Riding with Mary: Feeling much better today; not 100%, but enough to get outside for a short time and do some fall garden clean-up and cover a couple of outside faucets (it's supposed to drop to 19 degrees here tonight). No nausea today yet, thankfully.

Yesterday was...interesting. After I got the pump off at around noon, I looked for the medical marijuana nonprofit that my patient navigator suggested I check out. The place is located in a small unassuming trailer not far from West 11th (one of the "main drags" in Eugene). Its inside was equally nondescript; no pot-leaf posters or tricolor-busts of Bob Marley were anywhere to be found. Besides a potted plant (find the pun) or two in the waiting area and some children's drawings behind the front desk, I'm pressed to recall any decorations.

A few folks walked in during the half hour or so I was there (and yes, a couple did look like the type of person you'd envision in the waiting room of a medical marijuana nonprofit), but no more than a half dozen, at most.

I talked with the young woman at the front desk about the process of obtaining a card and she put in a call to the someone to come out and give me an "exit interview". Uh, what? I just got here!

A woman comes out from the back and the first thing I think is, "The Summer of Love never ended for her." Love beads, small facial tattoos and piercings, her head topped with a pile of black curls tinted purple...wasn't sure what to think at this point.

Despite her appearance, she turned out to be straightforward and informative about how to apply for the MM card and what I needed to do in the interim period after applying but before receiving it. Professional, you might say. But I confess I was a little startled when she asked me toward the end of the interview, "Do you need marijuana?" Ha, ha...I replied that I was fine for the time being.

A condition on the application requires that you name an authorized "grower", which, as the patient, may be yourself. I named myself (hey, I garden!) as my own grower because the application process would be less expensive that way. I did sign up for a meeting on the 10th which is sort of an introductory meeting for patients and growers...try not to think about how this sounds too much.

Yes, the whole idea is still mighty weird and oddly funny to me. But using it does eliminate my nausea pretty quickly...