Happy May! The sun is warm to the skin, the wind is not too cold, the light is beautiful, the last of the plowed snow is gone in the front yard...all signs that winter is rapidly becoming a distant memory.
We planted a new lilac, blueberry, sour cherry and two black elderberries today to add to the fruit/berry trees and bushes we put in last year. I plan to start a journal of what we have planted and where so that someday when I am enjoying the fruit from these trees, I can look back and go, oh yeah, that was the spring I had Bell's Palsy and did everything with one eye closed for awhile.
Slight progress on that note--I can almost close my right eye again--it takes concentrated effort, but it does almost close. My tongue is still tingly, like I used way too much mouthwash, no chance of a smile, frown or flared nostril yet, but the eye is a good sign. So, with fingers crossed, I keep moving forward.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
April 26, 2011-- The highs and lows of it all...
Sorry I have not posted for a bit--this past week has been filled with highs and lows and right now, the lows are gaining--I spent a good part of Easter Sunday not making Easter eggs or cookies but in the ER with the right side of my face paralyzed. According to the PA's quick diagnosis, I have a classic textbook case of Bell's Palsy which started on Thursday with the most godawful pain right below my ear that I have ever experienced. Two days of pain led to a continuously weeping eye on Saturday to facial paralysis on Sunday.
Now I am reduced to seeing out of my left eye only, as the right is covered with a patch to help it from drying out. I am only able to create half a smile, can't raise my eyebrow or keep toothpaste from dribbling from the side of my mouth. Life has definitely slowed to a crawl especially any work on the computer as it is hard to type with only one eye watching fingers and keyboard. And to add to this, it may not be Bell's Palsy but another symptom of Lyme disease, so I need to get tested for that when I go to the doctor on Thursday.
Work on the book has stopped, work for money has slowed to a crawl--yesterday I watched my very first Oprah show as it required less eye strain than trying to read.
I knew I should have stayed in Mexico for another week...
I'll keep you posted on how things progress.
Now I am reduced to seeing out of my left eye only, as the right is covered with a patch to help it from drying out. I am only able to create half a smile, can't raise my eyebrow or keep toothpaste from dribbling from the side of my mouth. Life has definitely slowed to a crawl especially any work on the computer as it is hard to type with only one eye watching fingers and keyboard. And to add to this, it may not be Bell's Palsy but another symptom of Lyme disease, so I need to get tested for that when I go to the doctor on Thursday.
Work on the book has stopped, work for money has slowed to a crawl--yesterday I watched my very first Oprah show as it required less eye strain than trying to read.
I knew I should have stayed in Mexico for another week...
I'll keep you posted on how things progress.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
April 19, 2011-- Random thoughts tonight...
Spring returned today when the sun popped out and the robins came back to peck at the drying mud in search of worms.
Margarita, Diosa de la Cumbia and Nirvana are both good groups to listen to while cooking and doing the dishes.
Not listening to the news can be a good thing once in awhile.
Most of the people I care about are too far away tonight to go visit so I wish Calvin would hurry up and build that teleport machine.
We need to weed out some books in the house but it feels too much like turning my back on a good friend when I toss them in a box.
My cat caught her first mouse of the spring and thankfully played with it outside instead of bringing it in to me.
The full moon was amazing last night but resulted in only about 4 hours sleep as it was soooo bright! I did come up with several new article ideas, though while lying in bed, so that was a good thing.
Now that winter is over, almost, it's time to start filling the woodshed for winter--gotta love the endless cycles of living close to nature!
Margarita, Diosa de la Cumbia and Nirvana are both good groups to listen to while cooking and doing the dishes.
Not listening to the news can be a good thing once in awhile.
Most of the people I care about are too far away tonight to go visit so I wish Calvin would hurry up and build that teleport machine.
We need to weed out some books in the house but it feels too much like turning my back on a good friend when I toss them in a box.
My cat caught her first mouse of the spring and thankfully played with it outside instead of bringing it in to me.
The full moon was amazing last night but resulted in only about 4 hours sleep as it was soooo bright! I did come up with several new article ideas, though while lying in bed, so that was a good thing.
Now that winter is over, almost, it's time to start filling the woodshed for winter--gotta love the endless cycles of living close to nature!
Monday, April 18, 2011
April 18, 2011- Where is spring?
Today is the 18th of April. Almost a month has passed since the official calendar turning of the seasons to spring and yet, today felt as raw, blustery and apt to snow as any day in February. I bundled up in multiple layers to take a much needed walk in the fresh air and on my return, promptly started up the wood stove. We still have piles of snow in the front, side and back yards while the driveway is a continuous series of ruts in the semi-frozen mud.
Tulips and daffodils are bravely poking up about six inches of greenery but this is only because we planted them over the septic tank, which is the warmest spot in the yard at this time of year.
Weather predictions do not look favorable for the rest of the week with snow flurries being mentioned on one report I heard today.
I think it will be a good week to stay at my desk, working on various projects and dreaming of a vacation in Hawaii sometime in June.
Tulips and daffodils are bravely poking up about six inches of greenery but this is only because we planted them over the septic tank, which is the warmest spot in the yard at this time of year.
Weather predictions do not look favorable for the rest of the week with snow flurries being mentioned on one report I heard today.
I think it will be a good week to stay at my desk, working on various projects and dreaming of a vacation in Hawaii sometime in June.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
April 16, 2011-- A blustery afternoon approaches...
The wind is picking up outside and if I lived on a lake or small pond, I imagine the water would be kicking up into small whitecaps at this point. But, since I live in the woods, the strings of Mexican and Tibetan prayer flags flapping steadily outside my office window and the noise of the wind leaking in around said old office window are the only indications at this point that we are due for a storm.
The reading Thursday night was a true delight. Rosemary Mahoney, who strongly reminded me in dress, mannerisms, and speech of Dana Scully from The X Files, did a nice job of reading from her book, Down the Nile. Which, we learned, is not the title she would have chosen for the book, but the one the publisher picked. As Ms. Mahoney said, they know their business, as the book has sold far more copies with this title than would have with her original. Which she can't even remember at this point.
I liked the fact that she spent more time just talking to the audience and answering questions than actually reading as we can all go read her books on our own time but can't ask her questions whenever we want. Except, I did, as I found her email address on-line and wrote her with the question I wanted to ask that evening but didn't have time to do which is what is her latest project? Last night I received a very nice reply stating Ms. Mahoney is working on a book about teaching the blind in India. Sounds like another best-seller to me.
That reading was the last of the Visiting Writers Series at UMF for this semester. I will keep watch for the new line of writers who will be appearing in the fall and keep you posted.
The reading Thursday night was a true delight. Rosemary Mahoney, who strongly reminded me in dress, mannerisms, and speech of Dana Scully from The X Files, did a nice job of reading from her book, Down the Nile. Which, we learned, is not the title she would have chosen for the book, but the one the publisher picked. As Ms. Mahoney said, they know their business, as the book has sold far more copies with this title than would have with her original. Which she can't even remember at this point.
I liked the fact that she spent more time just talking to the audience and answering questions than actually reading as we can all go read her books on our own time but can't ask her questions whenever we want. Except, I did, as I found her email address on-line and wrote her with the question I wanted to ask that evening but didn't have time to do which is what is her latest project? Last night I received a very nice reply stating Ms. Mahoney is working on a book about teaching the blind in India. Sounds like another best-seller to me.
That reading was the last of the Visiting Writers Series at UMF for this semester. I will keep watch for the new line of writers who will be appearing in the fall and keep you posted.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
April 14, 2011-- A short posting...
Today will be a very short posting as I am heading to the Rosemary Mahoney reading at the University of Maine Farmington tonight. Mahoney is a travel/non-fiction writer and I have been enjoying her book, Whoredom in Kimmage: Irish Women Coming of Age. I have two of Mahoney's other books as well, Down the Nile: Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff and The Early Arrival of Dreams: A Year in China, but have yet to read these two. I am curious to hear this woman speak and to maybe find out where she is headed next in her travels, as well as any pointers she might give out on writing travel memoirs as mine still sits half-finished on my computer.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
April 13, 2011-- April snowshowers bring...
Ah, the joys of living in Maine are once again being demonstrated by dear Mother Nature as I sit and look out my window at the thick wet snow flakes and rain pouring from the darkening skies. Yesterday was warm, sunny, a clear robin egg blue sky--I am so grateful I took the time to go for a long, long walk, as today will be spent cooped up in the house with two restless cats and a semi-restless husband.
None have the wanderlust that I have in my heart as I continue to pore through text on the ancient Maya, their customs, their rituals, and the food, plants, and animals of their world.
One of the new books I received the other day is proving to be more academic than I had hoped--Ancient Maya Women edited by Traci Ardren is full of essays, but the long-winded academic kind found in a PhD program rather than an easier, sit down and read me easily type. But, I am determined to slog my way through the book as it is bound to have useful information that I can plug into my heroine's personal history.
This would be a good day to try and work my way through some of them, if I didn't need to go make some money instead. Ah well, there is always later today, while riding my bike, as I am most certainly not going for a walk in the slop falling from the sky.
I do hope these April snowshowers will bring me lilacs in May.
None have the wanderlust that I have in my heart as I continue to pore through text on the ancient Maya, their customs, their rituals, and the food, plants, and animals of their world.
One of the new books I received the other day is proving to be more academic than I had hoped--Ancient Maya Women edited by Traci Ardren is full of essays, but the long-winded academic kind found in a PhD program rather than an easier, sit down and read me easily type. But, I am determined to slog my way through the book as it is bound to have useful information that I can plug into my heroine's personal history.
This would be a good day to try and work my way through some of them, if I didn't need to go make some money instead. Ah well, there is always later today, while riding my bike, as I am most certainly not going for a walk in the slop falling from the sky.
I do hope these April snowshowers will bring me lilacs in May.
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