Field of Blue

 

The rain woke me this morning. That's but a minor inconvience when it comes to Bailey's Saturday walk. We found this going on in the side yard of a cornor lot. Not sure what they're called, but there were a lot of them. It catches the eye: a carpet of little blue flowers. Rain is expected the rest of the weekend, after an absolutely beautiful Thursday and Friday.
Figures.


Donated some more platelets yesterday. I'm rapidly approaching 23 gallons worth of donations (whole blood and platelets.) The process takes longer now that I have lost weight. The hemaphersis process takes whole blood out of one arm, mixes an anticoagulant into it, spins out the platelets and other blood components they want and pumps the rest back into your other arm. The anticoagulant will make your body tingle, especially around your lips and cheeks. Calcium binds with the anticoagulant agent and neutralizes the effects. You get your choice of Tums or Citrical. Boy, those Tums are awful! How long the aphersis process takes depends on your bodys ability to handle the anticoagulant, and thats a function of body mass. The less body mass, the longer it takes. So, while you're waiting you get to watch cable tv or a movie. The Red Cross recently got a bunch of CD players, so now the choice of movies has increased. Yesterday I watched an old Jet Li (kung fu type) movie. This movie was so early in his career that the actors spoke chinese and it was subtitled in some other asian language as well as english. As you might imaginge, lots of action. I mean LOTS of fight scenes. And they seemed to go on forever too. I have no idea what the name of the movie was or even when it was made. But, the plot of the movie was revenge. And a love triangle. You have to use earphones for whatever you watch. They block out all the other noises around you and allow you to concentrate on the story. For someone with a good imagination it can help you forget you have needles stuck in your arms for a couple of hours. It's always a bit disconcerting to walk out, get in your car and fight rush hour traffic after being in far away, exotic, fantastic places and situations. As you can tell, I favor the action/adventure/comedy type movies while donating. A little excapism as well as an opportunity to watch those movies I might want to watch but I know P has no interest at all in seeing. Like kung fu movies.... 

Ma Nature in all her glory!

The weather reminds me of the Allen Sherman song Camp Granada, where, in the mandatory letter to home, he bemoans the weather and lists all the hardships of being at summer camp only to say at the end that it's stopped raining, the sun is shining, forget everything he just said.
It's spring.
Volatile weather is the order of the day (hour?) Haven't had any hail yet, but it's just a matter of time. Had a couple of thunder showers already, a very rare occurance for this area. Usually it just rains. Harder or softer, rain, and more rain. The warmth and rain have roused the grass out of the dormant stage. It's alive! It's growing! As are the weeds, but that's a different battle.