We Love Lucy and Spring

It's finally spring around here.  The proof is in the first hummingbird we have had at our feeders.  Because we live very near the Southern Blue Ridge Escarpment, we note on maps that hummingbirds have been seen to our east, to our west, and to our north for several weeks before we see them here.  We put out the feeders and then wait.  And then they come.

Not a great picture, but the first of the season.

Further proof of spring can be found in our very strange weather patterns.  While we didn't have a blizzard like much of the northern Midwest, we did have severe storms, one of which brought very large hail.  We've had strong damaging winds and loud thunderstorms.  Flash flooding is common throughout the county.  And we're in for more this weekend.

Downtown Brevard

(Photograph from The Transylvania Times)

Lucy continues to be the same.  We are happy that the storms do not seem to bother her at all.  I have shown you a similar picture, but I love this one.  It shows just how happy she is in spite of her lame leg and restricted living space.  On nice days, she loves to sit on the deck soaking up the sun.  And while she no longer goes downstairs, she seems happy enough remaining on one floor.  She still has that internal "clock" that tells her when feeding time comes around.  And she loves her food.

We are so please that Lucy remains happy and pain-free.

Our Violet had a GI "bug" for a day or so.  She spent the day in her jammies sipping clear fluids and getting lots of extra hugs and attention.  A huge treat for her was that she got to watch much more television than is normally allowed.  She loves television, perhaps because she doesn't get to watch much.  She is wrapped in one of the blankets I knitted for her and one of her handmade quilts is on the back of the sofa.  It is "Sunbonnet Sue" and is one of several made for her by a 90-year-old woman who is like a grandmother to our d-i-l.  The quilts are works of art and such treasures.  The woman makes them for Violet because our son and d-i-l so love and appreciate them.  She wants them to be used and not packed away.

There are two television shows that their family watches together on a regular basis.  The first is because Violet LOVES it.  She watches "Wheel of Fortune" as if it were created for her.  They all love "Jeopardy" because my son so often shouts out the correct answers.  [BTW: Have you seen the current champion?  He bets every cent on each daily double he encounters and has set a record for winnings.  Wouldn't you know?  He is a professional gambler.]  After that, it's story time and then bed for Violet.

Too absorbed in the program to look at the camera.

She is much better now and pretty much back to her usual busy little self.

A word about my own health:  I saw my oncologist when I had chemotherapy on Wednesday.  He is delighted with how well I am doing.  The "cancer marker" blood levels are still low and I am feeling quite good.  We will continue the chemo as "maintenance" for six more weeks and then stop.  We will follow the blood levels and do another PET scan in the summer.  So while we are realistic we are also profoundly grateful that my cancer responded so well to the chemotherapy.  It rather makes all that pain, weakness, and discomfort worth the outcome.

The quote today is a thought-provoking one from Albert Schweitzer:

"At times out own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.

Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."

During some of my worst times the past eighteen months, my own light certainly flickered and threatened to go out.  And each time it was rekindled by a spark from someone else.  I am eternally grateful for those sparks that kept me going in dark times.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK, EVERYONE

BE THE SPARK FOR SOMEONE IN NEED