This summer was something last year – and every adult year of my life – was not.
It was not a gin & tonic summer.
It was also not a dip in our pool summer, despite the string of unseasonably hot & humid days we weathered. It was not our usual adventure-filled summer. We didn’t dine out and visit with friends as is our highly social pattern. We weren’t able to pack snacks and folding chairs into our wagon and, dog in tow, attend the free outdoor concerts that various public parks provide. While we have an extraordinary collection of CDs, Sirius, and local radio stations to help us fulfill our musical needs, we didn’t get to feel festive in a throng, an experience that amplifies the pleasure.
We didn’t attend movies – not even the blockbuster ‘Odyssey’ – though, in truth, we don’t often do this. We, too, have joined the slew of peeps who stream movies at home and/or read a good book on our back patio.
It’s mid-August, so we southern Californians are fortunate that our summer won’t be over in a few weeks.
Still, it’s been tedious, monotonous, and sometimes glum. Post-knee replacement surgery is rigorous, demanding, and detailed. No step may be skipped or side-stepped, and the limitations are real. When one is on Oxy or other narcotic painkillers (the average time period is seventeen days, I learned. I gutted the pain out in less than half that time – with no gin & tonic refresher in sight!
In truth, I’m glad that medical products and procedures have been developed for the replacement parts needed as we aged, less gracefully than intended. I guess my biggest gripe is that I don’t get to be the joyous me I wanna be – or used to be – and it’s not my choice. I have real physical limitations that circumscribe my life.
I want to be a feckless and unfettered Seenager, the person I foresaw myself to be when I blogged about the topic in 2017…
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