Today I cut my 26th bouquet from my raised bed garden. The zinnia stems are beginning to wither; I’ll clean it out in a week or two and start thinking about next Spring.

I loved doing this garden and am already deep into planning for 2022.

This week begins the preparation and countdown for my foot surgery on October 6. I have a dozen stops to make before then.

Because of my age and medical history, I have to have the surgery cleared by my cardiologist and primary care physician. And, of course, the podiatric surgeon.

I have to have blood tests and Covid-19 tests and see the podiatric surgeon two times before the surgery and at least two times in the following weeks.

Somewhere in there, X-rays, maybe an MRI. After all these tests, they’ll tell me when to arrive for the surgery and how long it will be before Maria can pick me up.

I’ll need to be off my feet or in special shoes for four to six weeks, depending on how things go.

Maria is an angel, willing and eager to drive me where I need to go when I can’t do it myself.

It’s a significant imposition on her and a strain on her work, but if she minds at all, she has hidden it well. She is what love is all about for me.

I’ll be able to write on the blog, go to the Mansion, visit Bishop Maginn High School as usual right up to the surgery, which is just a few weeks away.

We’ll see how long I’ll be homebound afterwords. I have a folder full of appointments, permissions, phone numbers, and instructions. I have to stop taking some medications immediately.

And I have lots of things to write about. Later.

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