DIY nursing care

Got my second shot.

The vaccine distribution isn’t going as well in New York; mother- and father-in law (both school bus drivers who are not yet eligible) tested positive this weekend and Jon is in the hospital with his organs failing. It is not looking good.

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Meanwhile, it turns out I am as good a nurse as I am a detective. Last week my mother got stuck in the floods and drove for 3 hours up and down the coast, trying to get her tiny car through the washed out roads, and the strain on her already-torn shoulder ligament caused it to snap free and slither down into her arm muscle. A surgeon has to fish it out, pull it up like a garter, and stitch it back in place. Since she is in terrible pain and has no internal cabling to lift her arm until then, I stayed over for a few days to keep her fed. Immediately gutted her kitchen, reorganized the cupboards, and installed a new oven. She accepts this as quality nursing care. Probably because she’s on dope.

Walked up to the store every morning and stopped to look down at my favorite drainage ditch. I always want to climb down the vines and look for secret entrances to the underground.

The rain has been activating the waterfalls on the mountain. They’re probably covering the entranceways to other worlds, too. I am much better at falling into ditches than climbing mountains, though.

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Zenny turned 8. The age of awakening, when children start wondering if they’re the chosen one and seek adventure through reckless bike riding and spooky woods exploration. The age where they start reading good books and stop dropping the milk carton.

There was an enormous shepherd’s pie, a platter of corned beef, and a number 8-shaped cake covered in fresh raspberries to annoy the fruit-hating cousins. Rainbow Dash was hung from a tree and clubbed with a stick. Nobody got clocked in the head this year, but my cousin hit the thing so hard the piñata stick cracked in half and landed point-down in the dirt like a javelin in front of our feet. On the whole, I am not a fan of piñatas.

Exhausted. The teenager is babysitting his grandmother for a few days, and I’m back in my own bed again. Going to lock myself in the studio for a few hours next chance I get.