Solar Rehab

Solar Rehab

We usually have a summer adventure planned by now. 2008 has been so terribly tumultuous for all of us; we just haven't been our usual laid back, hedonistic selves. Let's see...

My dad's illness and subsequent year-long hospitalization... Two graduations (mine and my mom's)... One very tedious and exhausting move from Pennsylvania to North Carolina... Starting a new job... My dad's recovery and transition back home... The car accident... Preparing to start yet another new job...

Solar rehab -- that's what we need.  Melanoma be damned. There's nothing so healing, physically and mentally, as UV rays and requiescence, reflection and repose. It's good for the soul if not the skin.

 I've been lamenting Key West... The land of sunsets and sailboats, seaplanes and epicurean philosophy. That's where we should go. Yes, indeed. We all need something to look forward to, you know. That's what life really is, after all -- a series of experiences. I think it's only human to look forward to the next adventure, the next awakening of the senses, the next magic.

I'll meet you at the tiki bar...

Nobody's Fool

Where did March go?  The last four weeks or so have rumbled by like a runaway train, it seems.  The busier you are, the quicker time passes.  I'm not complaining.  I haven't decided yet whether or not March was well spent, but I managed to accomplish quite a few necessaries. 

I am still an honor student (magna cum laude, thank you) after four years of the most rigorous program of study I've ever fathomed.  I find it sort of funny -- I'm a thirtysomething honor student.  Then again, that's actually a feat in itself.  Unlike the traditional university student, I have a home and property to manage (by myself), two kids to nurture and care for (again, by myself), bills to pay, dinners to cook, and laundry (lots of it) to tend to.  I'm my kids' chauffer several nights a week.  I'm attending elementary school plays, band concerts, PTA meetings, and odds and ends of various miscellany that  a 21 year-old doesn't usually worry about.   

Despite everything, I'm swimming with the current.  Sure, there are moments when I feel like I'm back on Shit Creek; trust me, it's a real place.  I've not only paddled it, but I've waded through it barefoot.  But those trips don't last long, I've learned.  I've realized, after all this time, that I'm actually pulling the whole deal off with more grace than I knew I had.  I am doing better than fine.  I am kicking ass and taking names.  Rawr. 

And I have every confidence that things will only get better.  My optimism can either be described as determined... or just simply stubborn.  I like to think it's a bit of both.  There's a bit of shabby  Buffett-philosophy in there somewhere, too... 

The first day of April is an innocent sort of sultry; warm and wet, but not yet bold enough to take either too seriously.  I am nobody's fool today or any other,  however.  I may unwillingly pay a visit to that infamous creek again one of these days, but I'll know throughout the trip that all bodies of water, even that particular one, lead to the vast and waiting sea...

 

 

Like a Lion

Hello, March, you beastie, you.  I have to say, I'm quite glad to see you.  I've thought about it, and I don't believe I saw a day of sunshine in the entire month of February.  There are people here in western Pennsylvania who are so pale that the sclera of their eyes match their skin tone.  Vitamin D is nowhere to be found.  If there is indeed a link between a lack of sunlight and multiple sclerosis as recent research suggests, then it's running rampant around here.

But here you are, the third muse, in like a lion and out like a lamb, or so they say.  When I woke up at 7:30 this morning, there wasn't a fleck of snow on the ground.  You managed to put down several inches of the stuff within a half hour.  Good job.  You're living up to your lioness reputation.  I have a few requests, if you're able...

Don't roar for too long.  Ignore the shit out of Punxsatawney Phil, for the love of all that's decent and holy.   Do your thing, and then get on with it.  Oh yeah, if it's not too much trouble, could you spare a little sunshine?  I'd really appreciate it.  January and February nearly put the entire northern east coast under the table with a serious case of seasonal affective disorder.  The psych hospitals are full. 

I don't intend to sound ungrateful; as I said, I'm quite glad to see you.  You took your sweet time, though, didn't you?  A procrastinator, are you?  Eh, I'm guilty of it myself at times.  Just get on with it, okay?  Pretty please?  I'm looking forward to the lamb, my dear lion...   

   

The wooden "fishing bear" on the front porch... March laid down the law in just a few minutes... 30 minutes before these photos, there was no snow anywhere...