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Two weeks ago today we were preparing for a return to the hospital for Joe so that he could have the surgery I posted about last week. There have been many surgeries, four of them in the last five months. We are grateful to report the surgeon successfully put new knee replacement parts back in (the third set!) and although Joe has pain and a huge amount of work as his muscles regain strength and healing begins, he is walking, bearing weight on that leg for the first time in a long long time! He is smiling, holding his head higher, talking about going back to work and a trip this Spring. He is thriving.

You may be asking what my seedling photo can possibly have to do with this journey for us. Just this – two weeks ago today, I sowed a package of my favorite heirloom tomato seeds in pots which I set inside my kitchen. When we left on the morning of surgery (3 days), there was not a tiny speck of green anywhere that indicated anything was happening with my seeds. Each morning before I left for the hospital, I misted them, keeping the soil moist but not soggy. On the 5th day, I smiled as I told Joe we had "babies" when I got to his hospital room. Joe came home at the end of the week, and agreed with me that the seedlings were "looking for light" as they stretched their spindly stalks toward the window. The bit of sunlight they got in their spot just wasn't enough. I hooked up a couple of grow lights and this is the result! Now the stems are getting stronger, and if you look closely, you are able to see the secondary leaves just beginning to appear. My Cherokee Purple tomatoes are thriving!

Two weeks can make such a difference. I am thinking I just might have some help harvesting tomatoes this summer.