Color After the Drabness of Winter

Spring is slowly beginning to happen. We have our first daffodils in bloom.  When spring bulbs bloom, it makes me very happy.  Color after the drabness of winter. However the weather people said this morning that the next week will be wintry.  We’ll see. The red winged blackbirds have arrived. 

Last Saturday evening, we had pizzas with David and Bonnie.  He’s about to undergo treatments for his cancer and she is going to the West Coast to see an aunt who is almost as old as I am and quite ill.  Tonight, we’re dining at the Grotz’s in town.  Tasha will cook, as usual.  Stephanie’s other daughter, Mitch – a physician--is here from L.A.  Dale and Stephen, also.

It’s been an up and down week.  It started well with David and Bonnie, as they are good friends [known them since the early 70’s] intelligent, political, involved locally, glad to take part in our seders and other Jewish events.  So that was good.  Monday, Dale and I got a lot done.  Somehow on Wednesday, I woke up with a very, very sore neck, upper back and right shoulder. I couldn’t use that arm.  I couldn’t do much of anything.  I could type, so wrote, revised and printed out a poem.  Otherwise, I just sat/laid on the couch, alternating ice and a heating pad.  By evening I had educed pain but it didn’t make for a decent sleep that night.  Thursday was still sore but much improved. I could use my right arm, which I hadn’t been able to move without excruciating pain the day before.  It no longer wants ice, just a heating pad.  I couldn’t yet exercise Thursday, and Friday we had to leave early to get to Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston [OCB] for a long eye appointment in Yarmouth. I dread eye appointments. The news is seldom good and it involves sitting around forever with blurry vision.  Often the technicians are rough with me, as they’re not used to epicanthic folds. I have a prescription for new meds Woody will pick up on Monday.  They put so many drops in my eyes, I could barely see by supper time.  Just sat around for three hours listening to music, unable to work, read or even watch TV.  Boring, but how lovely to be engrossed by Bach and Wieniawski.

Woody found what he hopes is a good used truck at a price we can afford.  Wednesday, he’ll bring it home.  I have been very worried about him driving around in the old truck. The four-wheel drive is gone, the bottom is rusting out, and the brakes are getting mushy. 

We’re in love with Shogun.  We always like it when we have some ongoing program we actually both like to watch. Doesn’t happen that often. Case in point: We began The Swans, about Truman Capote and his obsession with NYC society women. It worked for a few episodes, but I got bored with it. I am in love with Amazing Race. He could care less.

I’m starting more seeds today.  All the eggplants and peppers germinated and were moved to the bay window of the livingroom. The hardy seedlings are out in the greenhouse.  Today I start paste tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cosmos and marjoram.  Ita’s sunny here and still mild.  Crocuses blooming beside the house.