Catching Up

This is a catch up entry from last Wednesday.  I have decided to keep my new kayak even though my knees are getting worse.  I talked to Backcountry and they thought I could get 350 or 400 for it so the worst I could lose is 350, which I can handle.  Tangent has moved out of Radford because the town wanted too much more money.  I think there is a good possibility that Gyorgyi can retire once the probate of her mother’s will is done.  That would be wonderful for her.  I am planning on 5 more semesters but my health is the big concern and that I have no way of knowing.  I went on a terrific fishing trip (only one fish) over the weekend out the backway to New Castle, then over Potts Mountain, then to Paint Bank then along Potts Creek, then over to Interior on Big Stony where I rode my bike and then headed home.

Another decent day

Tuesday was a good day.  I did my knee exercises and my shoulder exercises, then I played some piano and sang and then headed for Radford for my office hours.  I filled out my spring preference sheet and asked for a three course load again.  I hope Rosemary can accommodate me.  I taught class and it went very well, especially the discussion of the poems by Rita Dove and Li Young Lee.  After class I napped then I drove to Tech to ride my bike for 40 minutes inside the Perry St. garage since it was rainy outside.  I drove home, picked up a chicken at Food Lion, then came home and did some more shoulder exercises and watched some of the basketball playoffs and then an episode of Krypton. 

Another Decent Day

Monday was a decent day even though I had a lot to do (it’s 10:30 and I still have my stationary biking to do and some more shoulder exercises).  I got up early and did my knee exercises, did some cleaning around the house, and played the piano and sang for almost 40 minutes.  Then I headed for Walmart to order my glasses.  They were more expensive than I expected ($250) but they will be the lens without lines, exactly like the ones I had.  I am using my frame so they should fit perfectly.  I may later get another pair of sunglasses and that may cost $350.  I did some work in my office, consulted with Kim Vest about my problem student, taught an okay class because no one did the reading, then headed home to nap and then get up to do more shoulder exercises and take a 20 minute walk in the hallway. 

Two Good Days

A great Saturday.  I did my knee exercises and then some of my shoulder exercises.  Then I washed the dishes and cleaned around the house.  I finished my schoolwork, and sang the songs for tomorrow.  Then I decided to head off for a travel day.  I drove out Craig Creek, fishing at two spots and getting one fish at my favorite spot.  Then I kept going and ended up driving along 311 to New Castle then I kept going and went over Potts Mountain (I could see the Blue Ridge from the top) and on to paint bank.  There I took a nap, then drove along Potts Creek and fished it at one spot where it open to fishing.  I drove on to Big Stony and stopped to ride my bike up to Glen Alton for 40 minutes, then I headed back home to watch a few episodes of Game of Thrones before bed.

Sunday was also very good.  I did my knee exercises, showered and headed off to sing at St. Mary’s.  I sang okay and I felt good singing again.  I then went for a walk with Rob, then headed off to fish at Eggleston.  I saw lots of wildflowers, common and star chickweed, purple dead nettle, violets of white, yellow, and bluish, spring beauties, field mustard, ragwort, cut leaved toothwort, ground ivy, coltsfoot, redbuds, and several others.  I fished at Eggleston without a hit (the river was a couple of feet high) and then I fished on Big Rock road, then headed back to Tech for a 40 minute bike trip, half outside and half inside.  Then it was time to head home to watch the end of the Bucks / Celtics game then the end of the Raptors and Washington game and now I am doing my shoulder exercises and watching the Cleveland game.

Feeling very Trapped

The last journal I posted really affected me.  It increased my feeling of isolation (though I am in the process of rejoining the choir at St. Mary’s) and led to a day where I had to take two 2 and ½ mg of Valium.  Later that Monday, I went to the Tech Virtual Reality Studio and I decided to look at the hollow and see what was happening.  There were vehicles there and it made me very sad to see it.  Something that did help was to write down most of my accomplishments, and there are many so that made me feel better.  My main concerns are getting old and being sick for sixteen months with lupus.  After that is my skepticism about God’s existence and about the Resurrection of Jesus.  Presently with my shoulder injury I am feeling even more trapped.  I don’t know if the injury happened from the fall in church or from something else, but the cortisone shot I got on Tuesday, hasn’t helped as much as I had hoped.  It isn’t really painful but I can feel that it isn’t right and I don’t know how long it will take to recover or if I will need an operation.  I find my memory seems even worse, perhaps because of the stress of the recent cataract operations on each eye, the three IVs, the two blood tests, the strain of the semester coming to an end, the mix-up at the choir, the Coleman contest.  During the two weeks I was away from the choir I did go to the Episcopal mass and the first service where the priest talked about doubt and how we all have it was somewhat comforting to me.   I did have a quick chat with Dave yesterday (he won a big case that may bring him a couple hundred thousand dollars) and that cheered me up  some.  Later I spoke with Mary Gorton and she is doing fine.  I had a nice lunch with Claire Hall yesterday and she was upset about her three days of non-paying babysitting.  Luke’s brother and wife didn’t even give her 20 dollars for gas and that really bothered her besides the fact that the kids were hard to deal with (I gave her all I had in my wallet, which was a little less than 20, and she really appreciated that).      

A Dark Morning

I woke up Sunday at about 6 and I began reading a selection from Scott Momaday’s The Way to Rainy Mountain, a part I have read before.  It brought me back to the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and Oklahoma, and the Talimena Scenic Drive which I rode along and hiked from several times on my way to San Antonio from Virginia.  I also remembered dipping into the icy tailwaters coming from the dam on Broken Bow lake.  It was bittersweet because in my present state, fighting refractory kidney lupus and several other health problems, I don’t think I will ever return.  That sadness deepened when I read a passage that I have quoted several times in my writing career: “Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth, I believe.  He ought to give himself up to a particular landscape in his experience, to look at it from as many angles as he can, to wonder about it, to dwell upon it.  He ought to imagine that he touches it with his hands at every season and listens to the sounds that are made upon it.  He ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest motions of the wind.  He ought to recollect the glare of noon and all the colors of the dawn and dusk.”  Like many, I have cherished places, Yellowstone, which Momaday calls “the top of the world, a region of deep lakes and dark timber, canyons and waterfalls.  But, beautiful as it is, one might have the sense of confinement there,” the Canadian Rockies, The Brooks Range, Big Bend National Park, to name a few.  But only two places have ever  held me in a way that Momaday speaks about.  Both were homes to me for many years, the first being the Neversink Gorge, which I hiked and fished for many years and published a book about titled The Legendary Neversink, and Reese Hollow, where I lived for over twenty years, wrote heavily about and eventually put in a forever-wild conservation easement.  

This may be the start of a book based on my blog experience, started when my ex-wife Tracy left me after spending fifteen years together, and living in Reese Hollow for almost a decade. 

Wolf Creek

Saturday was a productive day but not a very good fishing one.  I did my knee exercises, cleaned the stove top, did a laundry, swept the kitchen floor, did the recycling and threw out the garbage, vacuumed all the carpets and the bathroom tile, practiced some piano, then took a brief nap.  Then it was time to head off to fish.  I decided to drive out to Narrows for a change and Wolf Creek, even at my favorite bridge there, was not productive, not even a hit.  I then took a nap at the turnoff for Big Stony, but quickly changed my mind and headed for the Cascades where I had a lovely walk of about a mile.  You could see all of the stream because none of the leaves were out on the trees and bushes and I was very striking.  I had to walk carefully but I stopped often for the views.  Then I drove home for a nap and then a 40 minute bike ride over at Hethwood.  I am glad I was able to accomplish both things.  I was a little surprised that Wolf didn’t work out but that is fishing.  Maddie sent me two poems and they are very, very good. 

8 fish at Trail's End

Friday turned out to be a pretty relaxed day.  I did part of my knee exercises early on and then I headed to Dick’s to get my reel filled with new 4 pound test line.  I then went to Walmart to get my prograf, which was completely out.  Then it was time to head out toward Walker Creek, where I fished at a spot just off route 100 with no luck, then at the bridge at White Gate, again no luck, and then 8 fish, including a couple of decent bass, at Trail’s edge.  I fished a new spot and it was terrific fishing.  I drove back, took a nap then headed to Heather and parked near my old apartment and rode my bike for 40 minutes.  It was a lovely evening and then I headed back home.  I did my letter to the Pope but I think I will send it to the bishop instead.  I did a little reading but this past week wiped me out.  Maddie did respond to my poem, calling it beautiful but she suggested it might work better as a prose poem.  It was a pretty lazy day but I hope tomorrow will be a little more energetic.

Lots of Exercise

It is Friday morning at 5:30 and I have been up for an hour and a half.  I had a hard day yesterday but I finally got the Coleman winners figured out and emailed the winners to the rest of the English department.  I did my knee exercises yesterday, along with a 40 minute bike ride along the new river and a walk with Rob along the Tom’s creek trail.  I was exhausted when I got home but it was a good bit of exercise.  I still haven’t heard from St. Mary’s so I am thinking of writing to the Pope to see if he would respond.  My big concern right now is my right shoulder.  I am not sure how I hurt it (possibly when I fell) but I didn’t have any pain from it for over a week.  I am using heat on it but I may have to go see a doctor about it.  My eyes are fabulous and now I only have to use the prednisone drops, one in the left eye per day and three in the right eye for one week, then two, then one.  Elizabeth has been such a good help but I think I should leave her alone.  I saw Leslie Brooks and her daughter at the Dog Walk parking area and it was nice to see them both.

A Madly Mixed Up Day

It is Wednesday evening and I had a pretty crazy day.   Two of my judges did the scoring wrong so I had to have them regrade the poems and the stories.  I couldn’t find Dan Woods’ scoring sheet but finally found it around 6:30.  My 5:00 class was very wild and they contributed to one student walking out.  I exchanged 3 emails with her and I think things are fine now.  I did a wonderful bike ride over at Hethwood and that was fun.  My bike is working very well.    I did my knee exercises and I am going to walk now in the hallway.

The Episcopal Church

Sunday turned out to be a decent day.  I did the first phase of my knee exercises, then I headed out to the episcopal church with Elizabeth and Daniel.  I found the service pretty similar to the Catholic one but it was more relaxed, more contemporary.  I’m not sure about the choir but I am going to take a break for now and perhaps after the semester ends I might look into joining.  I drove out to the spot I used to fish on Walker Creek and found one good place to fish from (but no hits), and I will try to fish there again.  I then drove to the bridge at White Gate and didn’t catch anything but it was still fun.  I think it was too cold.  I drove home to watch the end of the Masters, then drove over to the Tech Visitor’s Center and walked for 30 minutes and that was fun.  I did my biking when I got back and then some weights and part of my yoga stuff.  I am doing pretty well.  I did my finances again and I could survive if I teach 5 semesters but 6 semesters (counting this one) would give an extra 30K and that would allow me to travel for a number of years.  It all depends on my health, and with all the problems I have, who knows what the future holds.  I am more optimistic about the future but it’s certainly not clear what is going to happen.

A Cold Snowy Day

It is Saturday and I am having a pretty good day.  I did my knee exercises, and rode my bike for 30 minutes, did my weights but no yoga because of having the eye surgery on Thursday.  My left eye with the stitch taken out was hurting some in the morning but I had Elizabeth put some antibiotic in four times and I felt much better tonight.  I played some piano and may play a few songs later.  I did head over to Holy Spirit and I went to confession.  I felt good about that and prayed a rosary afterwards.  I then went to Walmart and got some groceries and I ran into Bettyanne and Stephan and they were surprised that Beth hadn’t sent me the music.   I told them I was upset about it but that I wasn’t coming tomorrow since I didn’t get any music.  I thanked Stephan for being so kind to me.  When I got back home I watched the end of the third round of the Masters and that was interesting, with Rory McIIroy three shots behind Patrick Reed.  I didn’t seem to get a cold so that was very good. 

The Stitch Comes Out

It is Friday and things are going pretty well.  My left eye is hurting because Farhi took the stitch out, but my right eye, done yesterday is doing very well, with vision of 20/25.   I drove over to her office with both eyes working well but the rest of the day it was somewhat painful, although I took a 25 minute walk and then went off fishing, stopping at three spots on Craig Creek, and catching one chub at the last spot where the road comes right down to the river.  I have not heard from anyone at St. Mary’s so I am not planning to sing this weekend.  I did practice my scales and my jazz songs and that was good.  I talked to my sister Judy and to Gloria and that was fun.  I think I may be getting a cold but we’ll see.

A big fall

Another catchup up to April 2.  I have been very busy the past few days, teaching, singing on Holy Thursday, at Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday.  After Easter Sunday mass I was carrying a chair over to its proper place and my legs tangled and I fell very hard on the stone floor.  Two fellows helped me up and I was very embarrassed and left right away.  I was pretty tired (I had taken a walk with Rob earlier) and I hadn’t slept very well the night before.  Later I drove out to Trail’s edge but I didn’t get a hit.  The river seemed pretty high though it was clear enough to fish.  My repaired eye is doing well and the sight from it is remarkable.  I am still scheduled for the 5^th.  I have enough entries for the Coleman contest and submissions end this Wednesday.  I still don’t have my bike back even though it has been almost three weeks.  Stationary biking is very boring.  I figured out my finances again and I think I am going to have to teach an extra semester.