8 March 2024
I figured I would be sore or tired from yesterday’s physical therapy and museum tour but I felt pretty good this morning. I managed 0.6 miles on my morning walk. I’m still frustrated about the foot drop and the weakness in my legs but I know it takes time to replace those muscle and nerve cells.
One of the things I like about walking the neighborhood is meeting neighbors along the way. Just as I rounded the corner of my block I ran into Stacey and Bear (shepherd). We caught up with each other. She’s always volunteered to do anything for me.
Next up was Cy. He’s always watering his yard but I caught him without a hose in his hand today. I hadn’t seen him in a while so it took a little time to catch up with each other.
While on the walk, I met a White Bird of Paradise face-to-face. I mean literally, it was exactly at my head height.
These used to be a lot more common in the neighborhood but they are quite messy with the old leaves. Some people confuse them with Traveler’s Palms, an equally messy plant to have in your yard, also not a palm.
Both plants can get to a pretty good size. I’ve seen Traveler’s Palms reach the height of a two story building.
A very good friend, Robert Nathans used to incorporate White Bird of Paradise in his layered paintings and sketches.
He was quite talented and I have three paintings that use this motif. As the flower gets older, the white tends to yellow somewhat as you can see from his painting above.
Every time I see a White Bird of Paradise, I think of Rob and the good times we had. We volunteered together at Stonewall Library and Archives for several years and we traveled together to New York, Key West and New Orleans. I truly miss him.
Once back from my walk, I finished my half of grapefruit and second cup of coffee (and cheated on the Friday crossword) and I started raking leaves in the side yard near the generator. It looks like it is leaf harvest time.
After getting the leaves raked, I cleaned the pool filter, checked the chemicals in the pool and did a freshwater wash down of the patio. After that, it was my continuous battle with the weeds by spraying the front walks and back brick patio.
Lunch was a PBJ sandwich and then I crawled into bed, read about 30 minutes and then conked out for an hour. I was pretty beat by the time I finished my chores but I still feel good, albeit tired. Even more exciting is there seems to be some change in the neuropathy. There’s a just perceptible relief in the sense of walking on thousands of needles. I haven’t had the severe pain in the past week that I previously experienced. I’m gonna take that as a sign that it might either go away completely or at least become tolerable. Of course, it could be that I’m just becoming accustomed to the neuropathy. I’m not going to go there. I’ll stay positive.
Stay tuned!
