Reflection: Definition of joy and luxury....

As  a kid, my idea of joy and luxury was different..it was mostly materialistic.........

Now, all I can think of happiness and privilege is..........getting to drink and use clean water, inhaling fresh air, basking in green canopy, watching healthy wildlife...

Season: Fruits ripening in Spring..

Though autumn is best period for ripe fruits, given South California' mild weather, even some fruits are ripening now...
Date palm........

Papaya.....

Lemons.......

Kumquat......

Observation: My job and observation.....

I work in a clinic that does genetic tests...

We analyze the embryo samples for chromosomal integrity...

After the work is done, I prepare the reports..as I go through the patient information, I see various cases......

A couple in their 60s trying to have  a baby through surrogacy

A woman going for sperm donor

Two females having a child

A couple who have  an age difference of 20 years..the female being the young one

Another couple with 15 year age difference, where the male is the younger one..

Sometimes, weird things happen...
Recently we got an email, more of a complaint, from a client clinic, that the gender of the transferred fetus is wrong..what could have happened? Human error, or based on the maternal uterus's milieu, something happened?

Season: Spring flowers in our Irvine neighborhood...

Trees, shrubs, vines, annuals.......all the plants have blooming hormones rushing in their veins now...
Wisteria......

Coral tree......

Aloe.....

Red bud....

Camellia.......

Winter jasmine...

Trumpet creeper....

Roses.......

Indian hawthorn..

What a treat for the eyes!

Observation: Around my work place....

Its been several months I am working in a medial company..before taht I was kind of idle, or working from my home office...

The wages feel good, the work is nice too...but the 9-5 routine deprives me of the bicycle rides, and natural world exploration, that I was so fond of...

The ride to the park, feeding the mallards in the pond, marsh, watching encelia blooms, tides, migratory birds, picking prickly pear fruits, photographing horse riders., inhaling the aroma of willow-sage thickets...

The detour to the Mission San Diego, soaking in its history, birding, hanging around the retirement homes on the hills.......

Taking strolls on the lawns, and parks, taking pictures of the million-dollar house..

My definition of fun was changing as per the neighborhood I lived in and thee amenities they offered..

However, in the new situation, I have learned to find source of joy, even at the work environment..
Sometimes, I take my camera and take pictures of the flowers dotting the premises..

I watch the bees gather pollens, sniff the sweet fragrance of heirloom roses, listen to the song sparrows chirp away.....

And there are hills on both sides of the building......Saddleback mountain in the back, and Laguna Hills in the front......

I love watching the hills and imagine hiking in the wilderness, see flocks of crows return to their nests, and enjoy the tangerine sunsets..........

The saddleback mountain received snow on a February day.....

And another day, the mountain was obscure...

  

Health: Hyperhidrosis.....

Hyperhidrosis is  a health condition where body parts, especially palms, and soles sweat profusely.....

Normally people sweat as a result of thermoregulation....but 'hyperhidrosis' sweating is spontaneous, by neural stimulation due to stress, trauma, excitement........... 

I am one of those 3% people in the world, who suffer from 'hyperhidrosis;..it affects quality of life in many ways.......

I have been dealing with it ever since I can remember.........that is since I was five..

There were times when my notebook will get wet, pen will not run, things will slip out of my hand..keyboard will get sticky, shaking hands with people was nightmare.....

Soles will drip too, but it's easy to contain..with absorbent pair of socks..fancy open-toed shoes are not for me...

I made this habit of carrying  a handkerchief..it somehow helped with the situation.......I may ditch my cellphone but dare not forget a handkerchief...

Now I have got into a job where it needs wearing gloves several times a day...but how tough it becomes to slip the damp fingers and palm into  the latex gloves,,,,have to carry  a sensitive silicon chip, which I constantly fear not to ruin...

One problem pertaining with 'hyperhidrosis' arises and I learn to deal with it, but then another emerges..I guess, that's how people adapt to adverse situations ..

Season: Spring shows signs of arrival......

Winter, which brings rain to South California, seems to have ended .......it was a season of scanty rain, scanty snow.....

And spring has taken over...its palpable..
In the blue hyacinth flower in my garden..........
The bright yellow gazania flowers on the street sides swaying in the breeze...
And the chatters of a medley of birds in the trees and bushes in from of my workplace..........