Loved and Lost

I always knew I had hit on a good prompt when students asked, "Can I do more than one?"

This is a good prompt!

"Thanks," my brother said when I dropped off the squash and pepper plants I had grown from seed. "Emily will love these!"

We stood outside his house, looking over his garden beds. "The rabbits ate those," he pointed at an empty spot where once there had been beans. "That pepper has a flower," he noted, "but those aren't doing well at all."

I nodded, and he shrugged. "That's why I hate growing vegetables," he said. "They break my heart every time."

“But they’re so worth it,” I said. 

I spent a big chunk of my afternoon at my friend's, who was hit by a car, home. A cleaning crew was inside preparing the place for her eventual return, and I was in the yard with her three dogs, repairing the fence, adding hardware cloth to the gate, and listening to my audiobook. 

The closer I got to the end of The Good Lord Bird, by James Mcbride, the more breaks I needed to take from this National Book Award winning tale about John Brown told from the perspective of an unwillingly emancipated enslaved boy who was initially mistaken for a girl and, stays disguised as one for three years during his association with the "Captain."

Because once they got to Harper's Ferry? I knew the book would break my heart.

But it is so worth it. 

Oh, Hey

"So, how do you spend your days now that you're retired?" a friend of Heidi's asked me this afternoon.

"I've actually been kind of busy the last couple of months," I told her, and then recounted my subbing job. "This week has been busy, too," I said, and filled her in on trying to help our friend who was hit by the car get organized to be away from her home, pets, and job for at least 2 weeks while she's in rehab for her broken leg. 

"And we're going out of town this weekend, so I want to get our house ready for my nephew to pet sit," I added. "And my garden needs some attention, too."

"Sounds like you're keeping busy," she replied.

I nodded. Truth be told, I've been feeling a little stressed about everything that's happening now, as well as the end-of-the-school-year activities I've volunteered for, and helping Heidi wrap things up in her classroom. Additionally, we need to coordinate our summer travel plans, and I want to be as supportive as I can to my aunt as she faces her own medical challenges.

But then, I remember that I literally have all day, every day to take care of these details, and it all seems so much easier. And? I'm definitely not bored.

Manifesting

When I asked if I could bring anything this morning, a friend in the hospital requested a cold brew with Lactaid. She admitted it was a long shot, but I happened to have a jug of cold brew on hand and the Lactaid was not hard to come by. As I pulled into the hospital parking lot, though, she texted that she was NPO, meaning no food or drinks. I left the coffee in the car and headed up to see what was going on. 

She had been hit by a car on Friday night, and the CT scans had revealed a skull hematoma and a fractured tibia. "I guess they're going to do surgery on my leg?" she said, "but I haven't talked to ortho. I'm starving though, and I really want my coffee!"

"Hospitals have their own time zones," I told her, remembering the time I spent with my mom when she was an inpatient. "It would be nice if they were more like bus stops, though, wouldn't it?" I laughed. "Where you can look at your phone and track your ride while you wait."

Just then, the nurse came in for the first check-in of her shift. "Ask me anything," she offered, as if she had overheard our conversation. She swiped into the monitor by the bed and scanned the chart. She listened and answered every question we had, reading the chart and sending messages as she went. Before she left, she discovered that the NPO was an earlier order that had been mistakenly re-released. 

"Order those pancakes," she told my friend, and turning to me, said, "Go get that coffee from the car!"

Joyful June

I liked the structure of participating in the Active April challenge put forth by the folks at Action for Happiness so much that I'm going for Joyful June. As before, I'll complete the daily prompt and then write about it here. 

Done!

Anyone else want to join?

Brunch and a Show

It had been too long since we'd spent time with my brother and sister-in-law, so I texted early this week to try to set something up. Our go-to is usually a movie and dinner, but there isn't a lot out that the four of us can agree on. I proposed Kimberly Akimbo, just in case Bill might consider a Broadway musical, as an alternative. He countered with Twelfth Night at the Folger, and a plan was hatched. He got tickets to the matinee today, and I made brunch reservations at a place near Eastern Market. Then I Spot-heroed some parking and arranged to pick them up at 11:30.

What a delightful day! So urbane, so sophisticated, and so grown up. I guess it shouldn't be surprising now that we're in our 60s, but it still kind of was.

Unexpected Activity

 I had just taken my shoes off and plopped myself down on my aunt's couch when a harsh blare interrupted our conversation. "Was that today?" she asked her husband.

"Apparently," he replied.

"Do we have to go outside?" I asked and they both nodded.

It took me a minute to get my sneakers back on, and then I stepped back to wait for my uncle to finish tying his. Their unit is on the first floor of the "lodge," so we simply strolled across the lobby and out the front door to the porch. 

A half dozen other seniors were already gathered there, along with two staff members. A clipboard was passed around for attendance as other residents, some with canes, walkers, and one in a wheelchair, made their way to join us on the porch. 

"Are you a new resident?" a woman asked me.

"This is my niece," my aunt answered for me. "She's just visiting."

"You picked a crazy day to come!" the woman commented.

"I was a teacher for many years," I told her, "so I'm no stranger to evacuation drills."

She nodded approvingly.

One of the staff members checked his watch. "Everybody's out!" he said. "In under five minutes."

"Is that good?" asked someone, and I wondered, too, especially considering we could regularly clear an entire school of 1000 people in about 3 minutes.

"It's very good!" he confirmed. "Everybody would survive. We're going to meet in five minutes in the second-floor lounge," he added. "You can use the elevator now."

When we arrived, they handed out packets containing emergency information and reminders. "You don't have to read it all now," said the other staff member. "It's a lot of information, and we only have one hour."

Unseasonable

Even after vigorously toweling her off,  Lucy was so wet after our rainy walk yesterday that she was shivering. It was a little chilly in the house, so I decided to make a fire. The rain pattered against the windows as the fire crackled, warming the room and transforming the gray light of the day to gold. It felt as if I was in some far-off place where it's not unusual to have a fire in the summer, so I made a cup of tea and settled by the hearth to read for a while.