Hints of spring are popping up around the Highlands after a long, wet, snowy winter. To see more sunshine up in the northern latitudes as the earth does her springtime thing definitely lifts the spirits! We might still have some snow, never doubt it – that’s why they make little high-visibility jackets for newborn lambs (they really do!). Even so, it’s good to see signs of spring everywhere.
I have not seen any lambs so far but we haven’t been farther afield yet. Soon, though. After being ill since Christmastime my husband is enjoying somewhat better health this past week, and I think we both have itchy feet. Time to take the car out for a run before the roads are completely swamped with cyclists, camper vans, RVs and the ubiquitous Lands-End-To-John-O’Groats charity walkers.
These past few years have seen an even greater influx of vacationers as the “North Coast 500” route around the top of Scotland has grown ever more popular (and rightly so – the scenery is amazing). Soon we will have all the sounds of spring: birds chirping, lambs baa-ing, and every Highlander on the road swearing colorfully in their vehicles at bunches of slow-moving cyclists or creeping convoys of camper vans who leave no room for people to pass. At best, it’s our southern neighbors gawking at the scenery and at worst, it’s people who don’t usually drive on the left, navigating narrow twisty roads in terror in unfamiliar vehicles. It’s when they slow to a crawl on the bends but then speed up on the straights, making it impossible to get past them, that most of us really lose our cool. The Highlands: where we welcome you warmly into our villages and towns, but kinda want to run you off the road if you have morphed from ‘visitor’ into ‘road block’!
March has been an eventful month for us. There have been many sleepless nights, a couple of hospital stays, two trips to the ER, a blood transfusion, and even an emergency dental appointment (variety is the spice of life, I guess?). The cat’s diabetes has worsened. We’ve had to have juddery car brakes replaced, we were very nearly scammed out of a large chunk of money, and we finally had to have a showdown with Sem’s respiratory team because of their mistakes and omissions which have caused him actual setbacks and harm. Really, I would like April to be peaceful, healthier, and a lot more fun. I wouldn’t say no to the rest of 2018 being much-improved, either!
There are good things, too. Relatively speaking, Sem’s energy and breathing are a bit better, and his goal to get back out on his electric bike this spring and summer is attainable. We pulled our butts out of the fire before being scammed into financial disaster (it was a big wake-up call, as we like to think we’re pretty scam-savvy!), we’ve just had our car detailed (shiny!!), and before the month is out, we will celebrate Sem’s birthday. He has to spend part of it at the hospital having dialysis, but even in that regard there has been improvement. A couple of weeks ago the small unit he attends here in the north finally got newer, better hemodialysis machines. Sem is getting a slightly different kind of dialysis on these new machines, and he started noticing improvements right from the first session. It is also a better treatment for long-term dialysis patients, especially those who cannot have transplants. All to the good! His nurses have been absolute stars, tackling the training on new and somewhat daunting machines, willing to read up on them in their own time at home, and generally being wonderful, as they always are. We’ll be bringing in cupcakes for Sem’s birthday, but baked goods can’t even begin to repay them for all that they do in ways both big and small.
The birthday boy, a few years ago!
As I write this, there’s a spring gale blowing. Rain is lashing down and the rooks are a living caricature of flailing feathers and determination as they hang on to the power lines, eyeing up the seeds we’ve put out. After a winter of grimly hanging on, too, I would like the difficult first few months of 2018 to be blown out to sea, and something newer, more hopeful, more joyous and colorful to be blown in to succeed them. I’ve been doing my part, at least on myself – eating a little bit better, exercising while Sem is at dialysis, and planning what I want to accomplish over the next couple of months, both specifically and generally. I’m feeling ready for positive things to happen – and ready to make them happen. Spring is a season of cultivation, after all, and now is the time to tend and nourish the good things in my life.
I’ll also try really hard not to swear under my breath (or out loud) at cyclists and caravanners… but I can’t promise complete success at that!
