Webbish6

At April 17, 2009
By Jeannine Gailey
In bad weeks, concussion, it's the most wonderful time, ready for some good news
7

Well, what an interesting week! And by interesting, I mean terrible.
I can’t really discuss some of the problems here, but let’s include my first concussion (only months after my first broken bones!) and many, many tests in a hospital. I think I’ve had two to four hours of sleep every night for about three nights in a row.
My parents are finally safely home, my little brother is coming home from his trip to climb Machu Picchu, I am home safe as well, and ready to embark on a new, better week. Wish me luck?

Well, my happy mood yesterday was kind of crushed after I found out (via Facebook, of all places) that a good friend from high school had died.

Later on I fell climbing the concrete stairs (still wobbly with the foot cast thingy) and hit my head, which made me dizzy and my vision really blurry, so Glenn took me to the hospital where, after some tests, blood tests and a CT scan of my head, they wanted to book me into trauma and give me 24 hours of observation to watch for something called a “delayed bleed.” I booked myself out of the hospital against advice at around 4 AM last night, and have only four hours left til the 24 hour period would be over. I thought probably someone much worse off than me probably needed the bed in the trauma center, and besides, I don’t spend the night in the hospital getting woken up by strangers if I don’t need to. I’m perfectly happy getting woken up by my husband, who kept checking my pupils and asking me the anwers to multiplication problems.

Bleeding disorders make head injuries a little trickier for doctors. I got a follow-up call this morning from a local hematologist to make sure I was okay. I actually had a good, sharp ER doc last night, someone who had just come on shift, who sat down to discuss the pros and cons of various medicines and procedures. So far I just have a slight headache where I bumped my head and a definite need for sleep . But I guess I’m glad they were looking out for me.

Wading through the grading of my class today, catching up on work…and of course, I want to write poetry instead!
Sick of your poem-a-day poems yet? Well, I finally got a draft I was happy enough with to post, though, admittedly, I have low standards 🙂 and I am still working on it…

Elemental [poof]

At April 12, 2009
By Jeannine Gailey
In cheetah cubs, Easter, Persephone, rebirth, Wild Animal parks
2

It’s a beautiful brilliant blue day outside after several days of overcast chilliness. I like the Easter story, which always somehow also reminds me of Persephone, emerging from the Underworld to bring spring to the above-ground. The sunshine, the flowers blooming, and my birthday coming up: it does feel a little like we are emerging from something, doesn’t it, every April?

Yesterday we took my folks to the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal park. We got to see a six-week-old cheetah. You just have to love baby cheetah cubs. And it’s really hard to be depressed looking at meerkats. Yes, I should have stayed with my zoological interests and become a zoo biologist, I sometimes think. There were also many great egrets building nests in the trees around the park, zooming overhead.

Also, I was able to write a couple of poetry fragments – beginnings and bits of poems – that I felt happy with. I seem to be writing longer poems lately, a bit at a time.

Anyway, here’s wishing you at least one chocolate Easter bunny and a bright pink bunch of rununculus. (Marshmallow peeps half-price tomorrow!)

Well, my dear readers, thanks for the well-wishes. I am feeling better, but I feel like I am falling behind in my poetry goals…Life has been intruding.
I have my parents in town for several days for the holiday, so I’m entertaining them, and I’m already neck-deep in grading and comments for my class (including several students who seem to never have been in a workshop before, which is weird, considering they’re MFA students, not high-school students or undergrads!) which I’m trying to do after my parents fall asleep, so basically the extra several seconds to breathe during the day…haven’t been spent writing or submitting.
But I am grateful for things. For my parents being alive and healthy and fun to be with, for my husband, for a mild winter and song sparrows. Today we went to Moonlight Beach and toured the huge flower fields in Carlsbad, taking picture after picture, even though the day was rainy and windy and chilly (well, chilly for San Diego.) I also helped my mom find a pair of jeans (she hasn’t been wearing jeans for years, and she looks great in them.) Doesn’t that sound like a day I should be thankful for?
I promise to post a poem again soon…