It’s embarrassing to see how long it has been since I posted anything. Solstice was a few days ago, greeted by a bit of snow, but the rest of this week has been lovely and warm. I have quite a lot of time on my hands since I slipped on a patch of black ice and shattered my kneecap. It happened on January 8th and I’ve been housebound since then. Reconstructive surgery happened on January 18th and I was sent home with a cast on my left leg, a pair of crutches, and the information that the recovery time for this type of injury is six months! I live on the second floor of a building with no elevator which means that without help, I can’t go out. My son, Ian, and daughter, Romy, have helped me out immeasurably, but they both work full time and live more than an hour away. One or the other of them will always come up to Longmont to take me to doctor appointments. Otherwise,s I have learned to do just about everything myself. Friends have sent thoughtful and generous gifts to cheer me up, some have brought lunch or dinner and stayed for a visit, others have just visited to keep me company. Everyone has offered to help with shopping or errands. I am a lucky woman.
The cast has been replaced by an immobilizing brace but I cannot put any weight on my left leg as I haul myself around with my walker. Turns out, a walker allows me to use both hands when I have to do something like, cook, clean, wash, move things around, etc, whereas crutches fall down the second I let go so I can’t really do anything with my hands. I wasn’t able to shower until this week and I am in desperate need of a haircut. But, I’m managing pretty well considering. I have started physical therapy primarily to get my stiff and swollen knee to bend – It’s a work in progress.
I’ve been inspired to start blogging again by the song of the house finch. They are the first birds to sing at sunrise, one bird starts the chorus then others will join in. Right now, the males are gaining their red heads and breasts as they get ready for breeding season. They sing a lovely, complex song that always sounds to me like it ends with a question like ‘what did you dream about last night’? or ‘know of any good grubs nearby’?
Yesterday was 75 degrees so I ventured out onto my balcony and was greeted by a male house finch singing his little heart out, and by the pair of bald eagles that nest in a tree near Mcintosh Lake across the street from me. They like to perch on a big power pole just to the west of my balcony where I can see them clearly. I watched them last year as they nested, fished the lake, hunted the fields and raised two youngsters.
The only other birds I see regularly in the giant Colorado blue spruce on the east side of my balcony are a pair of Eurasian collared doves and some black-capped chickadees. I haven’t been birding since I fell and will probably miss welcoming the spring migrants as they return this year. Really, all I can see from my apartment beside the blue spruce is another apartment building and part of the parking lot – no real inspiration for painting. I paint from life and the lack of real nature to inspire me has put a hold on the production of the 2023 calendar. Never fear though, I’ll paint like a mad woman once I’m through this bondage.
