When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed

(Four days until the cast comes off.)

Saw a porch decorated with lilacs yesterday. Most likely they were plastic, and more than likely it was an Easter thing, but it reminded me of Lincoln who was shot today. Trees seem a little late to bloom this year; it may be the drought.

I had another crazy dream last night, again involving Jamestown Drive: driving around with a bunch of friends (including the guy who drives me home from work) in Bob W's car, while I was in between eye surgery sessions (that -- earlier -- part was pretty freaky), we saw a woman I work with walking down the street on Jamestown Dr, just by that unoccupied house. We stopped, talked and went with her to her house, which was the Benkes's house, only decorated inside with giant slabs of dark wood, like giant slabs of plywood hangings or something -- she claimed they were part of her new sound system, but they looked like the alien decor from Independence Day. The wood had a weird odor too, first time I can remember odor playing such a distinctive part in a dream... Anyway, we hung out there until I got a call on my phone: I was late for the operation on my other eye. The alarm went off shortly after.

H&R Block for taxes, and then Which Brew (again) were the awake parts of my evening.

Long Day So Far

(Cast comes off in five days.)

Not much to say. I got a phone call from Brian last night: they miss me, but not enough to stop them from having a great time without me... It sounded like they've ridden every day since they got there, some days even doing two rides, and everyone is getting along beautifully. (Brian actually sounded surprised to discover that Greg H is a great person.)

Feeling blue and left out again, I decided that the best thing for me to do after that was to go out, so I called a cab and went to down Which Brew. It was a quiet Wednesday night: a few guys were there, talking mainly fishing, though my presence forced some injury/rehab tales into the mix. (Since I usually come in, put my crutches against a wall and sit at the bar, there were a few people there, who have seen me plenty of times since I got hurt and had no idea that I was hurt or in a cast until last night.)

Says Young James To Red Molly...

(Six days until the cast comes off.)

Listening: Among my birthday presents was Richard Thompson's Rumor and Sigh, which means I now have a copy of "52 Vincent Black Lightning" for my very own. Ahhh... -- and if fate, should break my stride...

Speaking of strides, I went for a walk on Sunday before my parents came up. (Or as my friend at work said, I "went for a limp.") Went down to the hospital, then over and back via Washington Street -- little kids stopping their play to stare agog as I gimped past -- for a total distance of about a mile. Luckily there was a bus stop (with bench) by the hospital, and war memorials (with benches) along the wide, grassy Washington Street median, because my arms had major fatigue. Benches didn't help with the raw spots rubbed into my armpits by the crutches though. Raw spots are just about healed up now, so I may go for another walk tonight.

Dinner last night was the last of the pork tenderloin, with some steamed stringbeans and a bunch of grapes for dessert. Therefore, lunch today is a slice of pepperoni pizza, and one of sausage & peppers.

Ka-boom! Billmon drops the bomb. I sure wish he posted like he used to, ie more frequently.

Someone Likes Looking At My Feet

My Shiny New Toy
Originally uploaded by donXfive.

With 52 individual views (not including my own), this is now the second-most-viewed photo on my Flickr account.

When Meat Goes Bad

Cast comes off one week from today.

Had a major kitchen problem yesterday -- major by my standards anyway: the beef roast I'd put in the fridge (last week) to defrost had gone borderline bad, but also leaked a bunch of blood/juice all over the bottom shelf of my fridge. All sorts of veggies got leaked on (the outside of the bags anyway) so I had a ton of cleanup to do. I cooked that other pork tenderloin while all this was going on, had that with a salad and some broccoli. Looks like I am back under the gun in terms of eating the food before it spoils, since I also had to toss a few bell peppers and some bags of salad (granted, salad goes bad pretty fast) -- the meat I re-froze, to keep it from spoiling in the garbage can before trash day.

In other news, I got to read a translation of that Gospel of Judas they just found. Interesting, but I think the consensus is right: the theological implications are probably pretty small.

Updating Early This Weekend

Just a little catch-up:

Friday night I went out to Which Brew, had dinner and hung out with a few friends.

Saturday I went to the gym, went home and watched the snow, then with the help of Greg's wife Judy I got some shopping & laundry/drycleaning done. I also picked her brain about my short- and medium-term foot prospects (she's a physical therapist, though her experience differs somewhat from the kind of therapy I'll be getting). What she said didn't quite give me the warm fuzzies, but it was good to hear. Basically, I will have quite a bit of trouble with my foot for a while, until tendons re-stretch -- she expects therapy for this to be very painful -- and muscle atrophy will not only affect leg strength, but the atrophy of the little muscles (proprioceptors? -- or whatever she said) will mean problems with balance for a while. When can I start biking and running? She would only say "it depends."

Meantime, my foot feels pretty good, and I've been moving it around a little inside the cast, at least partly to get a jump-start on recovery. I asked her about this too, she said I was probably OK as long as it didn't hurt, but she didn't look enthusiastic. I'm going to do it anyway, since it's the only way to scratch some of the itches under the cast.

Anyway, it was a good productive afternoon -- especially since I'd originally planned to take a nap -- and now I've been the first to see their new boat, and their new kitchen floor. I also got the scoop on flight delays for the Moab trekkers, since Greg called with an update. (I'd talked earlier to Doug & Lori who were driving out: they were making good time, drove through the first night and were in Kansas when I called.)

After that I got two calls: Hans was back in PA for a few days, called to let me know he would be down at Which Brew with his brother, and Joe C said that they would also be down there. Took a taxi, driver told me he'd had a broken ankle once, but the pins broke and they had to re-do it. Gulp! He dropped me at Which Brew with a "good luck!" and I went in, ate dinner, hung out with my friends, deja vu yadda yadda...

Skin: Much better this past week. I've been using that Vaseline Advanced Healing (aka "friggin' liquid wax"), as well as a slightly different bath treatment (it has mineral oil in it, as well as colloidal oatmeal) and a more aggressive use of cortisone cream, and it's been like a miracle cure. Skin's still kind of pinkish-red in areas, but not that inflamed stuff; bleeding has stopped and so has the itching (for the most part). The skincare regimen may have been a big factor, but I think that the rise in temperature and humidity is helping too, and also the extra sunlight and fresh air as I sit on the porch after work.

I'm off to sit on the porch, maybe walk around the block or something, then Mom & Dad are coming up to take me to dinner -- it's my forty-third birthday today!