I Am Back ...

I feel a bit like a developing photo or the dawning of a new day ... things emerge slowly and the image becomes clearer and clearer with time.

Today is Day 11

It has been a long slow process and it's not over yet, but I got out of my pyjamas for the first time on Day 8, up the hill with Erin and Kenya on Day 9 and into Ottawa with Tammy on Day 10. 

Getting up the hill with my recycling and throwing sticks for Kenya made me feel like a kid enjoying her first snowfall.  Such a sense of freedom and power.

Yesterday with Tammy was exhausting.  I was shakier than I had expected to be and the things I carried seemed much heavier now. There were times when I felt almost light headed.  But I did what needed to be done and then we went for lunch at a busy restaurant in the east end.  The fahitas were excellent and the waitress was a hoot.

She was the most open person I have ever met.  No editing went on at all.

First she reared back and did a double take when she looked at me.  Then she stared intently and blurted out, "My god you look just like my aunt.  Same brown hair.  Same style. Same eyes. Same way of dressing."  I bantered back a bit and she said it happened to her all the time.

She launched into a tale about seeing a woman on a bus who she was sure was her best friend.  "Same hair.  Same waist ... then I remembered my best friend lived in Toronto."  Tammy said something about the dopplegangers being out in force, and our waitress took off to fill our order.

When she brought the food she yelped,"Oops, sorry, ladies, I just stuck my thumb in your guacamole."

Then she got into an altercation with her manager over the price of our wine. She managed to get it for us at the price of the house wine we had ordered.  I said that should be the policy when they were out of their house wine, and she chirped, "It would be if I were in charge."

After lunch we completed our errands and by the time we got back to the lake it was dusk.  We hauled everything down to the house, and again I was surprised by just how heavy and slow the sledding was with a load on board.

I went to bed early after a recuperative bath.  Today I will be packaging and freezing meat, emptying dog food into the bin in the porch, and generally dealing with everything I bought yesterday.  And then I will get back to my present making.

I am about half-finished making a table cloth and napkins set, and I have several loaves packaged and in the freezer, and I still have to do something with the garden gifts.

I tried to get back to painting a couple of days ago but it seems that the creative part of my brain is still on sabbatical.  I did a lot of sketching with chalk and even more erasing. And then my eyes and temple throbbed as if I had been concentrating for hours on a very dense puzzle.

So ... today is tidy-up day ... and then Erin is coming for a  walk with me and Kenya.

I hope your day is peaceful and productive too.