One of the rhododendrons growing near the driveway, brilliant in the sun! Glorious day. 

David came home from hospital today - the  sun is shining, the feeding tube is out of his nose and throat - he can eat!!! And breath better, and talk better. Every little bit helps, and he is thrilled to be able to eat solid food after 3 weeks of liquids. It is amazing to remember what it was like 3 weeks ago - he has come so far! He'll have a reprieve to finish healing for a few more weeks, then the radiation will likely lay him low again. But, after that, it will all be over.

On the ferry home, we were parked next to the bikes. Saw a shiny new red Kawasaki Vulcan 900.

David update: we went to the hospital today to have a stomach feeding tube installed, and the nose tube removed. It will be a great relief to have the tube out of his nose and throat, and will make it much easier to swallow. He is doing well, swallowing about half of his food now, so that should improve when the tube is gone. He has to stay overnight for observation, but the procedure went well, and his other incisions are continuing to heal. He is walking without the cane inside the house, and is doing some light chores around the shop during the day. His speech is getting clearer, too, and will also improve as his swallowing gets better.

View from the upper car deck of the ferry, coming back from Mukilteo. In the distance, you can see the Island behind the other ferry. The sun was low, shining down through the open end of the ferry.

Tonight was our Book Club meeting, and the book below is "My Story as Told by Water", by David James Duncan. Everyone really liked the book, as he is a Northwesterner, and most of us could really relate to his words. He writes very eloquently, and is an environmental activist, explaining his position very clearly.

One of our members had just returned from Japan, and brought us back souvenir bookmarks. I chose the drawing of Hakone Pass - I just fell in love with the colors. The other bookmark is from Coupeville, a photo of the Ferry House at Ebey's Landing, a historic landmark.

We had some fun the other night with my new Polaroid PoGo instant printer. It's the little black thing on the left, and it prints instant photos that are 2"x3". The best part is they have a sticky back, so you can stick them in a journal or anywhere. The photo paper has all the ink embedded in the paper, so you don't need any ink cartidges. Very easy to use, and fun! It takes the place of the old Instamatic cameras, in a way. You just plug your camera into it, or, if you know what Bluetooth is, and your computer or cell phone has it, you can use it that way, too!

This is post # 1234! A magical number; who ever thought I would make this many posts!

And, it is Mother's Day! Just for us, the sun was out, the air was warm. Early in the morning, the dew decorated each tip of the Lady's Mantle leaves, like jewels on a crown.

The close-up view below is the center of the photo above, showing the tiny hairs, each with it's load of minuscule water droplets - so tiny, I couldn't see them with my eyes! It amazes me just what the camera lens can see. The brownish reflections are of a neighboring shrub.

Beautiful sunny warm day! I finally had a chance to wander the trails to see what last week's wind storms brought down. Amazingly, not much other than branches, of which there were a lot! So, I didn't have much clean-up to do on the trails, and instead enjoyed the warmth, sitting on a big cedar root near the bog, listening to the birds, and inhaling the damp swampy air. Thankfully, too early for mosquitoes! Above, a lichen-cover stump grows a cap of soft moss. Below, the beginning buds of the salal plant are covered with sticky hairs, which collect spiderwebs and insects.