Back in the Dirt

Typical Minnesota weather to go from snowstorm to crocus blooming in the same week!  Just when we had all reached the absolute end of our rope for winter, it relents and gives us a perfect weekend and the collective mood of the entire state improves.

Because of the warmer temps, I was finally able to do what I've been waiting for an entire year to do--get out and work in the yard and garden.  What a treat!  Even though I quite literally had neighbors on every side and spouse harping at me to slow down and take it easy--which I did as best I could--it was so much fun to do those mundane springtime chores. 

Am I paying for it this morning?  Sure.  My endurance isn't back entirely.  Was it worth it?  You bet.

Weather-wise, we are several weeks behind where we were last year at this time.  Flowers that were blooming last March--a very non-typical spring--are just pushing up out of the ground. 

Personally, I'm in a much better place.  Tomorrow will mark a year since my stem cell transplant.  Some myeloma patients refer to that as their new birthday.  It really has marked a new beginning for me now that my cancer levels are low enough to be undetectable by lab tests.   Here's hoping it stays that way for a long time.  Those treatments weren't without their ill effects--neuropathy and pain that I'm still dealing with twelve months out, but I'm hoping those too will diminish as time goes by.

Strange what makes for good medicine.  The whole time I was pruning some shrubs and pulling weeds, I hardly gave a moment's thought to pain or cancer.  Life felt almost normal.