It's Blog Catch Up Day (at least in mid coast Maine)

Once again, more than 2 months have passed since my last post.  I am not sure why it has been harder lately to keep up here, but I might guess it has something to do with ... pain.

After the last post - which I see was on December 18 - David and I volunteered with many others at the Community Christmas Dinner.  It was good, a bit chaotic.  I think we fed 130-40 people.  But the result for me personally was severe hip pain from standing too long.  I should have known better.  I DID know better; standing in one place has always been the hardest thing for me, hard on my back, hard on my arthritic hips.  In fact on Christmas day I did spend some time sitting in the kitchen on a stool that one of the other volunteers had brought.  But not enough I guess.  At any rate, I ended up in severe pain, tried to handle it with Advil and ended up at the doctor's and then the orthopedist's in early February.  Now I'm on heavy duty NSAID prescription drugs, my only choice apparently other than going to the hospital radiology department for cortisone injections.

It's interesting what chronic pain does to you.  Before I began the prescription NSAID, the pain ranged from fair discomfort most of the time to severe (tears in your eyes) pain on occasion.  It was hard to see how I could keep going like that.  The orthopedist took x-rays, which showed no cartilage left in my right hip - which is the one that hurts.  Anyway, I'm on the NSAID for now, hoping to wean myself off it at some point fairly soon and get by without drugs.  I'd like to postpone the cortisone injections as long as possible, since those are the last option before hip replacement, and I do not see myself doing that right now.

I'd like to say ... enough about aches and pains, but one more thing to report - good, this time:  David has successfully had cataract surgery on both eyes and never were the words of Amazing Grace more true:  "Was blind! Now I see!"  He says he is seeing everything - distance, close up, colors, everything - in a way he hasn't for years, maybe decades!  I'm glad for him.  Now between us we have two good eyes and that means he can drive at night, now.  (He says he probably shouldn't have been driving at all, at any time of day, for some time!  Scary thought - wonder how many other old folks are out there driving when they shouldn't?  Wait, don't look at me!)  My cataract surgery was postponed - our surgeon had to have surgery, not on his eyes, but on his shoulder - and is now scheduled for early April.

David and I went to Augusta to the Women's March on Maine on the day following the inauguration of the 45th president.  (I brought a chair, and was able to sit during much of the rally, which was - to the credit of the organizers - short and to the point.)  It was good to be there, good to take a stand among do many others.  The crowd in Augusta was estimated at 5,000-10,000 - I'd say 6,000. Similar size or larger rally in Portland, ME and so very many other places, including huge crowds in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.!  (Unfortunately none of the photos I took show the size of the crowd!)

Meanwhile, we seem to have turned the corner from winter toward spring, even though it was 29F this morning.  It is now 39F and beautifully sunny.  We had had 5 or 6 snow storms in a 2 week period, and the snow really piled up:

Back porch during next-to-last storm

After storm on my afternoon walk with Ella

Jordan, the young Congolese man whose family David and I have gotten to know, asked me if there would be more snow like that this year.  I told him not likely.  I asked if he liked the snow - not so much, was his answer.  However, several of his young siblings and his children had the opportunity to try skiing and even snowboarding, so their answers might be different:

Now most of it has melted away.  Our compost bin and Adirondack chairs are again visible.  I don't have to to walk the through knee high snow to fill the bird feeders.   But we are on our way to Maine's mud season.  If you're not familiar with that, it's truly something to behold.  But I may be jumping the gun ... we could still have more snow, and night time temps are supposed to be in the 20's.  Still, it FEELS like spring is around the corner.  The raised bed has poked out of the melting snow, causing visions of tomatoes and collard greens to dance in my head.

I'm going to end with two self-portraits.  First, one drawn by my grandson, Cello:

Finally, a "selfie" I took this morning on my walk with Ella.  I'm posting it so I can get used to seeing my wrinkles, which are so obvious in this photo.  David tells me that after my cataract surgery, I'll see myself in a whole new light.  I need to be prepared:

Peace.