A few months ago, when they first became available, I purchased a cherry tomato plant. It’s done well, but I feel sorry for it because it hasn’t had a chance to mass produce. Every time a tomato turns red, I pluck it from the vine, wipe it with my shirt and eat it.

I’ve been noticing some subtle shifts in my week that happen on Friday, but not any other day. The bed is left unmade for longer periods of time and sometimes it only gets straightened before bedtime. I spend more time than any other day gazing out the front windows, overlooking the yard. This morning I curled up in a window facing chair with a cup of Mudwtr to gaze at the wooden, arched entry into the yard, taking note that the vine climbing across the top needed trimming.

This vine and I have had a journey! I wrote a semi-fictional piece entitled, “Dormant”, two years ago here. I want to say it was the first year the vine actually bloomed, but don’t hold me to that. It’s difficult enough recalling what happened last week, much less years, but over time this vine has grown massively.

This morning I woke up early feeling foggy headed, but I knew the culprit. Earlier this week I had some groceries delivered and there was a pint of ice cream placed alongside my other items by mistake. I thought about placing it in the trash and if it would’ve been a pint of vanilla it would’ve been easy, but nope…it was a brand I’d never tried before full of fudge brownie bits, chucks of caramel and honey, so I placed it in the freezer. Last night I sat down before bed and ate half the pint.

Since seeing Dr. Jason I’ve weaned myself off dairy, so this was the most I’d ingested in 6 months and my body didn’t know what to do with it. Immediately, I knew it was a mistake and could feel the ramifications within. I threw the carton away, made a cup of peppermint tea and went to bed only to awaken with brain fog.

This morning I did what I knew to do by starting the day with lots of water and then a tall glass of cold pressed green juice. Last night, after realizing the ice cream was the from the devil himself, I thought, “I’ll just push through on Friday”, but something else happened instead. I told myself, “You’ll just go easy on yourself today, Barbara and be kind to yourself.”

The bed was left unmade until almost noon. I sat in that chair gazing out the window for 30 minutes instead of just one. I put on my yard clothes, grabbed my clippers and trimmed the vine so the birds could find the birdbath hanging underneath and that’s when I noticed it. Poking out from the top of the vine was one, single, solitary bloom and that my lovelies…would only be noticed… on Friday’s.