The plane takes off at 7. Not mine, Diane's. That means shortly after 5 she needs to hit the road. A few more minutes downstairs, reviewing, thinking out loud, listening. I am reminded of the article my friend from Australia had sent me after reading about my weekend at Brisbane House. About hanging out with people. It's an art, maybe a habit, it takes practice, and we, the people of this country, perhaps many countries, are losing the needed skills. To process life in the company of others, to hang out. From the article, it's defined as "daring to do not much and daring to do it in the company of other people."
And then Diane is off and I retreat to the couch where I can force that knee to be even straighter and bend it even more, and before I know, dawn comes and I'm fixing breakfast for Ed and for me...
Outside, the crab apple is even more magnificent and I turn on my phone birdsong app and listen and smile, because the birds are almost the same as in Arena Wisconsin, except that here we have the addition of the ever beautiful family of Barn Swallows.
(Spotlight on the flowers of May!)
(the first lilacs!)
Ed and I have visitors. Friends who stopped by to see how we were doing and as one is a nurse, she gave a critical gaze to my post surgical movements and pronounced them to be very excellent and so after they left I felt I should carry the torch of progress forward and push myself to dig up some of the many many weeds that sprouted after the rains. For one hour I worked, bending my new knee just a little. I was sweating and it wasn't even that warm! But, the garden is still young and full of hope and I know it needs my help to keep it vibrant and happy and so today I gave it a tiny boost.
In the afternoon I pick up Snowdrop.
Today is her ballet day and since it hasn't even been two weeks since my surgery, I gave some consideration to the fact that maybe I wasn't quite ready to rush her here, there, and everywhere, while ensuring that her hair is just so, but in the end I decided I could give it a whirl.
Too, this gave me a chance to meet up (during dance class) with her mom. Both my daughters have a lot on their plate right now and meetups and upbeat conversations and some light hearted review of the peculiarities of life I think are a good idea. Well, they're always a good idea, don't you think?
Evening. I did not order groceries on time and so we make do with cheeper eggs and home grown asparagus and a salad. I call Ed in for supper. He has been working on a patch for this year's tomatoes and he tells me it is one of the most beautiful, fragrant evenings of all time. How good it is to witness it all, to smell the orchard flowers, to pick out and now recognize the birds that come and go! We are grateful.
