Calla lilies and more

Calla lilies

Well, this is becoming very annoying. It's taken me awhile just to figure out how to put a picture into the beginning of the post, since Blogger has changed all its settings and displays, and nothing was working correctly in Chrome. So here I am in the Safari web browser, hoping to have a little more success. Finally, after much difficulty, I was able to get this picture inserted. Sigh. As if I needed more challenges in my daily life.

The calla lily was named after the Greek word for beautiful — calla. It is associated with the Greek goddess Hera. ... However, the most common meaning for calla lilies is purity, holiness, and faithfulness. It's commonly depicted in images of the Virgin Mary.

I found this information about calla lilies, wondering what the name "calla" means. Now I know: it means beautiful, and they certainly are. I saw these in a garden while on a walk and was enchanted by them. (This post is going to be a struggle, I can see that now: every time I turn around, the font is a different size or type. I will just have to muddle through and see if I can learn to use this new Blogger interface without too much pain.)

Anyhow. Nothing ever seems to stay the same, either in life or in free apps such as Blogger. They did this once before, long ago, and I tried to change over to Wordpress, but it was even more complicated, so I came back to this app. It's been many years since I've been frustrated by Blogger to this extent. 

I thought I'd publish a post about my dad, but that's coming next week, when it's Father's Day. Instead, I'll tell you about my Wellness visit last week (or was it the week before?) Every year Medicare pays for me to see my regular doctor for a visit, and it was really nice to see her. She always makes me feel so good about all I've done to keep myself healthy. She even said I am the healthiest 77-year-old patient in her practice, which gave me a chance to pat myself on the back.

And then yesterday I received a call from her nurse, telling me that my blood work shows some anomalies. My white blood cell count is quite low, and the neutrophils (a type of cell) are lower than they had been, way lower than last year. So she wants me to have another test next week and then see a hematologist, if the numbers remain the same. That was quite a surprise, so of course I got onto Google and tried to figure out what it might mean. The condition is called "leukopenia" and can indicate several different things. I'm hoping that when I get my blood drawn next week it will be normal, and all this will be forgotten. I feel fine, but the nurse warned me that it means I am more susceptible to infection and should be careful about being exposed to diseases. Well, there is a pandemic going on right now, so that will be difficult.

On the other hand, I do think I've already had the virus, so maybe that's one reason for the differences, or maybe I'm developing something internally. I do realize that once we reach a certain age, it's normal for our bodies to begin to wear out. And I've used this one quite vigorously and have the scars to prove it. At first I was worried, because that's what I do, but now I've grown more sanguine about it. It's always a bit of a shock to find that one is not immune to disease and decay. 

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. —Ernest Hemingway

Well! I managed to cut and paste that quote and get it in the right font and everything. Maybe I'll learn how to use this new format without tearing my hair out. Which, by the way, has been cut, finally (the hair, that is). It was sure nice to get rid of the shaggy locks that had grown out during the lockdown. We are now in Phase 2, and yesterday I even went out for lunch with my friend Lily and we dined inside a restaurant at a table. We had to wear our masks until we were seated, and boy did that clam chowder ever taste wonderful. It was raining, but we wandered around for awhile afterward, and I notice that many more places of business are opening. It will take some time, but we are on the upswing here. I just hope we don't end up spreading the virus and have to return to lockdown. That would be very unpleasant for everyone. I'll stay positive, though, and will look forward to getting back to normal, or at least getting back to our new normal.

This post is going to be a little shorter than usual, because it took so long for me to get started, and who knows how it's going to look once I post it. I couldn't find my usual font, but it might only be like this as I write it. Please bear with me as I figure out the interface. At least I've got different browsers to use, and I've learned that if one doesn't work, it's time to try another one. Works most of the time.

And now it's getting to be time to finish up, and look forward to my day. We had rain again yesterday, but today it's only cloudy and looks like we might get a short break before the next onslaught. It will be okay, rain is good for the garden. My dear partner still sleeps next to me, and my tea is long gone. It's going to be a good day, I can feel it. I do hope you will have a good day, too. Until we meet again next week, I wish you all good things. Be well, dear friends.