Spring is coming soon

Never takes long for these to show up

The wonderful spring flowers are coming along, some even showing their blooms. Not many, but it's only mid-March and we are still a few days away from the spring equinox. Timeanddate.com, one of my favorite sites to visit, tells me:

When is the first day of spring 2025? Thursday, March 20, the date of the spring equinox, marks the first day of spring in the United States. The spring equinox lands at 5:01 a.m., the precise moment the sun's rays shine directly on the equator.

We did, however, already go through the rite of spring that is known as Daylight 
Saving Time this past Sunday. It was the first time I needed to use my sleep mask that blocks the light and is also very comfortable to wear. By the middle of summer, I will be using it every night, but for now it's only needed when I decide to go to bed earlier than most people would imagine. But I really like going to bed early and getting up early. I seem to be needing more rest these days. I don't know whether it's permanently going to be like that or not. I almost always am in bed before my night owl partner, but there have been a few times lately when he's falling asleep before I have headed to bed. He's just now finishing his first month with his chemo treatment for low grade b-cell lymphoma. 

I didn't realize how many forms of lymphoma there are. He was diagnosed with it a few years ago, and having been fortunate not to grow any tumors, he hasn't needed any treatment for it at all, just frequent monitoring of his blood levels. A few months ago his oncologist said he would need to start some sort of treatment, as some of his blood levels had fallen low enough that he would be required to do something to keep him healthy. After lots of discussion about what is available, he decided to start taking a once-a-day regimen of pills. We both read about all the side effects, and although there are some scary things that can be expected, he didn't develop any of them. He is still the same guy, with the same sense of humor.

What's growing out of my ears?

He didn't want to eat these bananas unless he knew they were safe. After ascertaining that they were not toxic, we shared these guys and found them to be fine. (smile) There are many different things he needs to do to keep me from being exposed to the toxicity of the chemo: for one thing, he needs to put down the toilet seat before flushing to keep the fumes from becoming airborne and possibly affecting me. And I have to say that the packaging is scary enough, with warnings about the hazardous contents. But if these pills do the trick, he won't need to have infusions, which are the next best treatment, according to his doctor.

I wish there was some fancy drugs I could take that would clear up my eye problems, but there isn't. Nothing is going to keep me from going blind, but at least the injections I get every eight weeks are slowing the geographic atrophy of my degenerating macula. This getting old business is certainly challenging, but it sure helps to have a partner who is going through these days, weeks, and years of old age progression with me. 

I am also incredibly grateful for my virtual family, those of you who follow my life through my posts, and who share your own journeys with those of us who feel like family. I have been following some of you for decades and have gone through your ups and downs in life, just as you have been doing with me. Having grown familiar with the internet that connects us, I can hardly remember what life was like in the Before Times. 

I hope you will have a wonderful week before we meet here again next Tuesday. I also will be writing something on my other blog on Sunday, but it's a much smaller electronic world for me these days, and it suits me fine. Sending virtual hugs to everyone!