The insouciant Raymond on his birthday; Michèle, the tree hugger, and what a tree!; and the Lavin family in a park in Paris, left to right: Katie, Brendan, Sarah, Sophie, and Gracie.
Dear Friends and family,
Seeing all these dear people on my screen makes me smile!
The big news of yesterday was seeing the gorgeous lilies that have opened on our little pond, ranging from red to pink. There is a volunteer tomato plant near the house, but a dead apple tree that needs to be cut down, the quick and the dead in the garden.
The meds are working well, not in terms of a positive effect (yet) but in terms of not having a negative effect. Nausea just about gone—if there at all. Many many pills to take, and I am making a effort to keep careful records. (Did you ever notice that "ills" is inside of "pills"?).
One of the best parts of the day was our lunch with Bobbie and Norman at their home. Norman had done most of the preparation, but Bobbie does the presentation, which was gorgeous of course. Bobbie is going to send me recipes, all promising to be easy and healthful, though they seemed decadently wicked on the platters and in the mouth. Menu: mock chopped liver (best I have tasted), green salad and coleslaw, tuna mousse, and quiche, the fluffiest ever. Norman had made Mandelbrot (something like biscotti) for dessert, and there was also ice-cream cake left over from father's day on Sunday. I ate too much, some of almost everything, and in one moment I went from lively conversationalist to a person desperate for sleep. Merwin took me home where I slept for about 90 minutes and stayed in bed until 6 p.m.!
Other good things—My morning session at the physical therapist was excellent: Jack says I am very much stronger than I was just a few weeks ago. Also, I worked on my notes for Measure for Measure; it is very satisfying to see them become shapely and helpful. I am always aware of the students' needs when I write notes and enjoy the process of seeing my notes through their eyes. Also had a Skype conversation with Satyaki, who has not done much work for hamletworks.org yet because of his first ever college teaching gig, which has overwhelmed him. He feels so bad, but his course will be over soon, and then for 6 weeks or so he will work with me on hamletworks.org. every day all day (he says). I mailed the first packet of work to Becky, another helper. I am eager to see if a long-distance arrangement for us will work. I always enjoy going to the Post Office in Glen Head, where I get nice greetings, especially from Evelyn, who wants me to feel good. And the pièce-de-resistance came late at night, when I could hardly see straight I was so tired. Harvey called to see if I had any corrections on something he had written, and without the paper in front of me I was able to explain a few possible improvements. Not bad! The memory definitely is gong, here and there, but then comes through sometimes in surprising ways.
I hope to surprise myself today too! And you too, I hope, will surprise yourself in some good way.
Love to all,
Bernice
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