We have turned the corner here in the Twin Cities — back to a liquid landscape. Our snow has melted (mostly) and we’ve even had some rain. It’s been music to our ears to hear the sounds of dripping snow and ice, and to once again see and hear rain falling. However, it does mean that we have quite a bit of standing water as well as flood threats on a substantial number of rivers. With sunshine and blue skies above, I set out on a long walk to the library yesterday. Now that the snow is mostly gone there is evidence remaining of what a harsh and early winter we had. Our lawn is filled with leaves that were unraked before our first snow – that first snow that never melted and was followed by another 80+ inches throughout the winter. Many trees are showing damage because of the excess weight of the snow. I’m sure some will recover, but it appears that others may not. Yet there’s a lightness in the air and the hope of spring. Just like me, there are people finding excuses to be outside and enjoying the warm sunshine. The birds are busy chirping and singing, and many of the migratory birds are coming back into the area. I was especially thrilled to hear the honking of a small flock of Canada geese as they flew over our house. They too know that spring has returned to Minnesota.
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A blue thumbs up for KU
This past week brought a new blue plastic brace for my surgically repaired thumb. What first struck me about it was how my thumb looks so large as it’s immobilized out to the side, and then I noticed it was a great shade of Kansas University Jayhawk blue. But as much as I was cheering for my home-state KU Jayhawks, they just couldn’t pull through in today’s NCAA game. However, it was not all for want…my weekend consisted of the following: three full tanks of gasoline, one hotel room in Ames Iowa, and 850 miles on I-35 for a surprise visit to Kansas City to celebrate my Mom & Dad’s 60th wedding anniversary…it was all priceless! We succeeded in showing up at Mom & Dad’s house prior to a big celebratory dinner with my brothers and their families. Everyone was successful in not letting Mom & Dad know of our plans for a quick trip south to join them. It turned out to be a grand surprise, and a great celebration with all my nieces and nephews in attendance too. Congratulations Mom & Dad on a grand celebration of 60 years of marriage!
After thumb surgery
My thumb surgery was this past Friday and seems to be a success, at least what I can tell of it. Obviously there isn’t much to be seen as my wrist, thumb, and 2 fingers are bandaged up and immobilized. There is a hard cast that is supporting my palm and wrist and is keeping my stitched-back-together thumb tendon in one place. Thanks to the surgeon and the pain drugs I’ve been taking, I’m sure I’m on the road to recovery. In the meantime I’m trying to do things with my left hand — a true exercise in patience and creativity. Hopefully I will get the cast removed later this week and start physical therapy on my thumb to get it back and functioning before summer and the Minnesota fishing opener! Until then I’ll be content to curl up with a good book and rely on my wonderful friends for their help and support.
A tale of two thumbs – Part I
Those of you following my blog will remember that I sprained my wrist eight weeks ago while attending the US Pond Hockey Championships. And being my dominant hand it’s been an exercise in patience, of which I sometimes haven’t had a lot of. But what was originally diagnosed as a sprain has since proved to have been a break. A few weeks ago I found out that I had broken one of the bones in my right arm below the wrist, the ulna. Good news was that the break was healing. Bad news was that my thumb wasn’t working right. If you look at the photo, the thumb on the left is giving a good “thumbs-up” whereas the thumb on the right is unable to flex up and back. (For you photographers, yes, I did flip the photo. It is my right thumb that is the problem thumb.) I could use my left hand and pull my right thumb back without any problems, but I could not get the muscles and tendons to do it on its own. After multiple doctor visits, I was informed that I have a ruptured tendon in my thumb as a result of the break in my arm. No amount of physical therapy will be of any help — the only solution is surgery. I’ve since learned that we have one tendon in our thumb, however we have two tendons in each of our fingers (although we really only need one). The surgery to repair my thumb, called an EIP to ELP tendon transfer, involves taking one of the tendons from the finger and moving it over to replace the ruptured tendon of my thumb. So this coming Friday I’m scheduled to have my thumb repaired. Hopefully in about six weeks I’ll be able to give a 2-thumbs-up and have it really work right!
The simplicity of winter
There is a wondrous simplicity that seems to take hold of the landscape in winter. With all the snow that has fallen, our world has become very black and white. Color is hard to find in the surroundings. With a fresh few inches of snow this past week, I headed out of the house with my camera before dawn. I didn’t have to venture very far — just over to a nearby golf course. The world was quiet on this winter’s day; there were no birds, animals, or other people when I got to my destination. The silence was only interrupted by the sounds of my snowshoes. Quickly the sun moved over the horizon and into the sky adding some color to the scene. Doing so it lent its warm light to the cold landscape, with long shadows over the clean snow. As if on cue, the rest of the world began to stir and wake. I heard a cross-country skier out on the groomed tracks, and I heard cars moving by with their tires scrunching the compact snow on the roads. The quiet and stillness had changed, but the simplicity of snow and trees and sunlight was still there.
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