This content uses referral links. Read our disclosure policy for more info. This means if you make a purchase, I get a little change to keep up my Diet Coke habit. It’s a win/win.
1.
I just discovered that Ain’t the Lyceum is no longer going to host the 7-Quick Takes. Kelly isn’t gonna pass on the mantle either. It’s over.
I was a little surprised and wondered why I didn’t realize this last week … Oh yes. Because I was crawling on my hands and knees on a hiking trail after my knee gave out. That must be why I missed it!
I’ll start at the beginning.
Two months ago, my son Sam got married. And I did what every mom hopes to do – I danced at my son’s wedding! And I danced a lot, especially the line dances. But the outdoor moveable dance floor on a slight incline did not agree with anatomy. The next day, my right leg … formerly known as my good leg, was achy and tight. It was even painful. I rested it for about two weeks and continued to walk and work out on my elliptical. The discomfort came and went, but it never got completely better. I even saw my doctor about it, and he diagnosed hamstring strain.
Last week, it felt good enough that I started on the homeschool hike with my granddaughter and daughter. We started going down a slight incline and I realized, that maybe my knee was feeling funny after all and I should just go back to the car. So I let the girls go on without me and I headed back to the car.
But just as I made it to the top of a slight incline, I felt a sharp shooting pain in the back of my knee. It was definitely a 10 on the pain scale. I heard myself let out a guttural sound as I fell forward, spread eagle, flat on my face in the dirt. I’m sure it wasn’t a pretty sight.
I stood up and thought I could just walk it off. What I quickly discovered is that you need two legs to be able to walk anything off. I couldn’t put any weight on my right leg. I devised a system where I took a couple of deep breaths and then hobble-hopped as quickly as I could to the nearest tree. Then I gathered up the courage to make it to the next tree or the next sign. I hobbled from tree to tree, profusely sweating, and praying that I would make it to the parking lot before the girls needed me.
I even called Mr. Pete but he was at least 45 minutes away. He kept asking me to try to get to the shelter. “Are you there yet?” he asked.
“I can see it.” He stayed on the phone with me as I made my way down the path.
“Are you there yet?”
“No, but I can still see it.”
It was agony. Eventually, the girls did find me. Rosie took most of my weight on the right side, and Miss C. took a surprising amount on my left. It took about 20 minutes to make what ordinarily would be under a minute.
I did get into urgent care and they gave me some steroids. I saw my own doctor on Monday. There is an MRI in my future. Right now, I’m hobbling around on crutches, trying to get the swelling to go down before then.
2.
I gotta say, Mr. Pete was just wonderful taking care of me. He drove me to urgent care, bought me a shower seat and put it together. He did all of the cooking and cleaning. He even positioned his body in the door frame of our home in such a way so that I could sit on his lap and swivel my legs into the house! I don’t think he’s carried my body weight over a threshold since we got married decades ago. It wasn’t romantic in a sweeping Gone With the Wind kind of way, but sweet – in a Notebook kind of way.
3.
I am FINALLY starting to get some playing gigs with my flute and I have sorely missed it.
At my church, there was a big turnover in the music department during COVID and there is a new guy in charge of the music at the mass I played for. When it comes to COVID, he is extremely cautious. So I was never invited to come back and play with my flute, the potential COVID spreader.
I mean … I understand. It’s an aerosolized virus that can be deadly to some people. People are scared. But I would walk into mass and there would be a much younger woman, soloing on a violin about six feet from the rest of the music group and she’d be masked.
As time went on, it became clear that he just isn’t going to ask me to play. Ever. Because Covid is not going away. Ever.
I now attend a different mass with my sister because I don’t need to have my heart pierced every week with that reminder.
But I did play at a mass in another parish over the summer. I’ve played for a memorial service that a hospice sponsored, and today I even played for a Veteran’s Day Celebration. Next month, I will be a ringer in a children’s band in the flute section, though I seriously doubt I’m fooling anyone. I’m more there just for support. I will also be playing for midnight mass with another director.
So it’s happening. Just very slowly.
4.
I did turn down a gig though. A church wanted me to play with a mask on. Believe it or not, there is such a thing. It goes around the head of the player and kind of enfolds the flute as well as the face of the player.
It would be like playing in a pillowcase.
When I play in a big space, I want to hear a big sound. It’s part of the joy of flute playing. And if that’s not what they want, then I’m not the right person for that gig.
I was thinking about offering to take two covid tests before that gig, one for the rehearsal and one for the actual performance, but these tests are $23 each, and I can’t afford to pay money for a volunteer job. So, yeah. I declined.
5.
Trips to the cemetery for the plenary indulgence for the dead were extended once again this year through the month of November. This is because of COVID.
I wonder why that’s a factor? I have been to the cemetery multiple times this month and I have yet to see a big crowd spreading disease around. And I haven’t read a single story about praying for the dead in a cemetery being a superspreader event.
But it does give us more days and since my leg did sidetrack me a bit, I’m happy to have the opportunity to get out there more.
What I’ve been doing is finding a pretty spot in a local cemetery and then sitting there quietly with my rosary. Then as I pray a decade, I wait for the name or memory of one of my beloved dead relatives or friends to come to me. Then I pray for the soul or souls of those folks.
Mr. Pete and I have been especially inspired this month to do this after viewing the film Purgatory earlier this month.
5.
Next week is the official end of our cross country season with the annual banquet.
I’m not going.
They broke my girl.
And I. just. can’t.
6.
Today is the feast of St. Josaphat, a saint who was not the poster boy for ecumenism.
7.
For my 18th Blog anniversary, I treated myself to the Sticky Blogging Course. When I started out on Blogger in 2003, there were no courses or instructions on how to blog or what to blog or any of that stuff. So I thought after all of this time, I’d really like to learn more about my craft that I have dedicated so much effort to. I’ll have more on that later when I complete the course in a week or two.
