Right. So, let’s just call it what it is – depression. I suffer from it, like about half of the planet right now. It’s not “writer’s block” as I’ve contended in previous posts because I’ve got a TON of material, know exactly what I want to say, and have had plenty of time in which to write. Between the pandemic and political upheavals it’s as if I have been catatonic. Well, in another sense I have been…
2020 seems to be spilling over into this year with devastating effect. The Capitol riots infuriated me and made me wonder who in their right mind could support the Orange Tyrant. With the inauguration of Biden it seemed we had turned a corner and I felt more at ease than I had during the last four years. Yet, COVID is still taking its toll. I lost another friend this month and have another in the hospital on a ventilator. Over friends have lost family members. There is a vaccine, but its rollout is so slow that I don’t know when it will even be safe to get back to normal.
In December of 2020 I turned 60, and I’m starting to feel it. I keep thinking about my father. He was this age when I knew him as an adult. Obviously there are different life experiences, but I wonder how he would react to certain events in today’s society. It’s an interesting mental exercise.
Part of that feeling every bit of 60 involved a sprained knee and rotator cuff injury. That came after a day of kayaking and flying kites in 20 mph winds. More on that in a bit.
Christmas was the first time we had gotten away from home since the pandemic started. It was the first time Laura had seen Amy in a year. We drove down in time for me to do my solstice sunrise paddling trip. It was windy most days, but I tried to get out as much as I could.
We took trips out to Kissimmee Prairie, Fellsmere Stick Marsh, and up to the Canaveral Seashore.
And we flew kites…lots of kites. When it was too windy to kayak we took the kites to the beach or to one of the local parks. Laura and Amy even started to get the hang of the stunt kites.
We spent Christmas, our anniversary, and New Years in Florida. Santa brought an overabundance of gifts, including a new camera and a couple of new instruments for me.
I did a New Year’s Sunrise paddling trip…
…and we had planned to leave the following day. However, things went awry. I started to get a migraine headache so I took some medicine and lay down for a nap. When I awoke the headache was gone, but I couldn’t move my left arm. My left knee was also swollen and sore. I had hit it, but on what and when, I have no idea. Laura and Amy insisted that I go to the ER, where they declared that I just had a “pinched nerve.”
We delayed our departure for a day and I was happy to let Laura drive back. For about a week after our return I felt helpless. I couldn’t lift anything and I couldn’t even drive. My doctor got me scheduled in for physical therapy and said that it was a rotator cuff injury and not a pinched nerve.
Here it is a month after the injury and after several PT sessions the pain is mostly gone from my shoulder. I have my full range of motion back. My knee is no longer swollen, but hurts like the Dickens. I think I’m finally on the mend.
And with that I’m hoping to get back to exploring and writing. Perhaps this post will be what breaks loose the logjam. We shall see.