Musings

To me, both of these photos could spur a great story. Several, yes? First, the companionable, colorful, unoccupied chair trio….

And this one…. It’s hard to figure, no? At first glance, abstract shapes, but not regular. Turns out the grayish features are the surfacing, struggling roots of a good-sized tree trapped between a sidewalk and curb perhaps two feet apart—struggling to obtain water, nutrients, and whatever is “goodie” to a tree. Between the roots are moss and pockets of twigs and dried leaves…a forgotten, ignored mini-landscape.

Posted at 6:41 PM | Comments Off on Compose a story

We visited the turtles today. That is: we visited the foot surgeon, and the turtles are in the giant tank in the waiting room. I got the usual trio of X-rays, then saw the PA followed by the Doc. I got two excellents for my recovery so far…YAY!! I am at six months from surgery.

I got the “what you can tolerate” advice for level of activity, but I didn’t say that in my (limited) experience, if I do what I can tolerate, it may mean that I have negative repercussions a day or sometime later…and they may be with me for a while. Thus, I will temper the whole tolerance/activity thing…gingerly moving toward new levels of capability.

My next surgeon appointment is at one year from surgery…more YAY.

I ducked out for my daily walk, and as I headed up the block from the house I saw a bit of pallid sunlight. It lasted maybe three minutes, and then the overcast was back and trees dripped on me with accumulated droplets from the rain that started sometime during the lantern hours.

As I was angling along the last three blocks from the house, the rain began again, fortunately tentatively enough that I didn’t get very wet at all.

A day of victories!

Posted at 4:49 PM | 2 Comments »

Part of the winter mode includes the dry husks of last year’s maturation processes…in this case a tulip poplar husk.

On the other end of the spectrum—these Daphne buds ready to spring into early…spring.

Posted at 9:02 PM | Comments Off on Time lines

Light and shadow…analogous to the stock market today?

Posted at 9:02 PM | Comments Off on Dunno

We hosted a wee brunch today (for a cozy foursome), then I rested (foot up), and later, well after the (#rubbishweather) rain had stopped, I headed out for a modest walk.

I discovered that I could stride a bit faster than the other day, still with the “good gait.” Yay!

BTW, the first flower (bud) is yellow jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens is a twining vine native to the tropical New World), and the second is some kind of Mahonia (cultivar/cousin or hybrid of the oregon grape).

Posted at 4:32 PM | Comments Off on Yellow flower day

I spent today showing myself? the world? that I can “do stuff” on my feet for quite a while without The Foot becoming…exhausted? intolerant? tired?

Really, this is a bit of a breakthrough.

Posted at 9:27 PM | Comments Off on A-foot. Without irony.

The heart-shaped leaves of this wall-vine caught my eye. They are small, less than 1.5 inches across.

I also noticed how persistent this weed(?) must be to survive in this sidewalk fissure. Its fronds are petite and delicately serrated-lacy.

The last two days when I’ve been out, I’ve concentrated very hard nearly every walk-step on “motating” with the best gait possible. I can report huge progress on the quality angle…if I go slowly enough, and sometimes if I carefully and slightly overemphasize the heel strike, I think my gait must seem slow-but-normal to anyone watching*. Yay! 😎

* Nothing creepy implied or suggested.

Posted at 7:06 PM | Comments Off on Steep and step-step

We went to O4W Park for our steps-and-flights today. Those two big cranes are attending the apartments-and-Kroger construction I mentioned on the 25th. I wonder how close this neighborhood is to housing saturation, with all these new apartment buildings opening.

Scotch broom bloom. Say it three times fast, I dare ya!

Posted at 7:35 PM | Comments Off on Overcast can be…okay