The last two days have consisted of doctor appointments, cat management, and getting to know my youngest grandson.  Even without the lingering dizziness, I wouldn’t even have time to garden.  That’s OK, priorities first.  This is why I’m here.

I did manage to catch these photos in between Ninjago and outdoor fantasy swordplay.  I’m afraid I don’t make a very good ninja.  (I’m just a lowly Nomi in training.)  Speaking of which, gotta get back to it.

I got to see the gkids!  I managed to drive over there (in the loaner car), not too dizzily, to see the two (E&Y) off to summer camp, and the youngest (S) who was riding along.  We got to hang out for a while before they left, which was great.  Of course they’re very different since the last time I saw them (years ago!), as am I, but this gave us a chance to start to get to know each other again.

This is Dizzy Day 6, the longest I’ve ever had vertigo, but I’m hoping by tomorrow I can get back to a semblance of normal and take care of business.  I’ll also get to spend some time with my youngest gson.  We seem to have gotten off to a good start.

Here’s a daisy I was given.

This was the longest attack of vertigo I’ve had.  It’s at day 5 now, just starting to subside.  I won’t bore you with details.  Suffice it to say it’s been unpleasant and surreal.  Getting old is getting real old!

Lots happened while I was out of commission, mostly the kids arriving at Avdi’s.  I haven’t even gotten to see them yet.  All seems well, so far.  Two of them will go to summer camp, so that will take some of the load off.

Jess and family are going away and loaned me the car, so once I can operate heavy machinery without crashing, I can catch up on all the medical appointments I’ve had to cancel, do cat maintenance at Jess’s all week, and hopefully get over to Avdi’s.

Being out of commission paradoxically made me realize how fortunate I really am.  Many people have it way worse than I, medically and economically.  I have a nice apartment to retreat to and recover, family and friends who can drop by and help, and some food once I was able to eat.  I don’t have to worry about losing a job, or being out on the street.  I’m one of the lucky ones.

I also thought about how five days of radio silence wouldn’t even be on most people’s radar, since my blahg is so boring and mundane.  It gave me a chance to take a break and rethink it.  I’m not sure where I’ll take it from here.  The more good books I read, the more I realize I’ll never be a writer.  Maybe I’ll just prune it down to encourage new growth.  Like a literary propagatrix.

Between Avdi’s additional new work gig, and the kids’ imminent arrival, it’s crunch time, which means getting creative and time-effective with transportation.  Accordingly, I had my first Lyft ride today from Avdi’s to my apartment.  Now I can keep medical appointments.

Today after watering the garden, I weeded some more, and harvested lots of peas.  Avdi and Jess were preoccupied with  reorganizing the house for the kids’ moving in, plus working, so he set me up with Lyft on his account, and now I’m back “home”.

Something tells me soon I’ll be looking back fondly at this brief period of R&R in my life, before all hell broke loose!  But it will be a fine and worthwhile hell, I’m sure.

This is my first summer in STL, which apparently starts in May, stays in the 9os until fall, with ongoing air quality alerts, and high humidity.  Who needs Florida!  The only thing missing is daily monsoons, ‘gators, and hurricanes.  Instead we have periodic flash-flooding, armadillos, and tornado warnings.  And huge creepy rabbits.  We even have similar fascists.  Retire to sunny MO!  You’ll never freeze to death.

Don’t mind me, I’m just adapting, i.e., sitting in my air-conditioned apartment with ceiling fans (or at Avdi’s, depending).

Yesterday for erev at A’s, in addition to challah, I made an elaborate Asian stir-fry with tofu, HB eggs, peanuts, snow/snap peas from the garden, long beans and several other veggies, ginger root, sesame seeds, soy sauce, fresh herbs, and Asian yellow curry beef sauce, served over jasmine rice.

Just an aside…I’ve had to cancel/postpone several routine preventive medical procedures due to lack of transportation.  Now I’m in that same boat that used to just be other poor oldsters.  It’s a weird place to be.  I spent years schlepping my parents to specialists all week, in my own car.  In order to do that, I had to give up my job, home, and own healthcare in MD and move back to NJ.  As I’ve said many times elsewhere, I would never expect my own child to do that for me, and I mean it.  It’s just a fact of life for many people, whose ranks I’ve joined.  One more necessity I don’t take for granted.  I feel very fortunate just to be able to live near my son, who works very hard to pay his family’s expenses, and helps me out in so many unexpected ways.

I think I lost a day.  Now it’s Friday–I know, because I’m at Avdi’s baking challah!  Don’t worry, you didn’t miss a thing.

Also we have: Avdi’s excellent homemade raisin bread, a very large rabbit, prickly pear in full bloom, milkweed starting to bloom, and lots of other action.

At Avdi’s, I got up early while it was still not a furnace out, watered the veg garden, and weeded it.  More like liberated it from its weedy bondage.  Percy got his big salad.  Then I went back to being a zombie on drugs.  Later, Avdi and I went grocery shopping, and he dropped me off at my apartment, where I promptly fell asleep.  I feel a little dazed, not all there.   I didn’t even take more photos, just this one of the prickly pear blooming, which I find amazing.

Today I saw my first armadillo here and it was roadkill.  Right on Watson Road, where even humans fear to tread.  I couldn’t believe my eyes (or nose).  Sorry, too ghastly for photos.  Other places have normal roadkill like deer or skunk; here we have armadillos!

On top of my zombie meds, I now have two different vaccinations in my arm (ouch).  Slowly but surely I’m checking off the medical backlog.

Apparently it’s in the 90s in May here.  I dread to see what it’s like in actual summer!

I walked to Avdi’s this afternoon, so now we have photos of actual living things.

Yesterday Avdi had an impromptu Beer and Badminton, and a nice little group of friends spent the afternoon.  I was a little drugged on my new med, but I still managed to enjoy hanging out with familiar and new friends.  Even K joined us, and set up the new B&B website/newsletter.  I was happy to see a couple of Monarchs fluttering around the milkweed.  Plus some new exciting flowers are in bloom.

Later, A and I watched one of our episodes, then he drove me home.  Or is it!

Later…Avdi decided we needed to get out of the house, so we walked around Cherokee street in STL.  What a fascinating, diverse ethnic neighborhood.  One section is like a Little Mexico, with actual Mexican food being prepared outside under canopies.  Little kids were selling their art out on the sidewalk.  There were iconic bars, a craft beer and wine shop, many old-fashioned barber shops, bakeries (especially Mexican), art studios, a Black indie bookstore, dispensaries, the smell of weed wafting everywhere, paraphernalia shops, eateries, musicians playing outside, you name it.  The highlight was The Fortune Teller Bar, a well-known destination in STL, where we had excellent crafted drinks in their unique space.  It was a very pleasant and needed break.

Later, we drove both cars over to Jess’s, who’s getting back from Paris tonight and will need her car.  (Earlier, Avdi let me try driving his car, in case I need to at some point.  No life forms were harmed.)  Then we drove back, and Avdi left to pick her up at the airport and go see friends.  I’ll stay over (with K) another night.  I actually feel too exhausted to work!