A Challenge

I have a really good excuse for not updating my blog lately. Two weeks ago I had repair surgery performed on my right shoulder which resulted in having my right arm in a sling/brace. The shoulder is healing nicely but it is rather a challenge to do everyday activities with just my left hand. I have to keep my arm in the sling 24/7 for about two more weeks. I am counting the days. But in the meantime these are the things I have learned. First, I have an amazing and compassionate husband who has been a lifesaver. I simply would have to be a blob on the couch if it werent for his help. I have learned that you need two hands to cut your meat. Hence I've been suriving on finger food and salads unless my husband cuts my meat for me. He says it reminds him of times he cut the meat for our children. Typing on the computer with my left hand is slow and although I'm getting faster it takes a lot of concentration. For a mental exercise you might try it. Buttons are for two handed people. Pants with elastic waistbands are my friend. Putting on socks with one hand...doable but try tube socks...getting the heels in the right place is a neat trick. Eating left handed, since I'm right handed has helped me with my weight loss program. I just get too tired chasing bits of food around my plate. I gave up trying to style my hair and got it cut short in a do I only have to fluff and go. I tried using the curling iron with only my left hand and gave it up as being dangerous. Putting in contacts one handed. Maybe for some of you this is no challenge but for me each morning is an exercise in how long I can keep one eye open and hopfully smush the contact in my eye before I blink. I'm not complaining. I'm finding this a unique opportunity to see how ingenious I can be at performing tasks that pre-surgery were no brainers but now take a great deal of mental effort to accomplish. I'm grateful that I do have two working limbs that I will in a few weeks be able to use in tandem. It has been an eye opening experience. You might like to try this, maybe for a short time. I'd love to hear what you discover, too.

Yosemite

Only a two hour drive from our home lies the majestic Yosemite Valley of California, a land of contrasts where granite crags thrust up from the serenity of the meadowed valley floor and gold-hued leaves of oak trees rustle in the breeze that also passes through stands of pines.

John Muir, noted naturalist and pioneer environmentalist explored Yosemite through it's various seasons. A poet in his own right, he wrote: "Nowhere will you see the majestic operations of Nature more clearly revealed beside the frailest, most gentle and peaceful things. Nearly all the park is a profound solitude. Yet it is full of charming company, full of God's thoughts, a place of peace and safety amid the most exalted grandeur and eager enthusiastic action, a new song, a place of beginnings abounding in first lessons of life..."


This week we took a day to visit this place of beginnings. Everywhere were grand vistas that were testaments to the ingenuity of God in creating this earth. I could only feel enveloped by the wondrous richness of this forested cathedral and humbled by the awesome power of cascading waterfalls over towering granite walls. It was good to put aside the mundane cares of daily life, as noble as they might be, and gather strength from this grand place and remember that this world was meant to be enjoyed, cherished and revered as a magnificent creation of God.