirely different animals of course, but they’re remarkably tough and very, very determined. With any luck, we should start seeing some color in a few more weeks.🤞🏻 At the very least, I can get my flower fix satisfied somewhat once our mountain laurel blooms, which should be in another week or so. The blossoms resemble wisteria in shape and color and smell like a cross between wisteria and grape soda. Odd, maybe, but sooooo sweet and wonderful!
Right. I really hope to post a bit more frequently than once a month from now on. Mind you, I’m not making any promises!😊