After the Fall

 

The View from my chair

This is my world.

Yep, since Wednesday, January 15, I've been on crutches. I spend a lot of time sitting in a recliner in the great room. 

That big painting on the west wall is an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico (acrylic on canvas). It is one of my brother Matt's last paintings after he retired from captaining a crew boat. Following his death last summer, I brought it to my home from his home near the Texas gulf coast. 

He also painted the one on the north wall (to the right). In the late 1960s while he was studying at Central State College (now the University of Central Oklahoma) a classroom assignment was to paint something in the style of a famous artist. Here it is, oil on canvas, titled "Van Gogh Oil, Well." (said with a pause after "oil." He had a great sense of humor.) 

Above the TV you can see my husband's decorative metal work of an Eagle soaring above the Rocky Mountains.

                             

And a bookshelf with some of my treasures and books -- teapots I've been gifted over the years, a salt and pepper set by my son John Hill the potter, Mardi Gras memorabilia, and grandbabies' toys. There behind me on the east wall is Matt's "Logan County Unicorn" (acrylic on canvas).

Add to these, my daughter's craft work and her husband's photography and I have a very pleasant environment in which to think and read. I especially appreciate it during this extended period of time when not much else is available to me -- no walking and going to coffee, no driving, no exercise classes, not even much in the way of household chores.

That Wednesday evening, a week and a day ago, I fell coming out of my office. Tripped on the cat's scratching box. Yep, Kočka, that bad cat I've posted about before.

Scared me. At my age, falling is a serious no-no. I've had both knees repaced, and I was really afraid I had messed up the left one. Being able to go up and down the stairs, left right left right, to the laundry room in the basement is a big deal. A very big deal. Just sayin'.

My husband Scott helped me up and I got to the couch just fine, but within an hour, there was a lot of  swelling and pain and I knew I needed to go to the ER. Scott called 911 and the fire department sent an ambulance and firetruck to my house. Complete with paramedics. (If they roll the ambulance, they roll a firetruck, too. Standard protocol.) So there were five men filling up the great room. They were all big and fit and, of course, good lookin'.

They strapped me onto a "stair chair," told me to cross my arms across my chest, and carried me out the front door, down the front steps, and to our van for the ride to the hospital. It's been a very long time since I was "carried" anywhere. Actually that was the scarriest part of the whole ordeal. But they didn't drop me. They didn't even stumble or groan under my weight. 

At the hospital, they prepared to x-ray my right leg, but I pointed out it was my left leg that was hurt. It took a little while to get the corrected written order. They found no obvious damage to the implant or the bones in my left knee. That was good. But they also did a CT scan of my head. I hit it during the fall, not badly enough to even raise a bump. Still, better to check. I do, however, take exception to the result of the scan of my head -- "unremarkable."

Being house-bound hasn't been much of a hardship. Plenty of time to read because it's been cold and snowy this whole time. And Scott has been feeding me like royalty -- not to mention fetching and carrying. One does not carry a cup of coffee while on crutches. 

Been reading Barbara Kingsolver's High Tide in Tuscon: Essays from Now or Never. I think she is the best writer working in the United States today. Her use of the English language and content is first rate. I've added several books she mentions to my To Read list. 

AND I learned a new word -- allelopathy. It means "the chemical inhibition of one plant (or other organism) by another, due to the release into the environment of substances acting as germination or growth inhibitors." I don't remember ever seeing or hearing that word. Kingsolver has a master's degree in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona, so, of course, she would use it.

Yesterday was yet one more day that the walking group had no walk planned because of the weather --  temp below freezing and windy, snow covered ground. But we did have coffee planned at The Great Harvest Bread Company. Scott dropped me off. They always have good music there. Today, it was Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Heart, etc.  I had a snickerdoodle cookie and coffee.  And Sue and Marchelle were, as always, great company.

Me, Sue, and Marchelle at Great Harvest Bread Store

(and the crutches!)

Maneuvering in snow with the crutches, I was very careful and intentional. And slow. It was great!

And tomorrow is the January meeting of our Books and More Salon. Scott's going to drive me there. 

My life is definitely getting back on the road!