Last day of August

First the cast saga - the lower end. My toes resting "comfortably" on a stockinette covered fiberglass platform.

Range of motion of toes - about a quarter of an inch

Second the nourishment saga - I'm being more proactive in this area

And, finally, The Lord's Point saga - The annual bluefish tournament

5PM heading out of the harbor

6:59 PM The catch is presented 

7:05PM Weigh-in

And the winner is a 7.69 lb fish, caught by Mike

Well done, everyone!    Now I know it's the end of summer -

Not quite what I was thinking about

Yesterday when I mentioned going out to eat, I imagined a nice sit-down meal in a local restaurant. Then, today, when I leafed through Connecticut Magazine (comes courtesy of a donation to CPTV), I noticed in the "Best of 2013" mention of English-style fish and chips from Sea Swirl - a local soft-serve ice cream and clam shack just down the road.

 
A somewhat unexpected answer to my problem.







The fish and chips were good - we took our own silverware and wine in travel cups, not knowing what the rules might be.

But the location ... across from the bank, was hardly high-class -

And the sunset had to contend with railway lines and water towers  - hardly a "Best of Connecticut"!

I mustn't forget my quest, having made the commitment. Here is a photo of the top end of my cast where the stockinette sleeve against my leg rolls over the sharp edge of the fiberglass.

... onwards to tomorrow!

A looming crisis?

Today's excursion into the bowels of our freezer revealed that after this evening's meal, there is only one more prepared meal (i.e., "leftovers" from meals during the period immediately before my surgery).  What to do?  Jack is happy to microwave and manage one stovetop or oven dish, but dislikes managing any more complex cooking activity beyond every other day (at the maximum). Not wishing to stress his good nature, I need to avert the crisis.

No, I'm not asking for casseroles to be Fed-Exed or dropped at the door!

Possibilities are to purchase frozen meals, or when he does cook have him prepare meals that can be served on multiple days, or go out to eat, or, mon dieu! extend myself to do more cooking.  At least it is only a matter of another week, assuming I will be fully functioning the moment I have my cast removed.  (I'm not taking bets on this.)

Putting that problem aside for now, here's today's cast photo showing the way the fiberglass bandage is wound round my leg.  The outside is quite rough, which can be a nuisance at night.

And here's a ghostly Jack as he works on his current project - sanding the outside of the front door in preparation for painting.












"And that's the way it is."

A quest!

To photograph my cast from a different viewpoint for each of the remaining nine days I expect to be wearing it.

You may well ask some questions:

Q. Why  on earth do this?
A. To give me something new to do, and to be sure to have a complete record of the looks of the cast.

Q. Why not put the photos on Facebook?
A.  I considered it, but did not want to bore my friends.

Q. What about us - faithful blog followers?
A. Good point. Well, if you are still following this blog you already have a fascination with my cast. And that's your problem.

So, let's begin.

Photo 1. Here's a close-up of the outer layer. The fiberglass came in a roll like a bandage, about 3 inches wide. The cast technician wet the roll thoroughly then wound it on my leg around the inner layer of soft material.  Within a matter of seconds it had dried as hard as a rock.

Only eight more to go.

Regressing

I'm slipping away from my positive attitude -

This morning I woke up and saw my green leg sticking out of the sheets (it gets very hot under the bedclothes) and thought, "Damn, it didn't go away in the night. Another day of to-ing and fro-ing on my scooter in order to do anything or go anywhere.

And even my photographic endeavors are going nowhere as my point-and-shoot camera outsmarts me and takes a perfect picture every time I try to force it to take a blurry one.  But I'm NOT planning on diverting to searching for alternate models!

Counting down ... 9 more days!

Green is good

As some might say, it gives me great pleasure to report that I my green cast has come with positive vibes, and I have been feeling much more cheerful the past few days.  Maybe it is because I have a definite - or as definite as it can be - date for getting my walking boot: September 5th at 8 AM.

I've also had a decompressing weekend, with a visit from David and Christopher yesterday - sorry no photos. (I must have been having such a good time that I forgot to take any!) For the record, here's one taken in London.




And today there's been the New York Times to alleviate boredom. Unfortunately my ruler is upstairs otherwise I would have taken a measurement of the thickness of the paper.

I have a new pastime in the form of an video photography course.  I succumbed to an advertisement for The Great Courses - they're always having a sale!  I've tried reading photography books from the library, with no success. so thought I might do better if I put a bit of money into it and had someone talking to me.  So far so good. The instructor - a National Geographic photographer - says his course is for all sorts of cameras, though he works mainly at a multi-lens, fully adjustable level, with asides about point-and-shoots (my kind of camera).  For my assignments for the first few lectures I've been challenged to find the appropriate settings on my camera and to find its limits.  Jack has been very patient and willing to help me set up situations - such as spinning bike wheels to experiment with changing the shutter speed under different lighting conditions. THe wheel was spinning at the same speed for all the photos.

Yes, the wheel WAS spinning!

Are you groaning, anticipating the pictures I will be posting in the near future? Well, at least they are a change from photos of my right leg!

A long-awaited day

Well, "awaited" for a couple of weeks since the last time I saw Dr Reach, when he decided my sutures were not ready to be removed.  Today I went to the main clinic in New Haven -

Waiting ... for an hour

My red cast was removed ...

Apply the vibrating cutter

Make several incisions

Peel back the fiberglass layer

Pull out the fluffy stuff

lift out my leg, and put the cast aside

My leg was inspected by Megan, Dr. Reach's nurse practitioner (sorry, no photo) - I knew this would be the case since Dr Reach was away lecturing somewhere. Megan pronounced the stitches ready to come out, and she and I discussed whether I would have a boot or another cast.  I opted for the conservative route, not wanting to risk the chance of a wound infection.

Stiches out ....

Still doesn't look very pretty

Tape to hold the edges together

New cast put on ....

First a knit stocking-like tube

Next the fluffy bandage

Nice and neat

First layer of fiberglass

Cut out a hole for the toes

There they are!

Final layer of fiberglass

Just as well I chose a different color, otherwise you would never know the difference!

Waiting for next round on September 5th!

Tales and tails

A much-needed visit to the Stonington Public Library brought its own challenges

But, of course, there was a ready solution.

And I found the books I'd requested online over the weekend ready for me at the circulation desk -- great service since I was there about 10:30 on Monday and the library opened at 10.

Among my pile of books is "The Anglo Files: A field guide to the British" by Sarah Lyall.  I'd read a review in the Sunday NYTimes (not very favorable), and since it was in the library, decided to take it out.  Maybe it will help me understand what others find strange about me!

Simultaneously I'm reading "Home is a roof over a pig: An American family's journey in China" by Aminta Arrington (highly recommended by Betsy).  Soon I'll be steeped in west-east culture!

Meanwhile, back on the Point, our neighbor's cat, Sandy, was at her usual spot: staring intently into the phragmites, something she does for a long while every day.  Is she hoping for a mouse?  Or maybe a water rat?  We never see her lunge or catch anything!




'scuse me,  must get back to my book.

Varying viewpoints: Half empty - half full

The cynic ...
Another day gone - or another day closer.
You've seen it all in photos - or new challenges await.

The pragmatist ...
It's great to have every meal served to me - but I've done most of the pre-cooking preparation
I've finished another novel, "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn (fast read and somewhat tedious plot but I couldn't relate to the characters) - now I've only got two more waiting to be read, apart from Jack's extensive collection of Daniel Silva books, of course.

The philosopher ...
I scooter, therefore I am
Reality demands that I confront a comfortable attitude every minute of the day - but night is uncomfortable wearing a hard cast.
It's all a matter of habits of mind - I'm definitely losing my mind. I haven't lost my camera, so why no photos?

What's new?

I notice people have been checking my blog for new news.  Here's the best I can do for today.

I spent much of the day Skyping and writing: the new semester has started in Gothenburg and there's not much left of the break for US based writing colleagues to finish their summer "assignments".  I worked both at the table and in my nest and didn't notice any difference - it must be the quality of the activity, not the location that counts for my sanity (duh!)





For a break I hopped down the steps and scootered to the bench on the sea wall.

Two older men joined me on the bench and my cast prompted conversation about various orthopedic operations.  Oh my gosh, have I joined that group?

Positive doing

Enough already!  No more feeling sorry for myself.  Today I set out to reform my activities (again!)

"Work" - that is, stuff that involved extensive use of the keyboard, was assigned to the table.

"Reading" - that is, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, novels, and whatever found its way to the iPad, was assigned to "the nest'.

The chimes of the clock indicated a move from one station to another: Half an hour at the table followed by an hour and a half in the nest.









Movement between stations happened quickly due to practice in efficient use of the scooter - turning in tight places, backing up, and approaching the table and the nest from the best direction to ensure a smooth departure.

There's just one problem ... I'm not getting enough work done!