Columbines, Spiders and Old Friends in Everyday Ramblings

I have been taking pictures long enough now when out and about that I can type in a date in Google Photos and get thumbnails of all the pictures I uploaded on that date. This is how I keep tabs on the progress of the flower clock each year. Much to my surprise tree ferns have been a March theme. This is from the park across the street on Thursday when I was waiting for a bus.

The tulips are up here, It looks like they might open in maybe four days. We should still have some around on Easter.

Big scare this week. I wasn’t feeling all that great earlier, both body and mind, a collection of weird symptoms and a general malaise, so when on Thursday I extended my arm in my Weights and Bands class and noticed what looked like hives around my elbow I was a bit alarmed.

Overnight the hives turned into what looked like a rash and I thought, oh gosh, no way, it can’t be Shingles. I made a doctor’s appointment first thing yesterday morning after my morning class. You can get Shingles twice, even after the vaccine.

Not a fun day waiting to go and find out, trying to stay open minded and calm.

It is not Shingles. It is a bite sequence. Somebody in the insect family had an aperitif, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on my arm, not to mention dessert. I have eight puncture marks.

It not only itches, but it also burns. Bleh. The doctor gave me some steroid cream that helps a little, but the best thing is to keep it uncovered and away from my body.

Although, I am hugely relieved it is not Shingles, it is still annoying as all get out. Once when I was a kid on a sleep out at a Girl Scout camp, I was feasted on by a number of mosquitoes, but other than that I have never had a bite experience like this.

What a weird week! I did get a chance to talk to an old boyfriend, Mr. Zanzibar, at length on the phone. He lives in San Francisco, and is old in two ways, he was my boyfriend when I was in my early to mid-thirties and is a truly lovely guy, and he is old, as in he had his 86th birthday in January.

He says no one wants to be the girlfriend of a homely old guy like him anymore but that generally he feels good about his life and all the turns it has taken. He says his relation to God is better than it has ever been, and I can tell that brings him comfort.

He is still driving, and he is still dancing. He does Zydeco dancing. It is surreal to think that I have reached a point where I am asking old friends if they are still driving.

The occasion of the call was that he finally succumbed to modern technology and got his first Smart Phone. An android. He is completely flummoxed about how to use it. Oh, and he wanted to know if I was in the market for a boyfriend again.

There was a lot of laughter. So good for the soul. To be remembered fondly is such a gift. Especially at this time where I have been feeling blue and lacking in companionship. As he lives in a wonderful rent-controlled apartment with a view in San Francisco and has never had a personal email address and didn’t know what a podcast was, I don’t think we are going anywhere with this.

But still, nice!

Tonight is the big social event of the season, Walt’s Book Launch. I am happy I am not contagious and can go though I am sure my social anxiety will be off the charts. Oh well.

Next week it is League stuff all down the line as well as teaching. I have to present the Budget to the board for approval a week from Monday. I have hours of work yet on it, but the most anxiety inducing part is over. We are also having our last Discussion Unit meeting of the League year.

Today though, my big project is to get some seeds started. This week I managed to find all the stuff I needed to make my first pass at that. I stopped by the garden yesterday on the way back from the doctor and the columbines are coming on! Yay.