May Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Water” — Sadly, next year may never come. I took this photo in 2019 — a few months before the pandemic came to visit. I’ve taken hundreds of photos of this lake. It’s Lake Dora, located in Mount Dora, northwest of Orlando. Ben and I discovered this wonderful getaway spot in 2010. …

May Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Water” — Splish, splash, he’s taking a bath!! This Warbler was splashing so much that my first ten photos of him were blurred! Why do birds splash when they’re in water? Because their bones are hollow, making them so light that they can’t submerge themselves to bathe. Also, sinking too deep into water might saturate their feathers, making…

May Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Water” — River marches to a different drummer The saying “marching (or dancing) to a different drummer” derives from this sentence in Henry David Thoreau’s (1817–1862) book Walden: If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. At 310 miles in length, the St. Johns is the longest…

a prose poem — It sits small, round, black like dried blood — but they say it isn’t. Just above the port that cleans your blood — keeps you here another week, month, year — Hopefully, years. The nurse is perplexed. It looks like a seed.

Our dialysis story — chapter 11 — For the first time in weeks, I feel like I can breathe. Ben’s surgery yesterday went surprisingly well. By the time we were summoned to the hospital in the late afternoon, his blood pressure was high and his blood sugar was low — thanks to not taking any food, liquids…

Our dialysis story — chapter 10 — “America’s health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system.” ~ Walter Cronkite (1916–2009), American Journalist and News Anchor When Ben was hospitalized to start kidney dialysis, a hospital caseworker called and told me that before he could be discharged, she needed to schedule his outpatient dialysis and that…

Our dialysis story — chapter 9 — Ben is home. The plumbers are done. The Plumbing Prince and his Posse, who were supposed to arrive at 8 am and be done in two hours, arrived at 9:15 and finished at 2:30. We have water — and holes in our walls and a partially destroyed bathroom floor. I…

Our dialysis story — chapter 8 — Different day — same situation. I’m waiting. Ben was NOT discharged last night. The hospital case worker set up his outpatient dialysis — a requirement for him to go home, BUT his first dialysis was set for Friday. He has pre-op this Friday. His dialysis schedule is Monday, Wednesday, and…

I feel like Syau looks in this photo. It’s been a rough couple of weeks, and I’m still in the thick of it. The fatigue is wearing me down. You can read more about that here: Here — Waiting Our dialysis story — chapter 7 — subtitle: What the Hell??medium.com I want to thank Louise Peacock for keeping Weeds & Wildflowers alive. I know…