Blood, food, and spring.

I signed up for an appointment to donate blood at a local blood drive.  It'll be my fourth time.  My blood type is O-positive, so I'm almost a universal donor; my blood can be used for any (Rh) positive blood type.  I'm a giver-- it's in my blood! Aha-ha-ha... but really, O-positive blood isn't terribly uncommon.  I think that about 90% percent of people of Asian descent are O-positive, or at least have Rh-positive blood.  I didn't do any internet research on that stat, it's purely from the annals of my memory from Anatomy and Physiology II.

I know that one day of carefully monitoring my food intake won't make a big difference in my bloodwork, but still I made a point to eat iron-rich foods.  Same with vitamin C, because it helps with iron absorption.  I had one really delicious orange today, a California navel; I prefer the tarter Florida oranges but didn't any around.  As much as I enjoyed it, I'm looking forward to the summer and getting to eat local produce.

It helps that the weather has gotten significantly warmer in the last week.  With tomorrow's forecast indicating that the mercury'll go up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, it seems that this spring will quickly give way to summer.  I've been thinking a lot about this and realized that I hate spring because it's the opposite of fall.  Autumn is my favorite season, when the atmosphere is golden-tinged and sparkling and crisp like apple cider.  It's always signaled a new (school) year, new beginnings, a cool reprieve from summer.  Spring is humid, rainy and more conflicted, like the preteen who awkwardly tries to metamorphize into a self-assured person.  Spring evokes a pastel palette and seasonal allergies, tormenting students as if to say "your summer vacation will NEVER arrive if you can't outlast ME, cackle cackle".

In all fairness, I did actually enjoy the weather today.  The morning was humid and the outlook wasn't hopeful, but in the afternoon the sun broke out and all was well.  On my walk back home I stopped to rest under a tree and have a lie down on my coat (the grass was still a little damp).  I enjoyed a zephyr, a pleasant spring breeze that didn't compete too much with the warmth from the sun.  To think, that light traveled for eight minutes just so we could enjoy it, and I could bask in it, just for a moment.

I'll bring that memory back to mind tomorrow for when that enormous needle goes into one of the veins in my left arm.  Like I said before, I've done this three times before and know what to expect in terms of discomfort. But that needle doesn't get any smaller.