Limping Along

December 15, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Ruled out: COVID, heart failure, cancer, and blood clots. Twelve hours in emergency, under intense scrutiny revealed no answers. Symptoms continue. You need “restorative rest” the ER doctor emphasized. “Hire help if you can.” I suspect this is just another stage in my journey with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. The least amount of effort tires me, leaves […]

Life Takes A Turn

December 10, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Life, like the weather, has taken a turn. No answers at the moment, but I am once again confined to bed rest. Restorative rest, is what the doctor has ordered. Limited screen time, hired help to run the house, no outings. I have a few posts pre-scheduled on my poetry site, and will visit when […]

Balance Would Be Good

August 18, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Life feels a bit like this photo right now – buggy. While Ric is on the mend, I have been undergoing tests for chronic issues. Last week, two biopsies were taken and a growth removed. No answers yet. “Are you scared?” Ric asks me as we lie awake, minds processing in the stillness of night. […]

The Climb From Here

February 18, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Ric is back in hospital. The infection is – for the moment – winning, having disabled his leg. An elevated blood pressure and difficulty breathing is what sent him back. He has fluid on the lungs. Two different medical teams are now following his case. It feels as if the climb from here is monumental. […]

In the Aftermath

September 18, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

All the fading bitsdetract – I am still alivepassion asserting. (A quick check in. I am recovering well; still needing lots of rest. Thanks for all the good wishes. Image from my collection.)

Avoidance Therapy

May 10, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

I just want to sleep. Situational, my therapist calls this type of depression. Saw my family doctor this week, and she confirmed that the skin condition could be cancer. At best, it is a rare condition that will need specialist care. It is both itchy and painful, but there can be no treatment until the […]

Nature’s Balm

May 7, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Questions flood in as evening sets, the initial shock of hearing the ‘c’ word now wearing off. I sleep little, spending way too much time with Dr. Google, without any satisfaction. Ric is scheduled to go into town a bit later, so I take the car early and head to a new trail in our […]

Shake Ups

January 5, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

The new year grabbed me in a choke hold and hog-tied me before I had a chance to even think about what it might bring. It started with a text that my mother was in hospital, followed by a harried searching of flights and anxious speculating about how I’ll get home. Me, who hasn’t ventured […]

RV-Able: Here We Go Again

November 30, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

4:15 a.m I am wide awake, my head full of what needs to be done before we set out on our next adventure. Ric is sleeping soundly, so I quietly close the bedroom door behind me and set about my business. Outside the wind howls and as if in response, my right hip aches. Yesterday […]

VJWC #2: Synchronicity Part I

June 14, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

An orange flash dipped in front of the truck, with no time to veer. We arrived at our destination to find a Baltimore oriole embedded in the front grill. I was heartbroken. At any other time, the appearance of an oriole would be auspicious. Usually showing up in pairs, these birds arrive in summer and […]

Not Dead Yet

There is safety in apart-ment living;would corral the little ones, declareresponsibility, obligations as a maskfor this self-banishing compulsion… except that I am lying prone, exposed –brains spilling onto concrete – shadowsrevealing the darkness of my condition,hopelessly locked in physical inertia. I am an unwitting contributor toscientific (and pseudo) probing:audacious autopsies pronouncingconclusive evidence of motives. Too […]

That Kid

Not programmed to comply –cannot tolerate oppression:a pressure cookerready to explode Do-gooders sit upstraight and smileencouragement:I slouch defiance Don’t ask me to respectthat which is disrespectful –my fuse is shortof that I’m certain Don’t slot me;leave me –creative inspirationis not lacking here I’m a free agenta incorrigible scamp –authority doesn’t scare me’cause I’m beyond control. […]

Undefendable

Every child bears the sparkof eternity’s promise…Where’s the threat in that? What mechanism of hateequates slaughterof innocents with justice? This is society’s bane –the unconscionable policiesof greed lacking accountability (Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own)