Tomatoes: Best of the Summer

Tomatoes:  the best part of the summer thus far.  Especially these tomatoes: carefully selected heirloom tomatoes from Louisville, lovingly transported to Lake Medora by our dear friends Dickie and Cindy.

These tomatoes are special because of their juicy, vibrant taste, their gorgeous colors, and their varied flavors.  But they are also special because Dickie and Cindy brought them back after Cindy’s successful hip replacement surgery in Louisville.  Lacking a doctor here, she went to my doctor in Louisville, the absolutely wonderful Dr. Sal Ciliberti, who set her up with an amazing surgeon who had her up and walking (sans cane) 8 days after surgery.

 

Cindy’s (prior) ongoing pain was one of the biggest disappointments of the summer because it kept us from walking every morning, as we did before this summer.  Four miles a day on the gravel road behind our house, talking about everything, so the 80 minutes or so flew by.  Obviously that sounds selfish because losing our walking was nothing compared to the pain Cindy was in, but it was a loss—as we both felt. 

For me, this was frustrating because even if Cindy could have walked, I couldn’t.  I have been battling hamstring, piriformis and groin pain since early June.  Lots of physical therapy, but it’s still not completely healed.  Though it is decidedly better.  I have reached the point with the physical therapist, though, where if it doesn’t heal I will need to take the next step—probably seeing an orthopedist.  However, given that it’s already September, the next step will happen after I get back to Louisville.  In the meantime, I am supposed to do what I want now, even if it hurts.  Just keep icing.  I have started walking on the flat streets of Copper Harbor, keep doing the therapist’s strengthening exercises, and am going to walk on the road with Cindy tomorrow. 

All this (plus not a lot of summery weather) has meant a diminished summer.  I am pretty much okay now, except when I walk uphill, sit at a desk, which I am doing right now, and ride any distance in the car.  But these are not trivial activities.  The pain is less intense and more easily eased by ice. I am swimming every day I can, though the weather has been pretty cool, and the lake never really warmed for the summer.  Thank god for reading.

This diminished summer has kept me in a frustrated not great mood.  I kept thinking about writing a blog post but couldn’t think of anything interesting to write about.  However, I am trying to take more control of myself, get back to writing, and sink into the rest of summer.     

#tomatoes #BestOfTheSummer #walking #hamstring