Thursday

Ok, someone left the fridge door open and turned on a strong turbine.  It was distinctly chilly and very windy today.  His tiny bossiness’ walks were shortened tremendously because I was too cold to stand out.  We were out today doing groceries, (Don driving) and when we got home my entire left side was aflame.  Between my back and my leg, there wasn’t much of me that was not in pain.  I took a nice, hot shower (give thanks for the shower chair!) begged for muscle rub to be applied to my back, iced my leg, and had a cup of tea (and a danish) and am now relaxing.  Jerry spent as much time as he could cuddled up to me or curled on my lap but I’ve now been replaced by Don’s blanket, which Jerry is using as a nest and Don isn’t getting much cover on the sofa.  As you can guess, since he drove to and from the supermarket, that he’s feeling improved over a few weeks ago when he was lying down looking pale and in constant pain.  I’m very grateful for his recovery.

I was reading an article today whose author disclosed that he was a huge fan of maps, and that his earliest memories include a fascination with a large atlas, developing into drawing maps of places he visited or planned to visit.  I like maps myself, but I’m not inclined to draw them or spend hours with an atlas.  I’ve always been an avid reader — something that I’ve noticed with my nieces — and I’d read almost anything that I could get my hands or eyes on, but I do remember being enthralled by the encyclopedia, and my books of myths, legends and fairy tales.  It was a standing joke at school that I’d actually read the encyclopedia (and the dictionary) because I was always enthralled by words.  I also was good at retelling myths to my godchildren when they were young.  It led me to wonder what else people enjoyed as a child that they carried into adulthood.  Over the years, I’ve had a number of interests that varied, some of which I discarded and others that I developed.  There are some of my friends who had fairly singular visions of what they wanted to do with their careers, and they’ve been fortunate to have succeeded in their dreams.  It’s inspiring to me to realize that there are some people who know that they want from childhood.  In my case, like a lot of others, I had a number of possible careers in my mind, but I always wanted to be “a scientist,” from as early as about age 5.  The type of science varied — initially it was archaeology, then palaeontology, then astronomy, then astrophysics, then chemist, then doctor, and finally computers.  I eventually realized that my interest was in problem solving, and the lure of science was how I thought I could do that professionally.  While I didn’t make any world transforming discoveries, I certainly had a lot of enjoyment learning and applying my capabilities to a range of situations.

My niece started a short course in ASL (sign language) and said that it was partly due to my long-ago role as a sign language interpreter for a church group.  She and I have practiced a bit together (video is great, but somewhat limiting) and she asked me when and why did I stop signing.  I said that it coincided with my move to Canada, because I didn’t know where there were deaf activities, and I was trying to establish myself here so it became less important.  She asked me what other things I’d done, and we talked about the activities that I used to do as part of church groups.  I’d done courses to learn how to work with people with severe developmental disabilities.  Our youth group would also arrange to visit bedridden seniors, hospitals and other disadvantaged groups; and we did drama — all things that my niece said she’d never experienced.  She has, though, started volunteering with the SPCA, helping with dogs in the shelter.  She’s very excited about her time there, although she admits that she’s so new that everything seems strange.  This term she said that she’s signed up for a few clubs at school, including choir and the newly-formed cancer society.  I told her that we didn’t have those options when I was in school, so we both have things that weren’t available to us as teenagers!  

I’m going to stop here.  I’m finding it uncomfortable to sit much more, so I’m off to bed.  I hope that you’re all doing well, and I’ll take some meds and try to get some sleep.  Good night!