Lantana blooming in the front, about the only thing that is beside a scattering of roses and the crepe myrtles. The orange cosmos also has a smattering of blooms as they get taller for when they go into full bloom in the fall. A few yellow rain lilies have sprung up.
Yesterday I was back at SHARE after missing the entire month of July, really only three weeks as it was closed on July 4th which fell on a Thursday. It was probably the slowest day since I have been volunteering there, only 15 requests for food. The first Thursday of the month is usually slow as people get their food assistance cards and also FEMA is in town and other organizations since the hurricane. But it enabled me to reorganize my station the way I like it.
I had an appointment with my PCP Tuesday and filled her in on the last two months and my follow up with the surgeon, or rather the PA who attended me in the hospital, on Wednesday since I only saw the surgeon right before the surgery. The incision is healing nicely but still no yoga until it is completely healed, 3 more weeks he said. Ugh, I’m going to be so out of shape by then! I have to return in three months for another ultrasound to make sure all is well with my femoral artery. In the meantime I feel fine, feel normal, and am back to my usual routine sans yoga. The other thing the PA told me was not to wear underwear with the elastic crossing the incision until it is completely healed. No mention of that previously but whatev, so I went out and bought some boxers for women today.
I’ve lost track of how many cart loads of hurricane tree debris I hauled to the street today, four or five. I’ve been out there with my baby battery operated chain saw cutting up the 4” or less in diameter branches that are still hanging down from the pecan trees but it is so hot and the mosquitoes are still just so fierce. Fortunately we’ve had almost a week without rain and the last three days have been clear blue skies. Good for drying things out but also bringing back the heat. I put the cart, for scale, in front of the pile on the street that I’ve accumulated over the last three weeks,
really only two out of the last three since the one in the middle was cleaning out Pam’s house and then doctor appointments. I still have two piles in the yard and it doesn’t look like I’ve even made a dent in all those huge limbs hanging down in the back even though that’s what I worked on today.
I sat down and did my first wash for the sky on my painting today.
I’m not very good at washes and I probably overworked it so it’s pretty funky. Nevertheless I will persevere. It’s just a warm up anyway, I tell myself, and it’s been well over a year since I put brush to paper.
Good for you for starting the painting. You've been needing to do it, I think.
ReplyDeleteYou sure did dwarf that itty bitty cart! And your blue beginning looks great.
ReplyDeleteMy last medical emergency, I experienced that wonderful focus that angst provides. Would that I could hold on to that. I'm lazy, but the memory nudges me to recognize we are one of a kind sacred. No God No Soul Still Sacred
ReplyDeleteI suppose that one always says that it could have been worse, but as hurricanes go the damage does seem fairly minimal - not inconsequential but it didn’t flatten the street. Painting can be either therapy or frustration - I boldly say this as one who has never taken up a brush - and I suspect it may be therapy in your case. Healing is on the way, the storm has passed and you are creating. It all sounds positive to me.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, you have a lot of energy, Ellen. Glad you are feeling so good!
ReplyDeleteOh, dear Ellen! I am so glad that you have mostly passed through that dark place of so much worry and are back in your yard, doing the other sort of hard stuff which is your normal. I have to tell you that this bout of covid has caused me to rest more than I have in years and guilt-free! I honestly don't think I could have done much of anything for a few days and honestly, not being at home has meant that I'm not looking at things left undone and feeling guilty. Looks like a storm may be headed our way in th pandhandle and I'm thinking that Glen and I should probably pack up and get home before driving becomes too difficult. Maybe tomorrow. Life is just full of unexpected realities, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it feels good to be getting back to "normal" after so much upheaval.
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't work as hard as you do, but I too like to have my "station" organized just so.
ReplyDeleteOh, those yellow rain lilies! Lucky you -- I've not seen anything but white for maybe three years. I grinned at your photo of the cart and the tree debris. Doesn't life just feel like that sometimes? Still: one branch at a time and it will disappear. Blue isn't my favorite color, but your beginning with the painting appeals somehow. It reminds me of a line from Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat" -- "She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain..." Such a neat image.
ReplyDelete3 more cart loads today and not just filling the cart but mounded up as high as I can get away with the debris not falling over when I move the cart to the street. I can start to see where I'm making some progress but there is still so much of the little stuff that I can handle. have to wait for the grandboy with the big chainsaw for the big stuff.
DeleteI'll save you some seeds from the yellow rain lilies.
Normal is good, I hope and wish for you that it's a pleasant normal eventually. Routines and gardens are good helpmates.
ReplyDeleteAnd you have the plants to guide you along.
When I was recovering from back surgery, I was directed by the physio to online videos for yoga after surgery, check it out, search for gentle yoga after abdominal surgery or whatever suits you and proceed with caution. In the reha clinic I met sports people who did yoga lying down in bed - under supervision.
I'm doing upper body work so I'm not a total slug. I think he wants to prevent any prolonged pressure on the femoral artery as opposed to the incision because the incision has healed past the point of coming open. at least that's my take even though he said not until the incision looks like normal skin albeit with a scar. it's still pretty red right now.
DeleteIt seems odd that the doctor allows working like an animal, clearing tree debris, but not yoga. I did not know that boxers for women were a thing. Glad to see things are getting back to sort of normal.
ReplyDeletewell, to be honest I didn't tell him or ask about clearing tree debris. the prohibition against lifting anything heavy was for one week only and nothing I'm dealing with is heavy anyway and it's all upper body work with some bending over. I think he doesn't want me to do yoga because a lot of the asanas and ab work put prolonged pressure on the groin area where the incision and femoral artery is. bending over to pick something up in the yard is a lot different than holding a contorted posture for 5 to 10 breaths or 10 to 20 reps.
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