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| (these are not recent photos, but seeing as how they are seasonally appropriate and I just can't stand not posting photos...) |
this business of having no camera.... I don't like it one bit. I'm doing a bit of lens shopping online and while it is totally mind boggling it's also quite fun. we shall see. best case scenario, we fix my camera body and I get a nice new lens. this weekend was a mix of visits with mom, a Saturday morning hike to an amazing nearby waterfall with a friend of mine (Claire and papa biked to the market and ate pastries), a good bit of gardening, a 4 year old birthday party where I ate a lot of mac and cheese, fruit salad and some delicious cake, and some errand running. the waterfall was spectacular, such good medicine for my soul. I'd like to try to make it a priority to go back there as often as possible. of course, I have no photos to share, but just imagine a multi-layered 100 foot waterfall with early morning light dappled across the mossy rocks here and there, swallowtails dancing in the sunbeams, and a bit of a chill in the air. imagine also that you and a friend have it all to yourselves for a solid 45 minutes before anyone else shows up or wanders by, and you sit alone, together (like frog and toad), writing, thinking, watching the water...... ahhhhh, it was quite lovely, indeed.
a bit about mom~ she continues to improve and get stronger every day. honestly I'm not sure when I last updated here, but she has been off the ventilator for 2 1/2 weeks and is down to just a liter of oxygen running through a nasal cannula, with her tracheostomy tube downsized and plugged, but left in place for now 'just in case'. however, as such she can speak and she can eat. two things she was unable to do for a solid two months. she is enjoying seeing Claire and drinking chocolate milk, her orange toenails from Mother's Day are holding up well and make her smile, and she is very clear headed now and amazed by all she's been through. she said she'd like to go back to the icu after she is home and have a look around, try to piece together some of her lost days. I think I'd want that, too.
tomorrow the weekend continues and the plan so far is homemade poundcake for strawberry-shortcake-take-two, some fingernail and bee box painting, and an attempt to rid my front porch of white oak pollen. and maybe I'll even read a bit. that might involve some help from Mr. Rogers or David the Gnome..... we'll see.
weekending with Karen~
Did you go to Catawba Falls? i just went there this week too!
ReplyDeleteyes! I saw the pictures of you and Lily there~ so cute. love, love, LOVE that place. I wonder when they'll build the new bridge so that people can actually use the nice big parking lot???
Deletewait...that's the falls we hiked right? So beautiful. Can you hear my Texas sigh all the way from NC?
DeleteYES! same place~
DeleteSo happy to hear about your mom. Enjoy your extra day!
ReplyDeletethank you, Kim~
DeleteI'm sad about the camera too. Good luck! you had cake and I had cake...we are twins of sorts. So glad your mother is improving I assume she is still in the hospital or is she at a rehab facility? no matter what there are many more good days and way less bad days.
ReplyDeleteI know in the scheme of things it is small potatoes, but yes, I miss the camera a lot! I'm usually not even a big cake fan- I'm more into pies and puddings and such... but oh it was sooooo good! a family member at that birthday party is the pastry chef/co owner of the biscuit shop/bakery in town and he made the cake and it really showed. yumyumyum.
Deletemy mom is currently in a LTACH (long term acute care hospital) where they specialize in ventilator-weaning and rehab. as her medical needs continue to be less acute she will move to an intensive rehab hospital, where they'll do up to 3.5 hours of physical/occupational/speech therapy a day, but still have access to things like respiratory, X-rays, pharmacy and physicians. she is getting there! oh my gosh, yes~ the bad days are so different now, too. the bad days are headaches and nausea, or slight elevation in respiratory and heart rates, gone are the bad days of trying to keep her stable or having to re-intubate or transfuse her because of bleeding, etc. she is well on this side of stable now!
oh my goodness! it all sounds so lovely! your descriptions are so wonderful... and the news about your mom... fantastic!!! and your camera... soon you will have one again... and you will appreciate it like never before :) side note: have you read ben hewitt's "how good it can be"? it is constantly in my thoughts...
ReplyDeleteI have not read that- will look into it asap, I love his writing. thanks!
DeleteSo happy to hear your mom continues to improve! Enjoy your day today (strawberry shortcake, nails, painting, reading... they all sound lovely)!
ReplyDeletethank you, Erin~ she is doing really, really well and I continue to be just so grateful every day that she made it through all of this craziness. today was good- the shortcake was made and, um, tended to, and the hive box was painted. thinking I'll squeeze in painting my nails (something I literally do maybe twice a year) and a few chapters before turning in~
Deletecheers!
I miss your photos!! I hope you get a new camera (eek) or your old one fixed soon. Such a bummer. I'm an expert at eating way. too. much mac and cheese. I swear, I'm a three year old living in a 30 something year old body. I don't I'm suppose to like it as much as I do.
ReplyDeleteThat hike sounds like so much of a good thing. Waterfalls all to yourself with a friend who you can feel comfortable enough to journal and be quiet. Oh, that's a gift, for sure.
Yay for mom!! What a trooper she is!
we're gonna try to fix the old camera body first and if all goes well I'll buy myself a new lens to go with it (I currently have about 8 or 9 picked out on amazon and have been pouring through reviews). every day there are probably at least ten things I want to photograph- probably wouldn't be so bad if I had an iphone like everybody else!
Deleteoh mac and cheese- yeah, it's pretty good, right? let's get together and make some sometime and just eat it all while we chat ;)
hooray for mom indeed! she is absolutely a trooper~
I hope you get your camera back soon Amanda. I too have been looking at lens, ahem, they are a little pricey for me right now.
ReplyDeleteI thought of you the other day, my son was hiking at Cataloochee mountain and I wondered if it was near you?
lenses are ridiculous. if my kit lens wasn't broken as well I wouldn't even be looking, but I need to replace it and figured if I can save $ by fixing (um, having Mike fix) my camera then I can justify splurging on a halfway decent lens.
Deleteabout an hour away from me! I've actually never been there, but Mike has- he used to do tree work out in the Smokies. there are a TON of elk out there!
I saw the pictures my son took of the elk, just amazing.
DeleteWe are hoping to head that way to camp soon, if I do I will let you know.
oh please do! it'd be so nice to meet up if possible if we're on your way there!
DeleteWow, that waterfall sounds too good to be true! What a wonderful weekend you're having. My very best to your mom, as well.
ReplyDeleteit is so, so beautiful. I almost can't believe it's practically in my back yard (well, a 20 minute drive and a mile hike away).
Deletethank you!
lovely photos, dear.
ReplyDeleteand SO glad your mom is doing better. What an amazing ride she's been on. May it continue up and onward.
XO
C
thanks, Cory~
Deleteamazing, indeed. three months, yesterday. onward and upward, yes!
xo