Author: Jana
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England
We’re still enjoying our England tour, moving madly from one site/event to the next after having a few leisurely days in the Lake District.
I especially enjoyed our long train(!) tour up the Cumbrian coast to Carlisle and then back through the center of England. So many rolling hills, small plots of lands dotted with rock walls, sheep, and so so so much green. And trains. Did I mention trains?
As always, the kids are excellent travelers. They’ve survived some bad food, some awkward sleeping situations, and several long marches wearing heavy backpacks. But they aren’t complaining one whit! Their enthusiasm for this adventure is keeping me going–even when I’m exhausted and a wee bit grumpy (especially those times when I think I can hardly stand one more moment without a wireless connection)…
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our TobyJoy
Toby’s improving!
Originally uploaded by pilgrimgirlA few days ago, our Toby became very ill. Though we don’t yet know the mystery of why or how this happened, it appears that she suffered some neurological damage.
Every day since then she’s made leaps in recovery, and while she might never be the ladder-climbing mouthy kitty that she once was, we are hopeful she will recover many of her former abilities and her quirky personality.
Our friends who are caring for Toby sent this video of her eating–a remarkable moment considering how difficult it’s been to entice her to food.
Joy, indeed.
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it’s the little things…
I love how tea & cake is part of the everyday ritual here…
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pre-trip panic
I’m sure you know what I’m talking about–those moments where you’re gathering all the loose ends and wondering if you’re really going to be able to pull it off…I typically hit this place just before a trip where the small frustrations of packing and itinerary-making cause me to wonder if it wouldn’t be easier to just stay home?There are so many unknowns with travel, so many connections to make (or not make). And I’m afraid. So much could go wrong!
Here are the three of us in Rheims, France. We’re behind the Basilica de St Remy, just after the Jean d’Arc parade in 2004. Isn’t the lavender gorgeous?
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play
I crave a regular creative outlet. So even though my work has kept me incredibly busy lately, I still need a bit of space for “play.” The past few days that space has been filled with a bit of artsy photography with the Hispstamatic filter. I know it’s awfully trendy of me (it seems like everyone on twitter is Hipsta right now), but it’s been a great way to keep my creative juices flowing…
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perspective
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the impact of “perspective” on the way we view our lives. For example, if viewed through a particular point of view, my life would look like this:
-i had cancer and lost my leg. i’ll never run again, and walking is often painful. people stare and say rude things to me, especially if i’m not wearing my prosthesis. the simplest of things can be hard. i fall sometimes, which is embarrassing. it’s not easy to get health insurance. it’s also quite difficult to be employed with a visible disability. everything is harder for me than for most people. the chance of me getting cancer again is high, due to the types of treatment that i had. i feel unattractive because my body is scarred and assymetrical.
Or through a different lens, I could view it this way:
-Having cancer and losing my leg hasn’t held me back in any significant way. I’m still healthy because I can exercise and eat well. I have medical insurance that allows me to buy hi-tech prosthetics to increase my safety and agility. Having a disability helps me to meet more people than I would otherwise, and has enriched my life as a result of a wider-ranging social circle and new opportunities. There’s rarely anything I can’t do if I put my mind to it and try hard. I have a good parking space nearly everywhere I go & strangers tend to help me if/when anything goes awry with my leg.
My days tend to be a mix of both ways of viewing my life. Sometimes I get stuck in feeling sorry for myself, and other times I feel as though I could conquer the world. I think I tend to the latter perspective–life feels very fragile and brief, so I don’t want to fritter it away feeling bad about the ways things have turned out for me.
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rappin’
This video is so chock-full of great amp-humor, I hate to even write much to accompany it. Those who know me well will really “get it.”
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my ride
Last night I got out my bike and went for a ride. It’s been a really long time since I’ve ridden, and I have good excuses for not riding: most of all, that my current prosthetic leg tends to come off after about half a mile of pedaling.
I only went about 1/3 of a mile when my chain locked on me. I had to walk the bike home. But I persisted–I riffled through John’s bike supplies and found some chain lube, which I applied liberally. Then I spun the wheels round and round until they stopped sticking. Then I got on and cautiously (just in case the chain froze again) went back and forth between my place and my garden. Then I wheeled up and down the nearby hill and did donuts in the parking lot.
I was pretty oblivious to anyone around me as I was biking in the dark. And I suppose I did look rather strange on my red tricycle in the dark, smiling from ear to ear. So when a car-full of college kids sang out to me as they drove slowly past me in the parking lot, I was rather startled at first. They intoned the slightly-altered chorus of a Queen song, “I want to ride your tricycle….” (btw, I do love me some Queen). I suppose they might’ve meant it rudely–after all I was quite an odd sight out there. But I took it as a compliment. :)
After I got home I realized that I haven’t really biked much at all since my surgery two years ago. My lower leg was burning a bit around my incision, which wasn’t an entirely-comfortable feeling. I suspect that there some scar tissue in there that’s getting a good stretch.
But it feels great to be back on three wheels again. I’ll be getting a tweak to my leg soon that will hopefully solve the falling-off problem, so I hope to be biking more often from here on out! :)
Some highlights from today include a walk-that-took-forever from the train station to our B&B, a ramble down a random footpath that led precisely to the place that we wanted to be, meeting an emo cow who insisted on sitting in the shade to write poetry, and wandering a ruined Abbey that inspired Wordsworth. Gameboy tried vinegar on his chips (did not like), Catgirl is eating salad everywhere because of so few vegetarian options, and we opted out of scones & cream this afternoon because we were too tired to really appreciate it. Oh, and did I mention trains? A gorgeous train ride through central England and into the southern Lake District.
We are on the top floor of a charming inn, and our view looks across a row of backyards. A clothesline with sheets flapping in the wind is so utterly charming. It’s just like Catgirl said when she ordered some tap water with her lunch…she took a sip and then smiled ear to ear. I asked her if the water was particularly good an she replied, “It doesn’t matter how it tastes…it’s England water!”