Waiting...

“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm,
you'll never enjoy the sunshine.”
Morris West

My friend Cheryl emailed me to tell me about all the birds she had seen on this trail last evening. I went there before work early this morning, before the approaching rain started to fall. Clouds dominated the sky but the sun broke through from time to time.

Birds were very active, singing loudly and moving from tree to tree as they established their nesting territories. We have waited for the May birds to arrive and all of a sudden they are here;- Orioles, Wrens, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Kingbirds, Catbirds, Yellow Warblers and more. It didn't matter that it was raining after work because I had already enjoyed the sunshine and bird song.

Mom had surgery this afternoon, an abdominal exploration to see if the carcino-sarcoma tumour of the uterus found two weeks ago had spread to other tissues. Family members, separated by thousands of miles, waited under clouds of uncertainty for an update and prognosis. A few minutes ago the sun broke through the clouds when my brother called to say Mom was back in her hospital room and no further cancer spread had been found. Tissue samples have been sent for testing but things look good according to the surgeon.

It would be nice to go to Mexico to see her and hopefully that will be possible. But in the meantime we all wish her a sunny convalescence.