Sunday Travels

Spring semester ended late May. It felt like a starting gun for me to squeeze into 2 weeks all that I have neglected. I have neglected much. But that is always the case (though I’m constantly moving. Never. Bored.) Two weeks is not enough time of course. But I still make my lists so that I can at least progress a little. I need to finish painting my boys’ bedroom. I have to get my truck worked on. I have to paint the kitchen and clean up all my stacks. Stacks, stacks, everywhere stacks! And I also have to prep for classes. Fortunately, I have a full load this summer – fortunately for the bills but not so much for tending to that which I have neglected. And not so fortunate for my quest of  trails and secret places.

Who needs trails for secret places? Trails make secret places very easy to realize. So, the answer is I do; I need trails for secret places.  But one can find such a place in a crowded room. It just takes focus, difficult focus. I don’t have that focus right now. I’m out of whack (more so than usual). So, when I can, I drive down to the ocean and find my secret place parked in front of the waves. This works wonderfully.

This past Sunday, I packed a bag and chair and walked down to the sand to set up office.The beach was crowded, the skies were blue. A gorgeous day! I caught up on much of my reading. It felt good. It felt good to get my legs moving too. That is, until it didn’t.

Somewhere in my Sunday travels, I must have twisted my knee. By the time I headed back, my knee was swollen and achy. Weary of injuries, I thought it probably wasn’t a great idea to hike back up Highway One with this knee problem. But after learning that the trolley doesn’t go up Highway One (only down!) and that the county bus wasn’t due to arrive for another twenty minutes, I decided to go ahead and make the trip by foot. Not a good idea. My left knee pained me all night. It was swollen, throbbing and locked up when I walked. I was so perplexed by this injury that I spent several hours icing and researching online. It seemed to me that I had one of two things, either 1) a meniscus injury, or 2) arthritis pain. Because of the locking, I suspected the injury (plus I had been walking around in sand with an uneven load – as if I didn’t know any better!). My prognosis for hitting the trails anytime soon looked poor. I was already planning my recovery.

The next morning I woke afraid to step out of bed. But something very strange happened. I felt no pain whatsoever. The swelling had gone down and there was absolutely no locking. I read that minor meniscus injuries can heal very quickly. But this quickly? I doubted that. So, now I’m a little worried that it was arthritis. Who knows. For now, my knee is good and I’m not going to worry about it. I’m done with carrying about worry.

My office for the afternoon:

Somewhere over here is where I think that I twisted my knee: