Good News for May

My dog, Dasher, is doing so much better! He’s active, and playful, and letting me know that he’s full of life and fun again. We’re still awaiting the final biopsy results, and will have yet another blood test next week at his follow-up appointment, but it seems that the immediate threat (while still from unknown source[s]) is over. What a relief!

In light of his healthier state, I went to Paradise Lost last weekend, my first one. It was 4 days of writing immersion; talking, listening, thinking, drinking, sleeping, and breathing SFF writing! It was a blast. It was exhausting. I’m so glad I went, and I was so glad to come home again (where I promptly got sick–yuck!). I’m also so glad I didn’t get pulled off a plane for any reason, or have any real flight delays. (Really, what is going on in the airline world of late? First United, now Delta? Jeesh!)

Now, back home again, I’m watching the hummingbirds argue over whose feeder it is, laughing as the anoles try to out-macho one another with their head-bobbing and throat-sac displays, their back ridges raised to full extension, and trying to time picking my strawberries as they near ripeness, to get a few of them before the squirrels do. Black racer snakes slither about, picking off unwary lizards and basking in the sun. The magnolia tree’s cupped, soup bowl-sized blossoms are scenting the air a lemony light-floral, the jasmine is just now fading from its full flush of bloom and is still sending out a thick, heady sweetness in the evenings,  while the gardenia beneath the magnolia is fit to bursting with tons of tight buds! It’s a good year for fragrance in my garden! 🙂

It’s also a good year for weeds, unfortunately. Weeds and words–that should be carved onto my tombstone. And on that note, it’s back to the pair of them, as the dog naps in a sunbeam.

Life is (mostly) good.