Thinking of Martha

I had a chance to do some gardening today. I am always happiest to be gardening in the early spring when I've been away from the earth: inside and cold all winter long.

While cleaning up around some crocuses, I found myself thinking of Martha. I was sitting on a large rock I'd placed in the lower garden, contemplating the effort I'd put into placing some other large rocks... when I remembered Martha's friends and family talking about her love of gardening, and the fact that she'd proudly moved huge stones around on her own...

Crocus vernus 'Twilight' with an Unidentified Hymenopteran

Taken By Surprise

The crocuses in my yard have appeared... 9 days earlier than last year.

Crocus 'Prins Claus'

Cally noticed today's nice weather and insisted on going outside, so I put her harness on and let her out.

Cally

Then I got my sanshin so that I could keep her company and still get something done. As I was playing, I looked around the yard, and was startled to see spots of yellow down near the street. Once I discovered the yellow ones (below), I looked more carefully and found that several clumps of 'Prins Claus' (above) had emerged as well.

Crocus chrysanthus 'Goldilocks'

Bad News, Bad Health, Good Movie, Fox

I recently learned that a college friend died this past fall. I just found out that it was cancer that took him. He was 33. I didn't know him super well, but I liked him a lot. The last time I saw him was at a mutual friend's wedding a few years ago. I had meant to e-mail him, and keep in touch a bit since then, but I didn't really. It isn't possible to do that with everyone... but still, I feel like I took his existance for granted.

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I haven't been blogging much lately. I haven't been swimming much lately. I haven't been working much lately.

Something is wrong with my stomach. It started bothering me a lot shortly after I got back from Japan. I've had a bunch of tests, and I've been through a course of antibiotics (to get rid of H pylori, the main cause of ulcers). An endoscopy showed that I have inflammation in my stomach, and a hiatal hernia. I'm supposed to avoid eating and drinking certain things: Coffee, chocolate, alcohol, mint, high fat, citrus, tomatoes... Rather challenging to stick to these restrictions over the entire holiday season... especially since I didn't completely believe that I needed to avoid these things. Through some trial and error, I now believe... but it is still hard for someone who loves food as much as I do. Oh, and I've been having lower back pain a lot lately too. Lucky me!

Enough complaining!

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I went to Slumdog Millionaire last night. It was intense. I liked it a lot! It is about a contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" in India, and mixes the game show with flashbacks of his life growing up in the slums of Mumbai. There are some violent/hard to watch moments, but they are important to the plot--not much that you'd call gratuitous. Did I mention I liked it a lot?

On the way home, just as we were turning into our neighborhood, we saw a fox, running down the street ahead of us.