California springtime

California springtime

Spring has always been my favorite time of year. I so enjoy watching everything waking up, sprouting and blooming. The colors are extra prominent, vibrant and fresh. Spring in Southern California is not quite the same as spring in Norway, but it still has its special unique signs. Especially now after a long period of rain the orange California poppies are so beautiful and the vibrant pink ground covering ice plant is fantastic. My garden and the park are full of beautiful orange nasturtiums. And several birds migrate back – yes there are birds that find Southern California to be too cold in the winter.

These days I spend a fair amount of time just looking out the windows. Especially now I appreciate that our backyard is extra busy. We feed birds with seeds, worms and sugar water. Now the birds have their first set of chicks and oh my there are some busy parents out there. Our favorite bird is the phoebe. Phoebes do not eat seeds. They prefer insects and we have bowls with meal worms set out for them. When sparrows have chicks they not only eat tons of seeds, they also eat insects. The bowls with meal worms keep running out – mostly because the sparrows are such messy eaters throwing out three worms for each eaten. Often phoebe is met with empty worm bowls, and hundreds of worms on the ground, but phoebe prefers to have food in a bowl. When the bowls are empty phoebe spots us through the windows and comes close to where ever we are and starts chirping loudly outside the window. The bird has clearly understood where the food comes from and has figured out how to summon the food source. 

On my good days I have started to notice and appreciate more the things that are just there. They happen regardless of cancer, chemo or corona. The busy back yard. The blooming. Walking barefoot on cold tiles. The smell of roses. The mourning dove couple that faithfully does everything together. Wind moving my hair. Sitting upright in a chair. Drinking tea with milk. And I had a good laugh when I was shat at by a green parrot on our walk this morning. How unique is that! A flock of green parrots in Carlsbad is a true sign of spring. Good thing I’ve heard that it brings good luck to get shat at by a bird – and not just a bird – a green parrot – that must be extra good luck. 

Yesterday confirmed to me that my body can still recover despite of my worries – and puts trauma on pause. Every cycle has freaked me out when the side effects linger but I perk back up when they dab off. I’ve still got odd numb tingling finger tips and I’m still tired so things go slow and unfocused, but I was up and on my feet almost all day yesterday. Same as two weeks ago, I put on my audiobook and started cleaning the house right after a late breakfast. I kept it going for several hours and only sat down for a quick lunch before I was done at dinner time. James had a long list of small chores that needed to be done and got Benjamin’s help to accomplish those. It feels very good to get the house in order.

It is odd how I have gradually started enjoying the act of cleaning the house. Since we are stuck in the house these days anyway, and the cleaning weekend is on my good days, that specific physical chore has become a peak and a proof of that I have recovered for every cycle. I also really enjoy putting around by myself listening to an audiobook for several hours – while doing something useful. Win win.

We are still so grateful for being surrounded by – not only luck shitting green parrots – but willing and volunteering friends and family helping us stay safe and healthy through these strange times. Anine, Lois and Carol have been shopping for us and brought us beautiful flowers. Lois made another wonderful dinner for us that was thoroughly enjoyed after a long day of slow cleaning of house. For breakfast today I sat outside with a cup of English Breakfast tea with milk eating a tasty zucchini bread that Carol made. Thank you all for taking care of us. It would be hard to do this without you.

4 thoughts on “California springtime

    1. LOL about the shat!! Total sign of good luck. Love your detailed writing about springtime and the gorgeous poppies.So glad to hear you keep mending after the chemo treatments!! Must be a sign of a strong body.

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