surge forward!

At night, I woke up thinking -- gee, I haven't had much energy for several days now. I wonder if that's the new normal for me? I mean, you shouldn't thing that you can do something just because once you could do it. (I learned that one climbing a summit in Scotland -- or rather not finishing the climb to the top). You should accept your limitations and enjoy the new normal.

Sometimes, though, the new normal, thankfully, isn't the normal at all. Covid, unlike senior status, does go away for most of us. Especially for the vaccinated types. 

So today I wake up, cough, cough, snort, cough, shower, go downstairs and think -- hey, I'm feeling a heck of a lot better! Almost normal! A bit tired still, but it's only day 5 after all. And being inactive for all these days contributes to fatigue: the less you do, the less you can do.

Well now, this is good news indeed! 

I go out to snip lilies. 

And it's a good thing, too, that I've got a bit more oomph because there are a lot to take off today. I stopped counting at 555...

Let's take a look at the farmette flowers:

(these orange spiders bloom right by the front door and I always think of them as my wild girls! they're huge attention grabbers!)

(the view from the porch is from behind the lily field, onto the Big Bed in the distance)

(Notice that I'm ignoring mention of the bugs. They are there. 'nuf said.)

(another pair of attention getters: such strong color!)

(in the Big Bed, the Hollyhock is mixed with the true lilies; this year all the true lilies have been hit by the lily beetle. I should have tried some remedies early on-- neem oil, for example -- but I wasn't here when they first started ravaging the plants. thankfully they only eat oriental lilies; but it is a shame to lose a good number of the flowers to these pests... I wont use the chemical sprays out there, so we'll just have to lose some lilies. These, for example, are surviving well enough. I handpick and squash what red bug I see on them -- it's become part of my morning routine: red beetle squishing!)

Breakfast is beautiful but short-lived. I put in a call that concerning my mother's benefit renewal and it came through just then and it could not wait. Half an hour on it, and so my time with Ed was cut short...

And work with my mother's papers and then with issues surrounding her strong resistance to care took up the better part of the morning.

But in the afternoon, Ed asks -- want to go for an easy bike ride?

I do!

Imagine, I do!

As we bike, not too fast, not too much, I think to myself how typically, after a trip, I come back physically stronger: hikes, long walks (so many steps!) make me feel like I still have some muscle in me. This time Covid wiped that slate clean: just five days of basically couch time zapped my energies. So I'm rebuilding! Without the ambition of getting to some past strong point. Just rebuilding.  

(a pause at Lake Waubesa: like a swallow has learned to fly...)

As we pass our county park, Ed suggests we do a short walk up to "turtle lake."

We don't see any turtles, but oh how beautiful it is along that prairie path!

(tall flowers! Can you find Ed in there??)

The flowers are stunning, the birds are amazing, the dragonflies are finding a great bounty out there!

(these are called "Michigan lilies...")

And on the ride home, we pass these two guys in the wheat field:

This is when I think -- I'm happy it's summer. Not done with my love for this month. Not ready to move on. Bugs notwithstanding. It's just too warm and pretty and altogether fine!

With love...