Friday Morning

That problem with my back is not such a casual affair. It was a revelation getting out of bed in the middle of the night for a bathroom run and a switch to the big room. Piercing pain burning through me! I cannot remember the last time that I felt like this. I only hope this becomes forgettable, too, real soon. Nor did it go away in the morning. It only kills me when I get up, especially from lying down. Funny, it is absolutely no problem to lie down, and, importantly, it is not a problem for my sleep. Then my back is only a slight annoyance. If this continues for a while, this will be a nice break: I can sleep. But getting up ... it is a bitter taste of what hell might feel like, if you raise the temperature a few degrees.

This is not to say that I am perfectly fine as I live my day. The pain is not piercing. It hardly even feels like actual pain, but I feel the sensitive stiffness, and I definitely know better than to make any fast movements. Bending down (as when I take care of the cats food and water) and getting up from my seat, I know to move most gingerly.

One embarrassing note. When I am walking about, my body has picked up a distinct rightward tilt. I am curious to see if Pop will notice it. If he does, you know it is bad. I suppose it can seem funny, if you are not me, having to play Leaning Tower of Pisa all day.

Nevertheless, this condition is such that I don't see a problem with carrying out my intention to mow the lawn this evening. That's how funny-strange it is. It's not exactly ruining my day, but it is not nothing either. And I suspect this will not just go away by the next morning. I just pray it goes, preferably before the weekend is over, or at least before Halloween. I would like to be able to get out of bed without having to struggle to keep from howling out in pain and waking up the neighborhood.

Rice

It looks like I have become a two-bag man on my chicken and fried rice meals. Since H.E.B. has been having their special on their various brands of rice, we are well stocked up on bags of rice, and ... I am indulging. Hey, what's another ten pounds on my short stubby body, right? It's not like I am going on spring break to pick up college girls.

Post-Nap

Wow, that nap was so good, I woke up trying to figure out what part of the day am I am in. Did I just wake up in the morning. When my vision clears enough to see the clock, I see it is 3:00 on the dot. And there's a lot of light in the room. It's the afternoon! It was a nap. A very good one. It's been years since I have had to come up from this kind of disorientation. It was about a forty-five minute nap. I guess my morning's sleep was a little abridged from my back pain, though I did not think I was feeling that tired.

Chores

All three cats came in on their own today. When the last one, Sammy, did, I realized that I caught a break. I am keeping them in now until I knock out that mow.

* * *

1800

It's crunch time. I'm having trouble steeling my nerve, but I'm going to do it. Since it's October, I suppose I shouldn't wait until seven. The shadows are heavy out there, and it's not like it's 98 degrees. So, I'm going to shut down this laptop and get to work.

Pop

When Pop came home he said that he is going "under the knife" on Tuesday, for some kind of colon work. He had such a quaver in his voice. If it were somebody else, if it were mother or me, he would probably chuckle and joke about it. But I don't really want to be resentful. Although it is in-and-out surgery - he will be back home on the same day - one is always taking a critical chance in having surgery done. And, of course, my own very life is inextricably tied to his heartbeat. The expectation is that this is routine and life will go on as usual, but, on Tuesday, there is a real hurdle that Pop has to jump for this to be true. Pray well, Pop!

Pop

Pop's loud TV has been getting on my nerves these days. The big room is fairly cloistered off, but his audio still bleeds through, all the way to 'the office'. Fortunately, it has yet to interfere with my sleep at the furthest opposite of the house, but it is a close call. If my bedroom door is open I can hear the TV. Part of the problem might be the cooler weather. I think we once learned that noise seems to travel better in cooler air.

Of Dreams

Thinking about my dreams, I considered how a number of my recent dreams involve going shopping with Pop, or otherwise being driven in the car, and how I no longer seem to be having bus dreams. An obvious explanation came to mind. How long has it been since I have ridden on a bus?? Longer than five years? Well, no, there is the annual trip to get my hair cut, but this is both brief and rare. But it has been that long since my rather extensive and involved trips downtown. Maybe this is part of the explanation for this recent trend in my dreams.