Long time coming, Long time gone...


"What I did on my summer vacation." Well, a little of it.

I know. It's been six weeks since I have posted a blog entry, and it was six weeks before that.

Summer was a little hard on me, since it was so much hotter and muggier this year than it's been in all the years I've been in Rochester. With that, and problems with my feet (one an issue I had surgery for way back last November, and not only did the surgery not work, it made the situation worse), which meant I couldn't do my usual two-mile walk, which meant more all-over body pain, more fatigue, and worst of all, a brain that "froze" up ...

Well, I'm back. I'm riding my bike daily now, thanks to milder temperatures. Bike riding allows me to get real exercise without putting stress on my feet. My plan now is to go for an hour every day, weather permitting. I've worked my way up from a half hour.

It's amazing what exercise like that can do. I have more energy, and even though I am waking up with pain, I am sleeping better. So I just have to get myself moving in the morning.

So much to write about.

Yes, Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath. When I first saw the news, all I could do was hold my head in my hands and cry. Although relief efforts have finally begun in earnest, the number of people who died and suffered needlessly is beyond comprehension. Sometimes I just have to stop watching the news.

I made a small donation to the American Friends Service Committee crisis relief services. I would have given more, but I don't get a paycheck from Aug. 26 through Oct. 21. So I will have to wait until then. What I can offer in money seems so small to me. But at least it's something.

I had a lovely trip visiting my daughter and grandkids in Madison, and my friend Sandy in St. Paul, around the first week of August. Unfortunately the end of the trip was punctuated by my tripping on Grand Avenue and spraining my ankle badly.

That's a whole story by itself!

It was the evening before I was to return. I had just gone for a walk like the one I took in June last year. I was on my way back, and musing about the fact that the independent bookstore I had raved about so much in that post was gone, victim of the competition with the big chains. The "little bit of heaven" I had found was no more.

New condominiums and shops were going up, and the sidewalk detoured a bit into the street. I'd managed it the first time through, but on the way back my mind was preoccupied with the loss of the bookstore, and what I might write on my blog about it. And then, suddenly, kaboom. My ankle was giving out on me, caught on a rut in the asphalt. My camera hit the ground before I did, and I was worried about that. And then I realized my ankle was badly sprained.

Luckily Minnesotans are a kind lot, and a couple came up to me to make sure I was all right. First they were going to get me some place where I could make a phone call (neither they nor I had a cell). Well, that would have been fine, except that not only did I not have a phone, I didn't have any phone numbers. Somehow the piece of paper I had with all essential phone numbers had gotten removed from my purse (I carry a VERY small one!). And my friend Sandy...well, her number is unlisted. The man gave me a ride back to Sandy's place...and then he had to go down the stairs to her basement apartment (no way could I negotiate that!) and bang on her door (she is hard of hearing) and shout that her friend Georgia was hurt. Of course, that scared her!

Well I eventually made it to an urgent care center, got x-rayed, got crutches and a great big boot for my ankle, and then had to prepare for my flight home the next day.

That was an adventure, too. Waves and waves and waves of pain. I got wheelchair service, of course. Or I never would have made it. Got caught up in security, too, because they found a trace of glycerine on my boot (they have special security searches for the handicapped), and spent some time with them while they tracked all sorts of information to make sure I wasn't a terrorist.

Still, the hassle I had to go through (which seemed big at the time), is teeny compared to what those people on the Gulf Coast have been through. Can't complain. Really.

I've been thinking a lot about how in Rochester we have lots of bad weather, but it almost never knocks houses down. An occasional powerful windstorm (like one that knocked down a power line in my backyard, back when I lived in the 19th ward). The ice storm of '91, that knocked power out -- for some folks for weeks -- and downed trees, some of which fell into houses.

But unless you get caught out in the bitter cold without protection, chances are excellent you will survive even the worst of Rochester's weather.

And right now, our weather is positively gorgeous. Mid-70s to low 80s, generally low humidity. Blue skies with occasional rain (actually, we need more rain!). The best bike-riding weather you can imagine.

And my glads bloomed. Finally, at the end of August.




Yes, I am feeling very blessed!

Posted: Fri - September 9, 2005 at 09:07 PM          

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