~about blogging and vanity~

Good morning from here where we are in south western Colorado where the sun is just waking up and deciding that this new day should begin.  It's a Saturday, already the 7th day of the month of June.  Seems like only yesterday that I said good-bye to "the 18" and the way time is flying by it won't take long for the summer to end and school to begin again.  So the old saying, to "make every day count for something good", would be a wise one to follow.  Life goes on regardless of the things that happen to us, be they bad or good.  This is the day we have been given. What shall we make of it?

Each day I try to write, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot.  It really depends on what is on my mind.  Many people have asked of me how it is that I even find time to write and the answer is always plain and simple.  If something is important enough to you, somehow or another you will find the time for it.  I love to write in the very early morning hours as the day begins, when the house is quiet and nothing else is waiting for me to meet it. There are times when several days go by and there seems to be nothing in life that would warrant my thoughts of it.  Shoot, there are even some days when I sit down at the computer and pound on the keys for a few moments only to realize that it is not time to tell the story that I thought was waiting for me that day.  When it is time to write, I know it.  Ten years ago, I had never heard the term "blogger", and now I guess I am one :)

One of the benefits of blogging is that if you choose to do it on a regular basis for any length of time, the end result is a pretty decent record of what your life has been like.  Online diaries, such as this one, are a written record of the way that things have gone.  Sometimes I have to smile as I go back and reread some of the more than 700 posts I have made since this blog's inception in May of 2011.  This morning I was perusing through some of the ones that I made in August of that year, ones written shortly after my cycling accident on that August 4th. 

It was written in all capital letters, mostly because dear "old lefty" was encased in one of the longest exoskeletons ever created by a doctor anywhere and of necessity I did all of my typing one-handed for many months.  That particular day, I found it much easier to just put the old "cap lock" key on and type away.  It wasn't easy to keep writing but I wanted to, NEEDED to for my own sake as I waited on the healing process to begin.  The post from that August morning now nearly 3 years ago was on the subject of "vanity" and how I learned simply by breaking the bones in my left arm to smithereens and back just how vain I had been in life.  You know I always said that having that accident, making that stupid split-second decision to jump the curb on my bike in front of my own house that morning, was the very best thing that could have ever happened to me in this life of mine.  I still stand by that statement and every once in a while I like to revisit and reread the account of how I made it through the long 9 months that were to follow.   I'm reposting it below for you to read, if you would care to do so. 

We learn about life in our own different ways, in our places in time.  Through lots of trials and challenges, I've found writing to be a greater method of healing than any other remedy.  It's free, the only cost is a little bit of time each day.  May you, my dear friends and family, be well this day.  I think of you always and know that I carry you close in my heart all the while. 


From August 15th, 2011
"Lessons in Vanity"

LESSONS IN VANITY

TO LOOK AT MY TOWEL CLOSET THIS MORNING, YOU'D NEVER KNOW IT WAS ONCE ORGANIZED.  USED TO BE, BACK IN THE " GOOD OLD DAYS"  OF TWO WEEKS AGO, EVERY TOWEL AND WASHCLOTH WAS MATCHED BY COLOR, WHETHER IT WAS SOLID OR STRIPE, AND FOLDED WITH CREASES THAT WOULD MAKE MY SAINTED GRANDMOTHER BROWN SMILE.  IT WAS THE KIND OF TOWEL CLOSET TO BE PROUD OF, ONE THAT YOU HOPED A GUEST WOULD ACCIDENTALLY  OPEN AND SAY, "OH MY WORD, WISH MY TOWEL CLOSET LOOKED LIKE THAT!"  NOT ANYMORE....

I HAVE LEARNED A THOUSAND LESSONS SINCE MY ACCIDENT AND PERHAPS AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT WAS HOW MUCH TIME I MUST HAVE SPENT ON STUPID LITTLE TASKS JUST LIKE THE TOWEL CLOSET.  AND FOR WHAT?  TALK ABOUT TIME WASTED...

 AND THERE'S MORE...

I'VE LEARNED THAT  WHEN YOU LOSE THE USE OF ONE BODY PART, YOU CAN USE ANY BODY PART LEFT THAT IS WILLING AND ABLE TO STEP UP AND DO THE JOB.  YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED AT HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS YOU CAN USE YOUR TEETH, MOUTH, ELBOWS, KNEES, AND FEET.

  UNLOCKING THE DOOR TO MY PICKUP YESTERDAY INVOLVED USING MOST OF THOSE BODY PARTS HERETOFORE MENTIONED.  FOR A SPLIT SECOND, I WONDERED HOW RIDICULOUS IT MIGHT LOOK TO  MY NEIGHBORS BUT THAT SOON PASSED AS I SUCCESSFULLY TURNED THE KEY.

 ANY OF US OUT THERE CAN DO ANYTHING THAT WE NEED TO, ANYTIME!  I NOW UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF THE OLD-SAYING, "NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION."

I'VE LEARNED TO DRESS MYSELF ONE-HANDED...NOT MUCH FUN, BUT DO-ABLE.  WITH A SHOWER CHAIR, I CAN SAFELY BATHE, WHICH BEATS SPONGE BATHS ANY DAY!  AND JUST BECAUSE I USE A SHOWER CHAIR, DOESN'T MEAN I AM READY FOR A RETIREMENT HOME--IT ONLY MEANS THAT FOR RIGHT NOW, I DON'T WANT ANY MORE BROKEN BONES.  BEFORE TWO WEEKS AGO, I ASSOCIATED SHOWER CHAIRS WITH HOVEROUNDS (THEY LOOK FUN) AND DENTURE CREAMS.  I WAS VAIN ABOUT STUFF LIKE THAT AND IT WAS STUPID ON MY PART.  THANKING GOD FOR THE "WAKE-UP" CALL.

SOMETIMES  I HAVE LOOKED AT HOW CROOKED THE FINGERS OF MY LEFT HAND ARE NOW, REMORSEFUL THAT THEY MIGHT NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.  ONE MORE LESSON IN HOW VAIN I HAD BECOME--AT LEAST I STILL HAVE ALL 5 OF THEM ATTACHED TO A HAND.  ASK ANYONE WHO HAS LOST A HAND FOR ANY NUMBER OF REASONS AND I'M GUESSING THEY'D BE THINKING THAT CROOKED FINGERS WOULD BE JUST FINE FOR THEM.  I HAVE A LOT YET TO LEARN IN THIS LIFE,

I SURVIVED MY FIRST DAY BACK AT SCHOOL-EVERYONE WAS KIND AND HELPFUL TO ME.  I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.  WHEN THIS IS FINALLY OVER, I'LL BE HAPPILY PAYING FORWARD ON THE BEHALF OF A LOT OF GOOD FOLKS THAT I KNOW...AND EVEN SOME THAT I DON'T KNOW.

OH AND ONE  LAST THING, THAT WHOLE DEBATE ABOUT WHICH WAY THE TOILET PAPER SHOULD GO ON THE HOLDER?  THAT ARGUMENT IS TERRIBLY OVER-RATED!  HAVE A GREAT WEEK FRIENDS AND DO SOMETHING GOOD FOR YOURSELF-YOU DESERVE IT!

ME WITH "ELEANOR" ON THE FIRST DAY OF WORK-AUGUST 15, 2011