A Lost Day
Slowing Down
Wowie, it looks like I mostly lost a day or two here on my week off. I guess it was good to have no appointments.
Thursday morning I fell down the two last stairs as I descended from the bedroom first thing in the morning. I landed on my left wrist and jammed my arm up into my shoulder fairly hard. I didn’t break or sprain anything, and I was grateful. This happened at 10:30. At 3pm I could barely move my left wrist. Some Excedrin and a brace and cold compress later, I felt better but was not able to dye yarn or wind yarn, I just babied the wrist.
The next day (Friday), the wrist felt better though the shoulder was sore. And then I got one of my famous allergy headaches. These come frequently in the fall, once leaves fall and we get rain. I lost a whole day to that headache. At least the trees are beautifully ColorJoy right about now!
Family
I did go with my mom to meet my brother Eric and his wife, my Sis-in-Love Diana (who knits for me), for what we thought would be a late lunch. It turned out to be an early dinner. The headache made me almost impossible company, though I was determined to see them.
Eric and Diana live in Ypsilanti (near Ann Arbor), just a little more than an hour from Lansing. Mom and I piled into her car to go meet them in Howell, which is normally about 30 minutes from Lansing. The highway was slow, about 30 miles per hour, even though it was not yet a time for rush hour delays in this area. We figured there must be construction so we decided to take the old road there (Grand River, which was the highway before the limited-access interstate system). The restaurant we wanted was on Grand River, anyway.
Nature’s Wrath
We did not realize what was really happening. The night before, we had very bad weather. There were tornado sightings at least three times that night and many sirens and warnings. Well, in Williamston (a town where I lived for 12 years, about 25 miles east of Lansing), they had horrible damage. They do not know whether a tornado touched down or whether it was wind damage, but it was incredible.
We were not allowed to drive through town, they detoured us around a long way, to Linn Rd. west, to Zimmer North, to Haslett East and then 59 south back to Grand River. We saw fences blown across roads. Then we saw trees snapped off a foot or so above the ground, like tinder. And on Haslett Rd., mom saw a refrigerator in the ditch. Then we saw a pile of tinder that had been a house without a basement. From reading the paper later, it appears that this was the modular home which was dumped into the pond in its front yard (two residents died, so sad).
At one point I saw the remains of a strong highway sign. The uprights were 4-inch I-beams which would then hold a large instructional sign aloft. It looked as though first it had been twisted in a spiral, and the sign itself had flown away.
I think when I see things like this, I learn again how important my relationships are. How those I love are the most important thing in my life. I was glad, headache or no, that I was with my mother going to have dinner with Eric and Diana.
Because life can be short, and we are not in charge. I’ve said it here before and I will say it again: If you love someone, you might be glad if you told them. Take time for lunch or a phone call. You never know if the opportunity may pass.
Friendships and Food
Friday night when I got home, Brian and I decided to go to New Aladdin’s restaurant in Frandor to watch Melissa and April dance. I did not feel like cooking dinner with that headache, and supporting friends is a good thing. Folks turn out when I dance, as well. What a visual conflict, the destruction of nature early in the day and then the beauty of my friends while dancing! But contrast is part of life, and thank goodness we can have both images in the same day.
It’s Saturday now, and the sun is shining. I still have a “shadow” of the headache from yesterday, but I think I will be able to function today. My shoulder is still sore but my wrist seems fine. Today is a new day. The yarn from 2 nights ago is finally dry, so I will do my best to wind it for you folks and get that up on the website.
My New Dyed Yarn
I tried a new feltable yarn this time. It is a standard worsted weight yarn and is pretty soft while being springy as well. I am encouraged by it. Color does not stick to feltable wool the same way that it sticks to superwash, and I will need some adjustment time to see what I can do with it. I have a couple of skeins I saved out for myself, to experiment with. It should be good fun.
Photos: Colorful trees on the way to lunch, April dancing at Aladdin’s Restaurant.