Bunnies

 I added two more daffodils to my inside bunch and put them in a different container. I still have about 3 dozen blooms in the patio plot. 

Besides the Godiva chocolate bunnies, I put out my Spring Time centerpiece and Rosie (a toy bunny). Most of my spring decorations consist of rabbits; this is their time to shine. The little plate is from a yard sale; the other items from Kohl's markdowns. Bits and pieces that have accumulated over the years. 

Tomorrow will require warm clothes as I head out to sing with the Grace Village choir in chapel and in the afternoon attend Winona Literary Club. Thursday is supposed to be even colder with a high in the low 30's. Easter Sunday should be a beautiful 67-70. More to my liking. April is trying to start off with warmer days. Hurray for spring! It cheers me up. 

A Life Cut Short By COVID

 Though it has been several months since the death of Bethany Nesbitt, I just discovered this article by her brother today. It was a link on the Facebook page of a lady in my church. She is greatly missed by her family. I heard of her death through Grace College and the local media. I did not know her, but she was the second person I learned had died from COVID in Winona Lake. 

When I hear about people who think COVID is not a threat to young people, I wish they would see how Bethany at 20 had dreams for her life and family who adored her. Yet she became a fatality of the pandemic. 

Today we returned to our church to worship after a year of just live-streaming. We are fully inoculated so are ready to take part in what before the vaccine would have been high risk. So sad Bethany had no vaccine to protect her, but we know she is now safe in heaven.

What's New in the 'Hood

 My daffodils are open! I see them throughout my neighborhood as well.

There are 3 condos vacant on my block. The one directly across from me has no sign, but the others have "For Lease".

We have some critters on the loose: a black bear and a white rabbit.

The Winona Literary Club meets in the community center; the condo residents have a monthly lunch together there, too. Our family has rented it for reunions. A local church group has Bible studies. It is booked up most months.

These hellebores bloom at the corner plot of the community center.

As long as I am showing you my neighborhood, I will include the workshop where my husband does woodworking and other projects; two other men are there regularly doing stained glass and furniture refinishing.

This is the type of mailboxes we have. The acrylic holder has the weekly announcement sheets and event circulars from the retirement facility. The wooden boxes are for newspapers, but the local newspaper has switched to mail delivery rather than by carrier. We still get a weekly free paper, mostly ads.

My irises are starting to emerge. They won't bloom until mid or late May, just about the time of my surgery. 

When I started my walk this afternoon, it was sunny and mild. I joined a neighbor on her porch and before I knew it 90 minutes had gone by. We had quite a chat. It was cloudy and a cold wind arose. Now at 8:30 tonight it is raining and I hear rumbles of thunder. The cold front will mean temps in the 40's tomorrow compared to 66 today. I will have to bundle up in my winter coat to go to church. Yes, we are going to attend in person for the first time since March a year ago.

 The pandemic seems far away, but I see that the cases are starting to rise in our county again. Indiana has opened the COVID shots to anyone 16 and older; yet only about 12 per cent of the county population is fully inoculated. Hope they hurry up. I am starting to get used to a new normal of visiting folks, going to a birthday party, singing in the choir. It could come to a halt. 

Croci

 

Some more crocus blooms. My two little gold blooms lasted 3 days before being eaten. My kind neighbor sprayed some deer repellant on these. We will see how long they last. It might be rabbits doing the munching.

Last year I had one bloom (purple); this year I have 6! This morning I saw a nuthatch on the pear tree head down looking for insects. So much joy to watch God's creation. 

Stirrings

 After eating a burrito at El Mezquite in North Manchester and a nice country drive, I decided to take a walk this afternoon. People are stirring about: a group of kids playing basketball in the driveway, a man washing his car, a bicyclist, kids on a trampoline. 

I saw one planting of daffodils with open blooms. A few leaves that I think are tulips.

A dozen geese were taking turns swimming and splashing water off wings.

I sat on the bench next to the pond. I am so out of shape. I need to concentrate on walking the next several weeks so I will be ready to do some hiking at Starved Rock Park in Illinois. 

I downsized my bouquet yesterday. I may get 1 or 2 days more to enjoy them before they wilt away. Wednesday will be two weeks since they arrived. 

The folks with the nice winter mailbox cover have changed to something less seasonal.

I sometimes click on an ad in my Facebook feed for stores I know like Macy's and JC Penney. Last week I clicked on an ad for Appleseed's; I had never heard of this company. They have been in business about 70 years in the Boston area. I ordered a closeout dress. The shipping costs about half the price of the dress. I figured if the dress didn't fit, I would donate it to Goodwill since the return shipping would be about $7. However, it fits fine. I plan to wear it to Wednesday's funeral.

I received a "welcome back" offer from Time magazine. $15 for 1 year. I subscribed for many years, but I felt the quality of the stories and the layout had declined so did not renew. However, I would like something to read as I recuperate from surgery for a few months. I'll see if the magazine is better than I remember. 

Not much leafing out nor blooming, but it is a wonderful spring day. 

Happy Spring!

 

Cool nights but lots of sunshine. My daffodils outside will probably open in 10 days. A very busy week ahead with a funeral, a medical appointment, and a birthday party. We finally ate at Texas Roadhouse last Sunday and had breakfast at The Crazy Egg yesterday with my husband's two sisters. All of us have been inoculated against COVID. Some semblance of normalcy.

Agreement

 I am scheduled for posterior cervical fusion surgery on May 26th. This will be day surgery at Parkview Orthopedic Hospital in Fort Wayne.

The second-opinion doctor agreed with my surgeon. I had originally planned to wait until mid-June in the hope that with more time my body might stabilize itself on its own. The doctor I saw yesterday said that was highly unlikely. The motion and instability seen on the x-rays will interfere with the previously-operated levels fusing besides putting stress on the hardware.

Mentally I have accepted the future surgery. Emotionally I am not psyched to face it yet. I have several activities in the next weeks which will give me social interaction and enjoyment. I am going to focus on those. 

We had a nice lunch at Biaggi's yesterday. I like the butternut squash ravioli. The sauce is so good, but it is the walnut pieces that add just the right touch. Our last stop was Costco. When we exited, sleet pummeled us. My flowerbed at home was coated with white. The roads were a little slick, but God brought us safely home.

Now I am praying God will bring me safely through another surgery.

Surprised

 My visit with my spine surgeon did not go well last Tuesday. He had 5 x-rays taken. After he had viewed them, he came into the examination room and told me my cervical spine did not look the way it should 3 months post-op. There was too much motion evident on the extension and flexion views. 

He ran into a complication during the surgery on December 22nd that he had not anticipated. When he tried to position the new titanium plate, he found the level where he planned to insert the screw was soft and mushy as he put it. This was the donor bone graft from my 2003 surgery not my body's original vertebra. He put in a longer plate so that he could insert the screw elsewhere. 

He is concerned that the lack of stability and evidence of motion on the recent x-rays means we might "lose fixation", his terminology. The motion also means there is a risk that the two fusions he did with cages and bone bits might not actually fuse. He laid out 3 options: wait, do posterior cervical fusion to place rods and screws on the back side of the spinal column, do posterior cervical fusion with a minimally invasive procedure that would not require cutting through the muscles but would put cages in the backside to eliminate motion. I was stunned. I certainly don't feel emotionally ready to face another surgery. 

I told him to schedule the minimally invasive surgery, but when the scheduling nurse (the same one I had in December) called, I told her to pick a date in June. I will wait until almost 6 months past the original surgery. I also told her I was not 100% confident I was going to have the surgery; that I was going to seek a second opinion. She encouraged me to do that so I could have peace of mind. She said I could always cancel.

Today I called about an appointment with another spine surgeon who specializes in cervical surgery including the type of minimally invasive procedure. I am waiting for a call-back for an exact time.

It is true that I am taking a risk that a screw could loosen and perforate the esophagus or the plate could slip and harm the spinal cord. I see those risks when I read stuff on the internet. But my doctor did say waiting is an option. I have to believe that if it was urgent, he would have said so. Because of the risk, I think I will probably end up doing something to reduce that risk eventually. Just what and the timing are something I will discuss with the second-opinion doctor. 

Yesterday morning my doorbell rang. A bouquet was being delivered from a local florist. My sweet husband knew I was feeling down after the doctor visit. He decided to cheer me up. The decision to delay surgery so I have a few months to enjoy life again has also helped me tremendously. I wish I could ease his concerns about me. 

Waiting Time

 "March is the waiting time. Everything poised to become something else ..." David Gessner, Return of the Osprey

I have seen that thought elsewhere, that March is a waiting time. Just as the natural world wakes up reaching to become spring, the pandemic world sees hope that vaccines will change our situation. We will not return to what we had before, there will be differences, but we are poised to have a more "normal" life.

With warm 60's (but windy) today, I headed out for a walk. I took a few photos. Not much green nor buds.

Another painted rock, but this one all by itself at the entrance to K Hall. A little bird that flew the coop.

Still lots of pine cones in the trees as winter heads for its end.

 When I woke up this morning I was greeted with a golden crocus bloom. After several years of no blooms, and last year with one purple bloom, it appears my crocus bulbs have decided to join in the chorus this spring. I see another gold bloom just starting.

My daffodils have increased in numbers. With this warm air, they should grow pretty fast now. I saw patches in 3 other yards in my neighborhood.

Praise God for renewal and hope in our world.

Second Shot

 I received my second Moderna shot Wednesday afternoon. I have a sore arm that is easing now two days later. I have felt very tired. I don't habitually take an afternoon nap, but I believe I will shortly. I had a two-hour nap yesterday and went to bed about half an hour earlier than usual. 

We will start eating in restaurants again. In a few weeks, we will attend our church service in person. The Grace Village choir director really wants me to come back. She needs more altos. I told her I would think about it now that I am inoculated. Still not confident that singing in a choir is a good idea. 

 Once my brother-in-law gets his second shot, we will probably have a family get-together in April to visit and to play games. All of the family in the immediate vicinity will have had the vaccinations. We praise God that we did not become ill with COVID this past year. 

The vaccination location is just off of Highway 30. When I left there Wednesday I went to Martin's to pick up a few grocery items; I especially was looking for tulips. They are a bit droopy today as they open.