a quiet joy

As some of you may already know, I like trying new kinds of food. I'm willing try almost anything once, as long as it's not moving. The picture above is of something I picked up for two bucks in Chinatown recently on a whim; it just looked way too interesting even though I had no idea what it was.

Turns out that the leafy wrapping contained a mushy bean paste of some kind. It tasted OK, but made my throat feel a bit funny (funny as a mild allergic reaction) so I only ate one of them. Still worth trying, though.

Had a great run today after my physiotherapy appointment, the longest run I've had since this whole tendinitis thing started. Partway through, the sun came out. Shortly after, I smelled the most wonderful fragrance...after the long winter, it took me a few seconds to recognize the smell of freshly mown grass. Looked around and sure enough, there was a guy on a lawn mower machine chugging across a nearby lawn.

Physiotherapy is going well, by the way, and my arms are getting stronger each day. I'm lifting weights again...tiny baby weights, yes, but at least they're weights! My physiotherapist also has me working on a weight machine and doing a modified sort of straight-legged pushup without the pushing up part: just holding myself in the push-up position for as long as I can. Couldn't do this at all at first; then my arm muscles inevitably started shaking like crazy after only a few seconds. Now I'm up to about 15 seconds before the shaking starts. Doesn't sound impressive, but then I remind myself I couldn't even hold a glass of water a year ago.

Typing a little bit more each day, though I'm still relying on ViaVoice to avoid overdoing it. I got another article assignment, this time for a print country magazine. This means I have three article deadlines coming up, plus the short story deadline. God, it is SO GREAT to be able to work on my writing again. Obviously, I'm also starting to draw again.

I'm leaving my guitar and harp and flute playing until last because although I desperately miss my music, one of my previous setbacks was caused because I started getting back into my guitar playing (which I rely on when songwriting) a tad too soon.

But as I was running outside this morning, delighting in the scent of fresh-cut grass, the clarity and warmth of sunlight, I couldn't help but be filled with an appreciation for what I do have, and an anticipation for even better things to come.

May 2004 comments: Read Blatherchat | Post in Blatherchat | Livejournal