January 30 2011, Sunday

An early morning observation, if you only have one foot, you only have one set of toenails, so cutting toenails takes just half as much time. Gifts come in the strangest ways.

Yesterday was an absolutely do nothing day for me - and I'm working at thinking that was okay. I awoke at 6 am and picked up the book I was reading Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Sumer. (My book club is discussing it this coming Thursday). I didn't get out of bed until I finished it, not even to feed the dogs. Got up ad 12:45, but on some flannel clothes, fed the dogs, checked e-mail and sat down in front of the TV. Never do I do this. I watched two John Wayne western movies, fed myself and the dogs modestly in between the movies, and then went back to bed (by now it is 8 pm and dark and dreary out). Picked up another book , The Inside of a Dog, and was aslepp by 9 o'clock. What a weird day this was for me. Can't do this again for a long time.

The day before was really busy with two stints at the gym and snow shoveling. Perhaps that was what it was about. That level of work out had the nerves in the limb really talking to me - and that is not a comfortable conversation.

And now for another busy - and fun - day. Off to the 9:30 church service - lunch and the theater (Carousel) with grand daughter, AliBeth, then to dinner with friends. And tomorrow, I simply can't pull another lazy day because it is full too.

Send out good thoughts to the universe for sunshine.

January 20, 2011

Not blogging very much anymore, am I? I used the blog as a way to tell my friends what was going on with the leg amputation process and learning to walk with a prothesis. It also helped me ponder and diary this difficult time for myself. And now that I am back to living my daily life without that being my major preoccupation, I have neglected this thinking, record keeping and communication strategy. And maybe that's okay. There are things I could certainly write about because life is always interesting and often comical. It's just that it's not the stuff of high drama that having a leg cut off represents. So - here's the haiku (not quite)

Do I keep blogging?

Do I use facebook instead?

Decisions decisions.

I do put an occasional entry on facebook. It's a medium that supports cryptic messages, in other words, quick and dirty. And because I visit facebook daily to check on the status of my daughter and grandchildren in Cape Town, it's easy to drop a quick message there. Blogging requires a bit more thought, and for me, more time. And there are a lot of stories to tell, if I elect to take the time to tell them, and if I had any idea if any one wanted to read them. For example:

I am now in Champaign-Urbana and getting here from Pittsburgh was a 27 hour adventure by plane and then bus. Bags arrived three days later. American Airlines paid me money for the inconvenience. Struggled with hotel about rooms with walk-in showers. This summary does not tell the story and it would take a while.

Do I tell stories about the trip to South Africa - Kruger National Park, Robbens Island with a prior political prisoner (personal tour), the townships, the glorious landscape, being with family? Multiple stories here to tell.

Then there is the story about the wound on my head. (Oh, also the one about falling getting out of bed in South Africa because I was half asleep and forgot I didn't have a leg). But back to the wound on my head. Could it be African Sleeping Sickness? Was I gonna be dead soon? (Answer is no, but question was asked and I lived with it for a couple of days).

Another blog opportunity - what's next for me? I am pondering whether I want to continue to live in my house. Probably not. Then what do I want to do, how do I want to live instead? And can I part with some of the beautiful stuff that I have surrounded myself with if I decide to live smaller?

Lots of stuff. Shall I take the time to write it down? If I only write occasionally is that enough? Do I need a more deliberate practice of putting my thoughts into words? Is a blog the right format?

So, I am thinking in this electronic media instead of in a paper diary.

And now, because I have an evening to myself in a lovely hotel in Champaign, IL, I'm going to see if there is a movie on TV.