Castle and Sun

This is the latest picture of the Klee inspired quilt.

 I had to go to the dermatology factory clinic today  I have managed to put it off for a year but I do need to rule out melanoma, so instead of going to my Pilates class, I found myself sitting in a full waiting room eavesdropping  on the conversation between the two receptionists. The one who checked me in is bilingual and switched effortlessly between languages, speaking Spanish to a very elegant looking man.

Once I was shifted into an examining room I had nothing to entertain myself with except an uninspired wine country poster of a vineyard. Sitting on the end of the exam table in my open-in-the-back gown in a freezing cold room, I thought about what I was going to say to this new (to me) doctor. When she finally came in, she gave me the same sermon about using 30+ sunscreen, a broad brimmed hat, long pants and a long sleeved shirt. Perhaps she was unaware of the fact that we are in the middle of a heat wave. Or perhaps she didn't realize it  as she ran from one air-conditioned room to the next. But she should have been able to figure out that I had probably heard all of this approximately 100 times!

She quickly identified four candidates for biopsy, eliminated a few others, froze one, and disappeared from the room. When she finally came back I asked her if she thought it was necessary to remove things that came back positive. Of course she said yes because there was (an ever so slight) chance that one could metastasize. We discussed options for non-surgical removal, since the ones she was busily slicing off would probably all have be left open to heal by themselves (secondary intention) without stitches should they turn out to be squamous cells.  None of those options was particularly appealing...

I am left to lick nurse my four small wounds and contemplate my next move....

Dana has returned from her trip to Mexico. She sent some pictures from Joshua Tree National park in California which they visited on their way home. Because this entry is so boring, I'm adding one of her photos in extras.