I’m grateful that I didn’t hurry up and eat all the frozen apricots from last year. Despite a million tiny fruitlets on the tree long after bloom time, I looked today and saw only a dozen or so. The natural thinning process must have been amped up by the several microbursts we had over the past month. A dozen in sight during this time that they so closely resemble the leaves means maybe three or four dozen, my guess, will come to fruition. Most of those are at the very top, in the birds’ portion of the tree. Oh well. Grateful for learning to let go. In so many ways.

The 93 Fruits & Vegetables a Day challenge is going well. The first week I managed a total of 28, counting spices. I haven’t tallied last week, when I didn’t put as much focus into it, and this week I’m off to a good start with a four-fruit smoothie for breakfast today, Kung Pau Tofu last night, and an overall enthusiasm for the project bodes well.

And I made myself cook a little bit of chicken tonight, because I’ve tried, and I cannot live on fruits and vegetables alone. I adapted this sheetpan chicken with rhubarb and red onion recipe to a quick skillet dinner, sautéing cut up chicken and sliced red onion with coriander, salt and pepper for awhile, tossing in chopped rhubarb, maple syrup, and some old white wine, and simmering til done. So simple, so delicious.

My dear friend has not let go yet, though her final breath nears. It could be hours, days, even a week. Her care team at home and her virtual support team are in frequent contact, all of us learning over and over again how to let go; how we must let go.