The long walk...

around the campus.
Today the Wellness Committee presented the annual Fun Walk on Campus and I decided to give it a bash. I was not first across the line but not last either! It was fun and getting an ovation while twirling a crutch like a baton gave me quite a thrill... the inner performer in me came out for a while!
Will get hold of some of the pictures and one of the medals we all received for completing the four kilometre walk some time and put them up as well.
Walking is a wonderfull way to get about, you have time to experience the world at pace that lets you think as well, almost as if you are communicating with the world, I suppose that is how it was meant to be. Adam and God took regular walks in Eden... I must make time to walk more... I may just meet God taking his constitutional at the same time.
"Life is like getting dropped off in the middle of the woods, and then year by year, gradually walking home." April Foiles

Begging at the gate called Beautiful

I was a beggar at the gate called Beautiful,
I stood up and walked as you commanded,
I danced for joy and praised your name.
But what can I do for the beggar at the gate?

Money and silver I have not,
Gold and riches I am wont,
Yet I have a gift more precious than ruby.
Let my life now witness the gift of eternity.

May I be a channel for your Spirit,
May I be a light when there is dark,
May I be what you want of me.
Lest I forget the beggar at the gate called Beautiful.

[via FoxyTunes / Don Fransisco - Grace on Grace]

When God came and lived among us
We could see His glory shine
A glory like no one before Him
Nor will be through endless time
Far beyond the power of angels
Wholly God and wholly man
So full of grace and truth and mercy
With a Shepperd's gentle hand

Moses gave the Law to bind us
The prophets spoke just as they had heard
But Jesus came and lived among us
And we touched the Living Word
Seeing Jesus, we saw the Father
The Great Physician, the sinner's Friend
Loving all who would receive Him
And he loved us to the end

Virgin-born the Son of David
By jealous hatred was crucified
Oh, but the grave just could not hold Him
And He arose, no more to die
Rising sun of life unbounded
The light of all who ever see
And from His overflowing bounty
Grace on grace He gave to you and me

When Jesus came and lived among us
We could see His glory shine
When He ascended to the Father
He made the glory yours and mine
The promised power -- His Holy Spirit
Has come to make our hearts His home
To shine the righteous light of Jesus
Until He comes back to claim His own
'Til He comes back to claim His own
Today God touched me in a personal way, pastor's sermon was based on Acts 3, a chapter together with Acts 14, which I have been re reading ever since Wednesday when I was told I could start walking on my leg. Getting a message confirmed in this way is awesome. We are reminded that we are supposed to reach out in faith and touch peoples lives, not always the easiest thing to do... God will grant you the wisdom through his Spirit to be able to do and say the right thing when next you get to the beggar at the gate called Beautiful. (the opening poem is courtesy of my muse)
"Job 28:18 Coral and jasper are not worthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies."

90 Degrees

Today I feel like the man in Acts 14:10 and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
To others it may not be a miracle but to me it is, I can now put my weight on my leg and walk on it, albeit still with the assistance of crutches. My Physiotherapist consulted the doctor after last weeks session and this was the result, she felt I was way past ready for the big step. When she said the brace bend could be set to 90 degrees I did it myself! I have a few new exercises to do but the main one is to walk as much as I can. Just like riding a bicycle, at each step it gets better.
Thanks for all the good wishes and prayer, it has helped!
I also won a prize over at Moondancers dance floor... a day full of surprises, discovery and joy.
Now I am off to take a warm bath to ease the tired muscles and to unwind...
We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world. Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)

A-maze-ing!

Pop your poem/lyrics into the box after clicking on the link with cut and paste and be amazed... Some people are just so creative. This is a app on Sveriges Radio by the way, not that I understand a word of Swedish, but the application takes phrases from songs to match your words and then puts it all together as a song using these sound bytes.
I can drive... Had to concentrate more than usual and leave a good 10 second gap but at least I am no longer dependent on the kids to run me about and go on shopping errands. Amazing how soon muscles start to work again. So I am looking forward to being able to go to Church under my own steam tomorrow.
Another amazing thing is the Bok's win over Tonga... that was a close one and I was on the edge of the chair the whole game! If we had kicked all conversions and penalties it would have been much better, losing discipline did not help matters either, having 2 in the sin bin made things tough for the other 13 players. It always amazes me that players at this level still lose control to the detriment of the team.
"It is amazing how much crisper the general experience of life becomes when your body is given a chance to develop a little strength." Frank Duff, A Coder in Courierland, 03-20-05

It can bend!

My knee! Wow... I'm out of the plaster cast... Doctor is happy with the progress as well as the Physiotherapist... Now I can get started on the Physio/Torture program to get my puny leg more or less back to the shape of the healthy one... I will refrain from posting pics of the scar... suffice to say now it really looks like a shark tried to nibble on my leg! Counted 30 odd staples... Gnarly battle scars dude!
I thought I may be able to start driving myself but at present the leg is still a bit weak, I will give it a few days and see how the recovery of muscle tone goes. Now for that bath...
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)

How to spot an Angel

Easy peasy... be one! It was a pleasure helping you Donna... I'm pinching that picture by the way...
Seriously, one has to be in Angel mode to spot another Angel.
What is Angel mode you ask?
It is when you let yourself be open to help others and see life in a positive way.
When you have this attitude you see them everywhere... like the girl that helped me today at our new mall... as I took my last step off the steps from the parking I had this skid on my crutches... corrected and fortunately my brakes worked! Almost went down all akimbo... I had this fleeting glimpse of me ending up back in ER with multiple fractures... shades of Friday the seventeenth!
Gingerly I made my way to the table where the mall guides were seated, helping people with directions etc.
One of the girls took one look at my face and crutches and said "Take a seat while I organise a wheelchair... the floors are super slippery and we don't want you breaking more bones."
Talk about mind reading capabilities!

As I went to buy me some shorts I found out I can still do a mean wheelchair wheelie... Later when M and his girlfriend arrived I outpaced them on every floor we explored, had a lot of fun and exercise at the same time.
Here is a song from ABBA that sums up my view on the matter...
I have a dream - aka I believe in Angels
I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream
I’ll cross the stream - I have a dream
Man I wish they had never split up... but I digress...
There are a whole host of other Angels in my life, my kids, my family and my friends, each and every one is an Angel in some way or another. I also have my very special Angel friend KatieB, she always brightens up my day in some way or another... thank you for that. I just hope that I can be an Angel for her as well, it often pains me to see how busy she is at work and also being a single mom life is quite hectic. I am there for you and think you are doing a splendid job.

Before I go completely soppy let me just say, keep your eyes open... that may be an Angel in the car ahead of you in the 5pm traffic... you never know unless you learn to look.

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Bible, Hebrews xiii. 2.

The secret is revealed

No not That Secret

... the secret of the origin of blogging that is...

HT to AD who found it on Mostly Cajun. It sure looks familiar.
I have been good an kept my foot/leg/half dead feeling appendage elevated all day, now if the feeling would just get back I may sort of feel in one piece again. It is funny having an out of body experience with only one appendage... gives new meaning to the word "missing parts".
Another secret that was revealed today was while I was reading a blog discussion on the use of the death sentence, one commenter then dragged in the issue of abortion. My feelings in the matter is that capital punishment is not an archaic punishment and should be exercised by the State in cases of violent crime, but things got nasty when some said that we only become alive when born... I feel it is at conception and as such feel abortion is murder, then I read this;
"The Lord called me before my birth. From within the womb he called me by my name...He said to me, `You are my servant'..." (Isaiah 49:1,3 TLB) and "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13).
That is something I had never considered, God knew me before I was even born, that is so awesome! let that thought carry us through this week. It also confirmed that I am right concerning abortion...
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." C. S. Lewis (1898 - 1963)

Shrinking foot

I had to tighten op my brace today, it was almost falling off when I moved about and did my exercises, I sure am glad that the swelling is going down, my meds run out tomorrow then I go "cold turkey" but I think that will be survivable. The nerve blocker is also having weird effects... but I will leave the description thereof, this is a family blog! Although I can relate to some other bloggers that have described various medical ailments and procedures... and the effects. Felling parts missing but knowing they are there is rather weird...
I also hope KatieB survives the Melodrama... drinking plenty of water does help... She has more guts than I have, that event is a serious assault on the liver... last one I attended I think I broke ten chairs from jumping up and down with laughter, or was it from dancing on them... cannot really recall what... I just know I was broke for three months after and had the mother of all hangovers the next day. I must say the ladies were never mad at us spending all that money bidding for the Indian to come and encore his act... They had these cheshire cat smiles for a week.
Talking of cheshire cat's, seems like one of my favourite bloggers has had the rug swept out from under him, Ambulance Driver and Babs are an item, I am so happy for them, good stuff happens to good people.
M's team had a 0-15 loss to the Sharkies... but all the other teams won so as far as sport goes a fine day was had by all, I hope the Off Road in Rouxville went well, I am really sad that I had to miss that but I would not have been a good Steward if I had gone, sleeping on the job is not part of the procedure. Hopefully as the meds wear off I will become more alert... at present I am lucid one moment and snoring the next, much to the cats delight...
"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." Anais Nin (1903 - 1977), The Diary of Anais Nin, volume 3, 1939-1944

Smile... your friends may see you

Boy, am I glad I followed Terry Pratchett's advice "Always wear completely clean underwear every day because you never know when you're going to be knocked down and killed by a runaway horse and if people found you had unsatisfactory underwear on, you'd die of shame." I had clean underwear on as I lay groaning under my bike as at least two familiar faces drove past... and promptly spread the word of my misfortune...
As KatieB has so kindly posted I was involved in a road accident last Friday afternoon around 16h40. It sounds much worse than what really happened, had a slight skid, caused by diesel I suspect, corrected the slide, braked some more and then ran out of road and basically fell off the bike when the curb twisted the front wheel as the bike stopped, momentum and the weight of the bike did the rest. Damage to the bike is similar to a fall from standstill, damage to me is now fixed with five screws and a plate. Once again I proved that wearing good protective gear is essential, now if I had only bought those knee guards!
To those Samaritans that helped me by first getting the bike off me, then taking me and the bike home I just want to say thanks... I will pass it forward one day. We often hear how cynical and jaded people seem to be nowadays but ever since I started looking at life in a positive way I keep having amazing people cross my path, not always in pleasant circumstances but always proving to me that there are still many hidden Angels amongst us.
I have also received so may get well soon wishes that based on that alone I will be walking in a week! Personally I believe that recovery from any surgery or accident is 30% gritting teeth and sweat followed by 70% attitude. A big plus is having a good support team, in my case I have an amazing one headed by the best in the business, I mean He has been looking after me since before I was even born! Then there are my friends and family, you guys are great. Especially my kids, stepping up to the plate and looking after Dad for a change and doing it with a smile, then there is KatieB... an Angel disguised as best friend...

Funny how today's Rockwood cartoon is relative to my recent accident as well, there is a Screaming Tangerine playlist hidden in the "MetaMucil presents - 2007 Hip Replacement tour" part... maybe some time later this week. I have a lot of time on my hands...
Oh I think I know who was behind my accident, found it as I was looking for a quote on skids...
"1. At the rise of the hand of the policeman, stop rapidly. Do not pass him or otherwise disrespect him.
2. If pedestrian obstacle your path, tootle horn melodiously. If he continue to obstacle, tootle horn vigorously and utter vocal warning such as "Hi, Hi."[...]
5. Beware of greasy corner where lurk skid demon. Cease step on, approach slowly, round cautiously, resume step on gradually." from an official Japanese guide for English-speaking drivers, 1936

Back after the break..

The author of Ramblings from a Blue Dot, my friend rObC had a motorcycle accident on Friday, 17 August. He was admitted to hospital and his knee was operated on saturday. He was discharged this morning and is at home. He can tell you all the gory details himself, as soon as he gets behind his PC - I am just relieved to say: rObC - I'm glad you are OK, please take it slowly and get better soon. Love KatieB