POW!

I was out in yard much of Sunday, trying to finish everything I could while it was still almost January.

Why? Because the tree pollen can start pouring out any time now. Once that happens, I can no longer freely move about outside until next year. January's about it, these days.

I've been ever so smug the past few months, as my family and neighbors and docs have looked in my face and said, --Wow. Your eyes look so different. What happened? They aren't, like, purple and swollen shut. I forgot that's how you used to look.--

and I'd say, --It's all because of being away for so long last summer. Sure I still got sick sometimes, but that overpowering knock-down can't-get-out-of-bed reaction? Nope. Only a day here and there. So I stayed much healthier all around. Even when I got home, I didn't have nearly as far to recover. I wasn't hugely ramped up with massive amounts of histamine doing battle with me.

I woke up Monday morning to go do some bloods, and looked in the mirror. Whoa! Allergy eyes again. I groggily got ready to leave, and an AT&T jerk started banging on my door. Loud and hard, twice. Hey, jerk. I'm slow, okay? He wanted access to the back yard. Sure, gate's open, no dog, just go.

He smirked because I looked like he'd gotten me out of bed at 10:30 am. No. This is how I look so-called awake, fool. Don't go banging so loud and hard where people may be sick, once is enough...but, of course, how would he guess I might be sick or disabled?

and I walked out the door, and felt that old familiar punch in the face.

Yup. It's time.

Well, despite various boo-boos and the lung infection, I still got a lot done during the *good* time. And I'll certainly be back outside a lot. It'll just take a little more planning and flexibility.

And it'll probably help a lot to switch back to the night shift.

In the meantime, I'll try to remember to be patient with AT&T jerks. They're just working for a living. Yeah, they're walking on air now they ate up BellSouth, feeling hugely vindicated about the Ma Bell breakup in the 1970's and 1980's. Made good at last, they think. They'll get over it. I hate AT&T, and one day I'll tell you all why. But for now? Let it be.

I don't like to smooth out life's rough edges. Pretending that reality is different than it is makes me feel uneasy and unsafe.

I know that for many, it's exactly the opposite. For them, in my experience? Their efforts to make things nicer than they are don't help them. They seem to retain an underlying anxiety. Life experiences tend to surprise them still, over and over, when it would seem they'd have learned by now that certain people will behave in certain ways; or that specific events and actions tend to have specific consequences...and that much of this is predictable.

I understand they're trying to relieve the pain of life's harsher moments. To each their own. Of course. But let's choose effective methods. I just don't think prettying up reality is the best way to do it.

I'd rather grow flowers.

That way? Sometimes life kicks sand in my eyes.

But sometimes my orchids bloom.


The orchid on the left is a classic sort of orchid flower. It's a shape and color lots of people would recognize as *An orchid.*


A few days later, the other two buds have opened. I like this pic because the two sets of flowers are sort of looking at each other.

Emo flowers!

And the flower on the right? That's an orchid tree flower. Are they orchids? No. Lots of people, even down here, don't realize that. It's called an orchid tree because the flowers look like orchids - not because they are.

I like to amuse myself with little horticultural jokes. Like putting lots of my orchids around the orchid tree.

It's a perfect place for them. Really. Dappled sunshine, a breeze, good rain access, easy to water if I must...Close to the front door, so they're easy for me to admire...

And fun.


In January lots of stuff blooms around my yard. Like this queen's wreath (petrea volubilis). A few days ago, it had one or two flowers open. Now it's covered in them.


And they're blue.