Double Drabble! On The PHQ-9 and Green Growing Things

I never got to post yesterday's drabble, so... here's two in one!

May 6 - On The PHQ-9

Over the past few weeks, have you been bothered by…
Little interest or pleasure in doing things?
Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless?
Trouble falling or staying asleep? Sleeping too much?

If I’m honest, no, not really. I circle all the zeros. Maybe a one for the question about being tired.

Have I felt them before? Of course. Do I feel them now? Not in these busy two weeks.

“I think I passed,” I joke as I hand questionnaires back, mostly zeroes.

“You know I’ll make a note that says you could be minimizing, right?”

“That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”

---

May 7 - On Green Growing Things

Despite my brown thumb, plants are winning me over.

It started with a little kalanchoe, a succulent that bursts into yellow flower clusters once a year and doesn’t mind when I forget to water it for two weeks. There was last year’s small vegetable garden, with an abundance of zucchini and weird broccoli plants. In a way, keeping green growing things alive in the midst of a hard summer kept me alive too.

Today, I turned over soil and spread manure. Basil and oregano seedlings are sprouting on the windowsill. And the kalanchoe stands tallest, ready for a new pot.