Rock, Paper…Plant.


Last week, a colourful bucket full of hand painted stones was on the reception desk in 7 (infusion). The stones were painted by a 3rd grade class for all the people undergoing chemo. We chose our rocks, they are lovely little tokens, like carrying good wishes with you. We also brought home books, and a lovely plant. I will probably be snoozing most of today, having been up all night with the big, bad butt pain again. It’s a right pain in the arse, literally. As usual, click for full size. As for the books, I finished Bird Box, reading it on 7, and the ride home. It was interesting. The concept was certainly intriguing, but fell a bit short on execution. There were questions which never get answered, leaving me with a vague sense of dissatisfaction. Notwithstanding, it was still a good tale, and it was a quick read. It’s a debut novel by the lead singer of the band The High Strung, Josh Malerman. A movie has been made, and will be released by Netflix this December.

© C. Ford.

Comments

  1. avalus says

    Foremost: Hopefully your butt pain goes down and does not indicate anything new serious. That would be a pain in the arse (sorry, I could not resist)
    I like this kind of painting stones, it brings out the texture.
    Plants are good! One can not have enough plants, I say!

  2. says

    No, never enough plants! Eh, the butt pain always shows up after a round of chemo, and lasts a week or two. It’s a matter of gaining control over it with meds -- you have to build up to a point, and be sure to keep taking it, even when the pain is gone. I just get really bad about taking meds when I’m not in pain, and have to remind myself to keep to a schedule, so the pain doesn’t get the better of me.

    You just have to fun with a literal pain in the arse, I certainly do! :D

    All the stones were lovely, and some of them just too cute. One sprog painted hearts, but one of them looked just like a strawberry, complete with seeds. It was really hard for me to resist sitting on the floor and dumping the bucket out so I could see all of them.

  3. Nightjar says

    Oh, a peace lily (Spathiphyllum), so lovely! That’s a wonderful indoor plant, they need little sunlight and little water and I think ours has been there in that same spot for decades, always the same plant. And yeah, I agree, never enough plants! :D

  4. says

    Oh, that’s what it is! Thank you so much, Nightjar. Now I know how to take care of it. I was quite charmed by it, it was begging for a home.

  5. voyager says

    They all look like good choices to me.
    Coincidentally, I have a friend who paints rocks to look like ladybugs and then she leaves them here and there for people to find. I’ll have to tell her about this idea.

  6. rq says

    See, these rocks? This is how you let people express the process -- someone creates something small and lovely out of kindness, and everyone is free to choose a piece to remember -- except it’s not to remember the treatment, it’s to remember the kindness. No fuss, no embarrassment, and some pretty sweet art (and rocks. I mean, who hates rocks?).
    re: the peace lily, at first I thought it was the local wild calla lily called cūkausis (pig’s ears -- they have a particularly tragic story attached to them), and they’re similar enough, but peace lily, I think, is more appropriate, and they’re wonderful. I love calla-type lilies in general (Araceae?).

  7. says

    Voyager:

    Coincidentally, I have a friend who paints rocks to look like ladybugs and then she leaves them here and there for people to find.

    What a sweet thing to do! Imagine all the people finding a lady bug, and it just made their day.

  8. says

    rq:

    See, these rocks? This is how you let people express the process — someone creates something small and lovely out of kindness, and everyone is free to choose a piece to remember — except it’s not to remember the treatment, it’s to remember the kindness. No fuss, no embarrassment, and some pretty sweet art (and rocks. I mean, who hates rocks?).

    Exactly. They lifted everyone’s spirits. Oh, the plant -- I thought Calla Lily too, until I checked, and the leaves are wrong. The leaves on the Peace Lily are long and pointy.

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