It’s one of those rare summer mornings. The humidity has nearly left and there is a
light cool breeze blowing as I head out to water the vegetables and various
flower and herb containers. It’s how I
start each morning and on occasions like this I stop to rest in the hammock. On today’s wondrous weather occasion I take
even more time there. It’s my meditation and my
stopping to be still and present.
Watching the yellow and purple finches zip back and forth to the feeders
and flowing willow tree clears my mind. The moment that the purple finch hovered
and rested on the hammock just past my toes, may have just made my day.
I love gardening. I love being outside. It’s the time where my mind isn’t focused on
what I can’t do and other than a pinch, light ache or tingle when I do these
light morning chores, my mind and body are at peace. (We won’t discuss the
pains of planting, transplanting, edging and mulching earlier this month –
ouch!)
I close my eyes. There are bees buzzing about the garden
finding the pollinators I’ve just introduced to the garden and their busy work
nearly puts me to sleep. A distant cardinal reminds me that I forgot to fill
his feeder and the sharp chirp of the cedar wax wing sitting in the service
berry tree make me open my eyes to see if any berries remain. All this work going on around me and I’m
quite comfortable nestled into my resting space sipping my coffee from my
favorite mug.
I feel a bit lazy as this time of year I am usually starting
to plan out my fall ideas. Believe me, I’ve
done some sketching, but recent time in the studio proved painful so I fear
starting in on work. I’ve stopped
physical therapy for a while now. My “Dr of Torture” thought it best to take a
break when the work we were doing on my neck gave me too many restless nights, and
the arm hated me for it. Upon my insistence
we made a plan to run some diagnostic tests and I made an appointment with a UNMC
specialist. He is a spine surgeon who
only works on neck issues and because he was a physical therapist first,
surgery is a last option. It took 10
weeks to get into his office, so apparently this well sought man is worth the
wait. So now I wait some more, the
results from my MRI are due soon … I hope for answers. I hope for the possibility to put the pain
behind me and I worry as now there is tingling and weakness on my left
side. Yes, my “good hand” is now angry … and with that thought, I think I may just go back and lie in the hammock for just a bit more.
