54 bar falls 30.06 1mph NE dew-point 51 Beltane, cloudy and drizzly
Last Quarter of the Hare Moon
A change has begun to creep over the Woolly Mammoths. It is at least late fall for us. One of us had an episode of Bell’s Palsy over the weekend. He first thought, as I would have, stroke. The effects lingered into this week.
Late last night came news of a Woolly spouse. Cancer of the utereus. Adenocarcinoma. A hopeful prognosis if tests next week find it in an early stage. Even so.
Frank’s heart attack before he came to the Woolly’s and his bypass surgery after have kept medical issues in front of us, yes, but these are new. Fresh. Signals that we have begun to age. The fact is that such matters are no longer unusual in our period of life. While still not common, they will begin to pop with increasing incidence until, one by one, this herd of Woolly Mammoths and their spouses follow those of the Ice Age on that most ancient trail of all.
On a cloudy, cool day with a light rain falling this news could be depressing, but I find it just so. These matters are as key to our developmental age as were graduations in our 20’s and weddings in our late 20’s and early 30’s. Like those earlier rites of passage, the action is not in the event itself, but in our reaction to it over time. (to paraphrase Saul Alinsky)
I spent an hour and half outside today, planting and transplanting. Cloudy, cool, drizzly. Perfect for that work. Blue fescue, Maiden Grass, cucumbers, watermelon, squash and morning glories will each enjoy the rain on their first day in their new locations. The daylily transplant project was part of this and continues, in dribs and drabs, as it will until we finish it, probably some time in July.
We go out to see RJ Devick, our financial planner/money manager, today. These situations become more and more pertinent as Kate nears retirment age and I enter that time when eligibility for both pension and social security are upon me. Considering these matters thoughtfully are also part of our development period. We are at the cusp of a major change in our lives.
