Yesterday I opened the front door for fresh air when I saw Bob out there. We started off talking about the weather and I said the mornings were too cold and he said something about not seeing me out walking. I said I usually go out late at night even if it’s colder then.

Then Virginia came toward him with a cell phone that looked 15-20 years old, and then she and I spoke as he talked on the phone. I was telling her about the solar windchime and asked if she noticed it in the evenings. She hasn’t.

She said she loves the weather and could soak it up forever. I agree that while the days are beautiful it’s still too cold at night. She went on to say something about Trump’s first wife’s location of choice to live and vacation in, and I said I wished we could live in Hawaii at this time of year and not come back until May. I mentioned not liking Trump and being surprised and disappointed that he even got elected in the first place, and Virginia said she felt the same and that she’s also liberal.

Bob finished his call and asked if he could “cut the hell” out of a tree on the back corner and I said he never had to ask and that he could cut whatever he wanted and to let us know if he wants us to cut anything. Virginia said she had a suggestion and pointed out this thing that looked like a giant weed toward the front and Bob cut it down in two seconds flat. I said I had room in our green waste if he didn’t have any room in his but he said he had room.

I know we don’t have anything hanging over the retaining wall that’s blocking their path, but I worry we’ve got things that might be making a mess or that they might consider a real eyesore. Perhaps I shouldn’t because it’s our place after all, but they’ve been so nice that I don’t want them inconvenienced in any way or to have to see things that they consider a negative to the outside appearance. Wish I knew exactly what they might like trimmed or removed, but I know if I asked they would simply tell me not to worry about it. When I tell them they can cut anything they want I hope they don’t see that as a lazy excuse not to keep up on things ourselves, but they did say they understood Tom works a lot. They also know I don’t like working with bees and spiders.

Virginia also said she’s “getting old and getting fatter.” Yeah, so am I. But if I were her age (85) I wouldn’t worry about my weight, not that I told her that, LOL. Seriously, though, when I hit my 70s, what would be the point of trying to keep my weight down and myself in shape with a husband who is nearly a decade older than me? I only want to keep from gaining additional weight now so that it doesn’t hinder my mobility.

I asked Jon if he and Carolyn ever hear woodpeckers, and sure enough, all they hear are squirrels running across the roof. We do too, but I don’t mind that. It’s the fucking woodpeckers that I sometimes hear at sunup and sundown that drive me crazy because it literally sounds like someone’s hammering. Most of it comes from the patio roof by the master bedroom. Amazing how we’re the only ones, though, huh? We are just so fucking noise cursed! At least traffic didn’t wake me up last night.

There was a truck with a huge trailer at the abandoned house across from the Twenties. They appeared to have stripped the place. I saw appliances, boxes, and tons of other shit in the trailer.

I hope I don’t jinx myself by saying this but I haven’t heard the young guy in that loud car in about a week. It’s ironic too, that it should disappear right after I make an anonymous complaint. If I had to guess, though, it isn’t because of me. They were here for almost a year and I can’t believe others didn’t complain long before I did. Even if they did, the most likely scenario is that Tom was right about it selling to someone who made an offer outside of the sites the house was listed on when it was on the market. Sometime I’ll walk back there and see what I can see. Or maybe the influencer struck again and the guy ended up totaling the fucking thing. Could be in jail, too. There’s no way to know at this time. I’m still putting my money on Tom’s theory about a private sale.

As much as I wish I could bring myself to stop for good, curiosity still gets the better of me and I sometimes look in on Aly’s tweets. IDK, I guess I also do it just because I can and because I have the time. In one tweet she said: I’m primarily self-employed but w/out birth control, my MDS and anemia issues would be horrendous. It’s not cheap but is so necessary for now

So Aly really wasn’t kidding about the cancerous cells in her blood and about talk of a bone marrow transplant, along with chemotherapy and the blood replacement thing to take out the iron in it or something to that effect. Deep down I didn’t think she was even though she tends to be a drama queen of sorts.

She’s also notorious for riddles and cryptic tweets. In a recent one, she mentions getting some news that will make the weekend stressful and kind of sad. I wonder if that could be health-related.

I did more research and if I read things correctly, she may not even live to be my age. She may not even make it to her 40s, but because she’s younger and that’s only a few years away, I think she will. It says that most people who get MDS are older and that only 6% of the younger population gets it. It’s also rarely cured, and depending on age and seriousness, your survival rate is usually 9 months to 12 years.

So is she actually “dying?” I don’t know, but the prognosis for life expectancy doesn’t look that good unless I’m missing something. Leukocytosis was another word she mentioned, but I’m not sure what the odds are on that. I would still think that most cancers are manageable enough, even if they can’t be cured completely, and that she’s got many years ahead of her. I know I shouldn’t care because she was a horrible friend who did horrible things to me, even if I was less than perfect myself. I’m just curious by nature, I guess.

Last night I dreamed that Tom and I were walking down a dark street at night. Houses flanked the road, which seemed almost in a semi-rural area. There were many trees at the sides of the road that were very tall. While I didn’t feel any wind down by the street, I could hear the sound of wind rustling the treetops way up above. When I commented on it, Tom said something about it being virtually cloudless, as if that explained the wind.

“Let’s move down here,” Tom said, and we picked up our pace.

I said something and then he said something about not wanting people to see the blue light. He wore a hat with some type of strange blue LED light on it.

I began running toward a steep hill and exclaimed, “Fun time! But not as fun as on the bike.”

Then in a split second, it was daytime and the hilly road turned into a waterslide. We slid down on sheets of plastic, and then in another second, the slide became a few steep steps. A woman with auburn hair stood on a step in front of us and Tom pointed to her hair and started talking about hair dye and the way it was cut and stuff like that.

Next, I was in a store or restaurant that seemed to be mine and going through some stuffed animals I had scattered about the place for someone’s daughter.

Lastly, I was trying to coax a large dog off a bed while laughing at a cute rat on some bookshelf.