Sweating It Out

October 12 and it's 81 degrees, hot, and sunny. I'm sweating indoors and out. Oh, will this interminable heat never let go? I long for crisp cool and leaves underfoot.

I Know It's Out There Somewhere

I know it's out there somewhere, the ocean, that is. Water surrounds me, and yet it has been three weeks since I have seen the ocean... counting one week approaching shoulder surgery and two weeks since. I miss it.
I can feel the breeze here and sometimes I think I can smell the ocean, but I look at the line of trees around my yard, and it seems so far away. I like to go down to the beach at different times of day to walk, swim, or just sit. Something wonderful always waits to be seen down there... sometimes just the color of light on the clouds. Even driving across the high Emerald Isle bridge is thrilling - oh, especially when the big moon is hanging over the island.

I'm surprised how easy it is to become indifferent to the presence of the ocean nearby. How can that happen? I find it rare that anyone wants to go down there with me. My good neighbor lived on Emerald Isle for a year, and never went down to the beach once. My husband seems to feel that it is just too much trouble. I have met people who haven't been in years.

I've not yet lost the sense of wonder and refreshment I get from the beach. The ocean defines every aspect of life here. If you don't go down there and immerse yourself in the beach and literally in the ocean, what is the point?

Want to go? I'm looking for a ride.

Left-handed Point of View or A Life Closely Examined

Status post rotator cuff surgery: one week ago today, to the hour. I told myself I'd find plenty of things to keep busy during the six weeks my RIGHT arm is in a sling, and I'm forbidden to drive. I told myself I wouldn't get depressed and I would find ways to exercise and improve my mind during my confinement. 

This morning, after a week, I can say, "My God, what do you mean it's only been a week!!"

Life with my dominant hand in a sling has brought new meaning to the question, "What can I do today?" First it has become a literal question. Never mind lofty goals, I'm talking about the basics: eating, bathing, getting dressed. Man, I can't lift my right shoulder, so like deodorant under either arm is a major task.

And, food, anything that requires using a fork or spoon  means a change of clothes afterward. I can stab at small chunks of food with a fork, but I have absolutely no finesse, and soup with a spoon is a drippy affair with little nutrition making it as far as my mouth. Consequently, peas, lettuce, and rice have become finger foods. Unfortunately, potato chips are as easy as ever.

Personal hygiene? I'll spare you. No wonder my husband is sleeping in the spare room and looked happy to be going back to work.

Activities I can do: Reading, yes I have a lot of books. Holding them with one hand is a trick, and it's hard to position them so that I can assist with my right hand. I tend to quit after 30 minutes from physical fatigue.
Hmm, write the great American novel with one hand. Well, I've been venturing out on my computer, and at the rate of production and mistakes I'm making, I'll have to amend that to be write the great American sentence. Read my car manual: Snore. Housework: let's see laundry, make the bed, fold clothes, wipe off the counters - do you have any idea how long this takes with one hand? Not to mention tiring.

I'm kind of exaggerating. Why I've done 10 different things already today, and in only two hours it will be lunch time. Status post rotator cuff repair: among the noticeable side effects: cabin fever. Well, it's only five more weeks.....  at last I will have the opportunity to discover what those housewives are so desperate about. Coming to you live from the Rubber Room of a facility near you, I am.