New Friends

We’ve going out for dinner tonight at someone’s house whom I have never met but whom Woody knows from WOMR. As we age, we lose friends constantly, from moving to Boston to be closer to better medical care, to moving into assisted living, dementia, death. Therefore, it is extremely important to make new friends, although it’s harder than it was when we were  younger.  I’m generally more adventurous in that regard than Woody.

My dear friend Gigi and her husband Ralph are back from their three months in Florida. She fell off a ladder as they were closing up their place.  She injured her ankle so badly that she could not walk or even stand on it. Flying back, she had to be taken around the airports, and to and from the plane in a wheel chair.

She went into a local Urgent Care for X-rays. She did not break any bones, but she’s waiting for the swelling to go down enough to find out what she did do to the ankle. In the meantime, whenever she can, she rests, puts her foot up to reduce the swelling.  I was hoping to see her, but she’s not that mobile yet.

I saw a new doctor Thursday @ the eye factory where we all go.  A young woman, she was far more interested in my problem than my last two doctors.  The new prescription she gave me after just a few uses has almost obliterated the pain and enormously reduced the itching. I am very impressed with her. The new ointment is expensive [$300 for a tiny tube] but it WORKS! It makes my eyes blurry, but so did every other ointment I was prescribed.

I look forward to when I can get off all eye ointments and return to reading. I’m a bit bored with watching Netflix and cable. Friends gave me some wonderful books for my 90th,  but I still can’ t read any of them.

It is still unseasonably chilly here and the nights are way too cool.  We keep putting off transplanting hardy seedlings although the cole crops (broccoli, Swiss chard, Brusells sprouts) are doing quite well, as is the spinach. I Iong for milder weather so I can clear and feed my pollinator beds and my herb garden. 

I am so glad to be free of the excruciating pain in my eyes that has plagued me and made me miserable for the past year and almost four months.  My eyes are still super-sensitive and occasionally grumpy and the ointment that is healing me also causes very blurry eyes, but I am so relieved.  My mind is much sharper and I enjoyed a wonderful night’s sleep after so many sleepless nights or nights with three or four hours maximum. I feel like I just finally got out of pain’s jail.

We may finally have a resident fox again.  We noticed there were not dozens of rabbits attacking the gardens every day this spring, but we didn’t know why till Woody saw Mr. of Ms. Fox walking nonchalantly up the driveway this morning. We are very happy. For a few years, we had a resident fox and no problem with rabbits or chipmunks. After the fox died of mange, the rabbits and chipmunks took over and decimated our crops. Welcome, dear fox.