More excitement than I needed

I awoke on Monday at 4:30 and instead of taking an OTC sleeping pill and going back to bed, I decided to cut the grass as soon as it got light enough (this had been approved by a physical therapist). So at about 5:45 I was at the orchard and I drove my truck right up to the shed. I got the lawn tractor started right away and then I started cutting, finishing the orchard pretty fast and then heading up to the house, where things also went well. Now I just had to do the cabin area and that also went well (I got a look at the dish and it looked pretty clear). Now I was done and then it hit me. How do I get down the steep hill without my leg to brake with. I tried to use my good leg but I couldn’t get enough pressure and almost instantly the tractor started gaining speed and I had to turn off the road up into the bank to prevent a runaway tractor and possibly serious injury or damaging my knee replacement. I was scared and I got off the tractor (fortunately I had carried my cane with me) and worked my way back to the top. I pulled my phone out and there were no bars even as I walked around a bit so I was really stuck. I knew I couldn’t just wait for someone to come up. That might be days. I went in the cabin and saw the hay fork that I used for the sweat lodge rocks and decided that I would try to get down by digging the fork in just ahead of me and working my way down very, very slowly. It was very scary but I didn’t rush and twenty minutes later I was down and safe, though with a stuck lawn tractor and my truck six tenths of a mile away on a rocky road that I have had an awful time traversing. I saw that my phone had one bar and fortunately, I was able to call Mike and he agreed to come up in a few minutes. I was so glad to see him and he drove me back to my truck and said he would try to come back later to trim around the dish. An hour later he was back and he was able to trim the dish area and also get the lawn tractor unstuck and he drove it down to the tractor barn. What a break. I could now meet my kayaking friend at 2 and I could easily cover the lawn tractor if it rained. My big fear was that I had done some damage to my knee and it did hurt so I didn’t just a little exercising. After a long nap, I got up and showered and headed into Radford to meet my friend. It was a lot of fun to see her and we had a good chat at BTs, while munching on spicy French fries and a very good slice of carrot cake. After that I did some work in my office and eventually headed off to Blacksburg for a ride out Coal Bank Hollow road (which quickly turned to Mt. Tabor) and then back to town for dinner. I got a message from Rob that he had sent me the letter he wanted me to edit so I headed to Bull and Bones (a mistake since I couldn’t really enjoy my half rack of ribs since I was worried about getting the letter edited) and did get the letter done by 9:30. Becky called and then I spoke with Rob and I told him what a great job he had done and that I only had to make a few changes. I was so glad I could help him out. I drove home and didn’t do any exercises, hoping that rest would help. It did. When I awoke I did a slow and full set of exercises (I felt a little less flexible but nothing major seemed wrong) and then I had a good salad and did some laundry. I went down to the pasture around 10:30 and got the message that the technician would be coming at 2, which was fine with me. I got my practicing done, did a full second set of exercises, then drove down to the Sisson gate to wait for the technician, who did arrive just after 2. He tried to solve the problem but it was clear that my dish connections had ants in them and had been chewed up so he decided to put a new dish on my house. So after about three hours I had a new satellite dish working and a new remote and receiver. I gave him a 20 dollar tip and he seemed pleased. Now I drove to East Coasters (the technician had helped me get the bike rack and bike on) and Ian and the others agreed a step through bike was best for me (I was easily able to get on one that Matt held). They are going to use some of the parts from my bike and I may end up getting a new bike rack. Now it was time to head out to Wolf creek and I had a decent time fishing from the 795 bridge and just enjoying the drive. I took a nap in Narrows after walking with my walker for 500 yards. Then after a little food and coffee I stopped at Giles High School and walked a good half mile with the walker. Now I drove into Blacksburg and took another walk in one of the parking lots, doing another half mile with listening to my songs. I was ready for a soup and salad at Macado’s and that should be my final stop tonight.