"Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg."

Oh, how deeply I love Haruki Murakami!

2/3 of the way to TOTAL CHRISTMAS CHEER!

Last night I finally saw the Christmas cement truck, and today heard Fairytale of New York! Now I just have to watch Beavis and Butthead Do Christmas with the boys, and my cheer will be complete!

Oh, except I can't complain too much...

...because tomorrow I'm seeing THE AVETT BROTHERS!!!



And I will surely weep for joy. :D

Barry Franklin: "I feel like I've died and gone to America."

That about sums it up, yes? :D

In light of the New Day Dawning in America (And Whatnot) I'll keep this brief, though I felt an update was in order after I saw Tucker last night and he said "I'm glad you're okay - you hadn't blogged in a few days and I was worried." hahaha I am, in fact, quite a bit better than okay, following an excellent visit with Dr. Julietta (pronounced not with a J but with a "hoo") Rushford on Tuesday. I gave her the quick-and-dirty on my condition (it's always odd to explain it to someone who actually knows what I'm talking about!) and she said "But Marissa, the last time you were here you were wearing a cane, were you not?" :) Saturday was the last day I used my cane, nearly 5 weeks after I started on crutches - that's just about right in the 4-6 week range they'd given me when I started, but I can't discount the role NSA has played in my dramatically improved comfort level.

When I told Dr. Hoo about my surgery, she made the same face everybody makes when I tell them about it and said "Well. I want you to open yourself up to new possibilities. The body has an amazing capacity to heal itself - that's your mantra from now on!" To be honest I'm not quite to the mantra level of relaxation at ol' Rushford - more on the "Whoa! Who's touching my butt?!" level, with periods of patchy meditative focus. But there was a moment when she touched my lower back and I suddenly BREATHED in this huge deep breath, and felt like my whole face opened up. She said "Did you feel that breath, Marissa?! Breath is what the body uses to heal itself - it's something else for you to keep in mind." And I DID feel that breath! It was pretty crazy.

Yesterday I spent a goodly amount of time stretching and exploring my shockingly expanded range of motion - and this after only 3 adjustments! Tucker is convinced it's hypnosis, but if you consider that muscle tension is a matter of your brain being stuck sending the same signal over and over again, it really is a matter of redirecting the brain, or refocusing it long enough for the signal to reset, a form of hypnosis, I guess. Uhm... this is my entirely lay interpretation of what happens to me at the Voodoo Doctor. :) But it works, and that's good enough for me!

I'm walkin', yes indeed!

Papa

My grandfather died ten years ago today, and my uncle sent out this fantastic photo of him, which brings a tear to my eye and a smile to my face.

Off-topic musings on the topic of the day

This is the third September 11th I've spent in a high school, and it's always an interesting day. Most of my kids weren't even 10 in 2001, and probably have no concept of how much the events of that day have shaped the country and the legacy (not to mention the debt!) they've inherited from their parents. In the moment of silence we had this morning I mourned not just for the loss of life but for the loss of freedom, the loss of standing in the world, and I think mostly for our loss of perspective. Tragedies on a much grander scale occur around the world every day, and sometimes in our own names - people seem to have lost sight of that, blinded perhaps by all the flags fluttering in their faces.

It was a JROTC student who led us in a moment of silence, as his fellow uniformed students saluted the half-mast flag - it was also from him that I first heard the term "Patriot Day", which has somehow escaped my notice over the past 6 years (probably because I avoid most reporting on the subject). My mind is boggled. What about the losses we suffered on 9/11 was patriotic? Nothing. It incenses me that people are so afraid of copping to the total senseless absurdity of life sometimes.