I am a creature of routine. Since discovering mindfulness practice I have been slowing down, gradually, in a good way. Living with tortoises for many years had already primed me to dwell in slow time. Mindfulness expedited that process. As I’ve slowed down, ‘busy’ elements of my previously hectic, disorganized life have fallen away, leaving me genuinely content as I move slowly among the wonder of this life, finally finding the routine that I craved for decades since leaving my natal home to ‘adult’ on my own. 

This hip surgery upended my comfortable routine. I’m not complaining; it’s just that it takes so long to make a pot of coffee, feed the dog, make toast, let alone cook an entire meal, never mind wash dishes. To walk to the toilet is an exercise in concentration, never mind to shower. Knowing when these hips need to stretch out supine or can sit for awhile at the desk, even remembering whether supine or prone is the right word, takes considerable focus.

I have not stopped being grateful, but my habit of sharing my gratitudes has fallen off. By evening I am spent, and during the day I’m concentrating on doing every little thing to keep us all alive and thriving here at Mirador. I have not forgotten the miracle night I spent in the hospital after surgery, and elements of it return to me throughout each day. The entire experience, from the moment I left Wren in the car with Dawn and entered the hospital surgery door alone, was an amazing 28-hour immersive mindfulness retreat. A month afterward, I am beginning to have the energy to write about it. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I’m trying to catch up, a little at a time. Here are the photos that refused to load at the end of the last post.

After two weeks of community care, it was restful to have Kathy arrive without Covid and settle into her own routine of attending to everything. I’m grateful that she likes to keep busy, and she tackled many home and garden projects in addition to keeping me and the critters well fed.

Despite my best intentions, I overdid a few times just keeping track of our daily to-do list. Between being up a lot and starting some standing PT, arthritis flared up in the other hip. I was advised to return to using the walker part-time after days of only the cane. So it was restful in a different way once she flew home to Florida, thankfully unhindered the day after Milton swept across the state. I’ve spent the past week resting a lot more, but not eating near as well.

Friends continued to bring sustenance as well, including garden fresh lettuce for a couple of healthy salads. We had defrosted the freezer and discovered a jar of last year’s marinara in the back, and manicotti and shredded cheese were delivered minus sauce, providing two delicious meals apiece.

ColorKu (“It’s Sudoku in color!”) was also delivered for our puzzling amusement, and we pulled out the first Liberty puzzle of the season, the extra-whimsical “San Miguel de Allende.”

A few nights before Kathy left, we celebrated our time together and my increasing mobility with a special trek to the pond for happy hour. It was my first cocktail since well before surgery: a perfect gin and tonic on a perfect fall evening.