Friday, October 19, 2007

Blustery Fall Day

Ahh! I need an efficient voice recognition software that works or some device to download my brain into a word processing program that will type my thoughts for me. I just cannot keep up with typing/writing the thoughts in my mind.

So once again I will cheat you of all the things I have conjured up and wanted to write about and just give you a synopsis of the day.

Today (Thursday)

Woke up at 9 am, worked on the computer doing lots of communication and organizing of various sources

By the time noon rolled around I was utterly exhausted!
Not ready to eat lunch yet I decided to move onto the next task which is my normal duty of sorting through the mail. HOWEVER........there was not just one day's worth of mail to sort out. It was a heaping pile of a couple weeks worth (maybe more). Of course I had pulled out any cards or medical records for me during those days but the rest I just let pile up. Hence there was a huge pile to sort out of junkmail, ads, bills, nonbill items, account statements, informational stuff, etc. What would normally take me 10 or 15 minutes took me an hour! It was incredibly daunting to sort it and decide what goes and what should stay and what goes in what inbox in the office. Even opening the envelopes was physically exhausting as my arm and chest muscles have succumbed to weakness. Several times I had to lie down from my sitting position on the floor to take a break. Finally, by 1 pm I was finished and rewarded myself with some lunch and soon fell fast asleep for a much needed afternoon nap.

The resting this afternoon really seemed to do me some good as I awoke and the tenderness in my left ear seemed to pass and I did not feel so weak. Honestly, had I felt the same after the nap I would have really had to force myself to get dressed and go for a walk.

Taking an evening stroll (5:15 pm) proved more suitable as the rain subsided and the strong winds which knocked down several branches and even some trees that Harley heard fall lightened up. The deck was absolutely littered a rust orange color with fallen leaves, cedar brush, and helicopter seeds.

Although there was a blustery fall wind in the open fields at the start of the trail, we were protected by the trees for the remainder. It was good that I walked later as there were several large fallen branches across our route from the wind storm earlier in the day. At the time I left the house the wind had died down but if there was wind at the trail I had the dogs to alert me of any falling trees.

This evening was my first time driving by myself any distance over a mile since before the surgery and before I went to Oregon (over a month). I was given the ok to do this from both my neuro-ophthalmalogist and from my physician's (surgeon's) assistant at my follow-up appointment this week. Driving slowly on the country roads by my house to the trail in Carnation seemed fine which is roughly 6 miles. I have a bit of nystagmus problem so looking left and right was hard (my vision is more disoriented on the right). Therefore, when reached the main road through Carnation I had to wait until there were no headlights that I could see from cars coming or I had to take the opportunity to go when they were very far away (no quick peeling out sort of thing). That was during daytime driving.

Once it turns dark is another story. After the walk of course it started to rain and then rained very hard. It also became dark during the time I drove to the post office. Thus, it was much more challenging driving home. The whole way I probably averaged about 25 or 20 miles an hour as the rained distorted the oncoming headlights which caused a glare in my eyes. Further, my right eye flared up and became irritated the entire way causing me to pull over and take a rest near the Nestle Farm. After a short rest I headed back onto the road and some fool decided to flash their brights as they were a car length from me in the oncoming direction! Good thing I was driving slow as I nearly had to bring the truck to a halt! Thank goodness I was almost home! To say the least it was a tense drive home. I cannot be driving around with a sore and irritated eye. It was fine going there but acted up on the return trip. I decided I will not be driving at night for awhile either.

Now that I complained about the driving, I will mention to you how fabulous my walk was. I just love going there! It is this portion of the trail I call my "magic" or "healing" trail. It is magic as there are magical things that happen to me there and are only meant for me. It is healing as it is a place of refuge I come to be with my dogs and nature. I have walked this trail throughout the past 4 years and it has healed me. It is there I talk to God, think, reflect, observe the beauty of what God has made, feel the breezes and rain on my face, witness rainbows and rain falling like diamonds in the sun's rays, I have been blessed by the presence of wildlife, and inhaled the scents of each season and fresh country air into my soul. I am so grateful to have this place....a place to retreat and be alive. There are times I forced myself to go for a walk where I started and did not think I could continue without slumping to the ground in fatigue. By the end of my outing I ended up running. The trail is living and provides for me rejuvination.

If you would like to visit my "magic healing" trail, photos of it from last fall can be found on my other blog at
http://360.yahoo.com/bluediverbeck
From the main page look under the photos (click on the down arrow in the white box above the photo) for the album titled "Snoqualmie Valley Trail". Select that title from the menu that appears and click on "View Photos" to see a slide show.
Note: I just got a message that yahoo photos is now closed. Boy yahoo is really going down hill. Therefore, you unfortunately cannot view them anymore and I have to find a new photo host. Sorry about that. I will let you know when I find an alternative.

Tomorrow maybe I will tell you about my incision and show you the photo if I can figure out how to get the photos to download. I was having a problem downloading them a couple weeks ago and then I misplaced my camera which really made me lament. Wednesday I found it again in a purse I had used two weeks ago but had not since so I did not think to look in there. It TOTALLY rocked and made my day to find it again!
Today had me back to taking a few photos again. Hopefully I can figure out the problem so I can share some pictures with you. It has been over a month!!!!!!

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