What A Day

There were wonderful moments in the garden today.  The green onions are sprouting everywhere, and the kids had a great time sharing their bad breath.  We have arugula and rocket lettuce and red lettuce and spinach and big romaine leaves. 

Rocket lettuce tastes like mustard, which surprised a few taste buds.  The spinach was also a surprise, in that they really liked it.  With mint and cilantro and scallions, the scholars made their own garden grown salad.  Nobody asked for ranch dressing.

The irrigation system needed adjusting and the beds and buckets needed watering, which was done by young gardeners who kept the water on the plants.... for the most part.  The daisies are blooming and ready for picking, and all the girls who asked left with a yellow or an orange flower.  

But then there were the fifth graders who didn't know odd numbers from even numbers.  Even the teachers were amazed.  

Two of the scholars who ate the celery we used for a lesson on xylem and floem appeared .  I soon afterwards in the nurse's office.  One had a rash on her neck.  One had a scratchy throat and an ear ache.  The celery was the only thing they had in common.  Neither the nurse nor I thought of celery as an allergen.  The girl's necklace might have caused the rash.  The boy's symptoms defied explanation.  

Since it was close to dismissal, the nurse decided to let the families sort things out. 

I closed the garden and walked to my car which did not respond to my key which was logical since I'd left the key in my wallet in the garden.  I walked back and then back again.  I got gas and a chicken and yellow roses at Costco, adding Tana French's newest novel to my basket as a reward for surviving the day.

TBG's got Bell's Palsy.  .  

It's uncomfortable but not fatal.  He's well medicated and we understand the process of recovery.  He's a trooper, making the best of a bad situation.  But everyone needs to wallow in misery from time to time, and this is one of those times.  He's as upbeat as a man with half a face can be.

I should rearrange our usual places on the couch.  I'm looking at the droopy side and it's making me sad.  The unaffected side still smiles at me.  I just have to move over so I see it more often.

As I said, it's been a day.