It's late. Oh so late. In art we trust.

A leaf fell in my path today.
It floated, spun and tumbled to earth.
Where it settled on the black asphalt under foot.
I kneeled down and observed the beautiful leaf, reflecting sunlight off the thin, dried skin clinging to bony, skeletal remains.
“You have done your part to provide air, shade, shelter and a place to rest for many of God’s creatures.” I whispered.
“Now that you have come to the end of your life, 
you will provide angst for an army of leaf blowers. 
They will blow you from one place to another, wherever the wind chooses not to.
You might settle with other leaves to provide shelter, bedding and protection for a variety of creatures. 
You might be crushed, piled and burnt, shredded, sacked and dumped, discarded again and again.
Whatever fate befalls you, you will eventually provide food for the soil, and turn back into the earth from whence you came.”
I stood up and went on my way thinking about how a leaf fell in my path today.

Chairs 
Turned over on tables
Cola signs 
Tell us what is good and real
Dreams 
Broken and fulfilled
Push 
Their colors through black and white
Alternate reality 
Made to order
Served
Up fresh
At the Diner

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“What’s that?” Sandy asked Hilly as they walked in the frozen wasteland that had set upon the river at sunrise on all hallows' eve. “Looks like a ‘Great Blue H’ to me.” Hilly answered as they slowly advanced on Harry Blue as he stood like a frozen undertaker, hoarfrost clinging to his beard like the frosty foliage frozen around him. Sandy stopped with the icy water tickling her ankles and asked “A Great Blue H? Can you be more specific?” Hilly thinking for a few seconds said “I know Great Blue H’s are kind of like us, but they are known to be shape shifters.” “Shape shifters?” Sandy was skeptical. “Oh yes. It looks much smaller than us right?” Sandy agreed. “But you can’t judge it by how it stands there like a small statue frozen by the morning sun, because when it flies it makes a complete transformation…” “Really?” interrupted Sandy. “Yes!” continued Hilly. “When it flies its wings expand to be much larger than ours, its body stretches out and its neck becomes longer and more sinuous than ours.” Sandy stood in place looking at the icicle clad form standing in front of her and said “Wow! That’s unbelievable.”  Hilly surveying Harry Blue continued “There’s more. See how long and large its beak is?” Sandy nodded. “They say that on all hallows' eve they fly around using their large beaks to collect lost and wandering souls that have been haunting all kinds of beings in this realm, and then the Great Blue H’s turn the souls they collect on all hallows' eve over to the proper authorities in the next realm on the day of the dead.” “The proper authorities?” Sandy questioned. Hilly looked at Sandy “You know. Whichever of the gods will claim them.” A shiver ran down Sandy’s back and she said “Oh! So that’s why it looks like an undertaker.”

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After different people were having trouble counting days to schedule a Pentamadine treatment I have to have 15 days the stem cell transplant, my doctor decided to send me home this afternoon. There was a lot of back and forth about whether or not the treatment was scheduled on Monday at the hospital or not. Otherwise, the doctor wanted to send me home and let me get the treatment as an out patient on Tuesday, which is 15 days after my stem cell transplant, because October 17th was day zero. If the treatment was scheduled on Monday, I would have stayed at the hospital, but it turned out not to be scheduled on Monday, so I got to go home.

Rosencrantz

I went back to 2010 to find photos of Rosencrantz playing in the snow, and Guildenstern and Diné pussyfooting around in it. I thought they made nice depictions of bodies in a white wilderness. The last Nupogen shot worked well, so I had white counts double the normal this morning, so I didn't get a Nuopegen shot today. My doctor wants to see how much my white counts drop without Nupogen. My red counts are slowing pushing their way upward. I have 12,700 steps today so far.

Rosencrantz leaping through the snow

Rosencrantz leaping onto the deck

Guildenstern

Diné

The balloons that inflate and launch in the wee hours before sunrise at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta are called the "Dawn Patrol".  They go up and test the winds above ground level, before the rest of the balloons inflate and take off.  The Balloon Fiesta also has mounted patrol on horseback and motorcycles.

My white blood cells and neutrophils came up to normal today, while my red counts stayed low.  It's looking pretty sure that I will be able to go home on Tuesday.

All the important counts were whole numbers this morning, rising as much as 10 times from yesterday; but my counts are still really low. However, the doctor did make noises about possibly letting me going home on Tuesday if everything continues at the same rate. Let's keep our fingers crossed! I easily got in 12,000 steps today.

"Cranes in the Mist"  one of Susan's favorite photos that I've done. Happy Birthday, Susan!

On this date 58 years ago I was born in this hospital. I was a blue baby and required a blood transfusion. That was the start of some major health issues over the years, but I am very thankful that modern medicine at the time of each issue was aways a positive contributor to help me overcome each problem, and enable me to live a normal, active life when I could have easily been crippled from a very young age.  I'm also the product of the nuclear age. My dad was exposed to radioactive fallout from hydrogen bomb testing in the early and mid 1950's. My mom told me that they were not supposed to have a third child because of the "RH" factor. My dad was possibly more surprised to discover they were having me, than he was by the power of those H-bombs.

I spent my 58 birthday in the hospital, where I started life. I would have preferred to be home with family and friends, but again I'm relying on modern medicine to help make things straight again, and give me a new life.  I got in lots of steps today — 12,500 so far.  The nurses got me a chocolate cake, and several nurses, techs and my doctor came in and sang happy birthday to me in the early afternoon. After they all made off with a piece of cake, I sat back down and finished "Beowulf".  But the best birthday present I had today is when I got the email to go to MyPres, and after logging in and getting to the reports, I opened the "CDC with Differentials" and for the first time in a week I didn't see all zeros for the immune system. 

The remainder of the birthday cake.

When I found this photo searching around my archives, I somehow identified with the ducks.  All counts still zero and I had to have another transfusion of platelets because they have been taking a real hit. We are also stepping up the vigilance on infections since this is the sixth day I've been without an immune system. Otherwise, I'm hanging in there.

Spunk taking advantage of a west facing window

All counts are still zero for my immune system, and my red blood cells are really taking a beating, so I don't have nearly as much spunk today. I felt like laying around like Spunk in these photos.  Cats don't need zero counts to take advantage of laying about the house.  I ended up with 10,000 steps yesterday, but I don't think I will make it today.

View from the inside

Sasha in the glove basket reflecting against the big screen.

My counts are still at zero, and my red blood cells have really taken a hit, also. Therefore, I'm feeling a lot more fatigue, and moving more slowly. Between walking (only 7500 steps so far today), drinking, peeing, answering email, doing a little work for the office, visiting, vitals, doctor visits, a visit from the vampires to draw blood, and working on my blog, I sit and reflect on things.