Out again in the kayak this morning on glass flat water and feeling good. I think I might be ready to go all the way around the island now. On a calm day, where I won't run into heavy paddle work on the open water, and if I pack a little snack and have a rest if I need it, I think I'll be okay.
Today marks eight full weeks since the day of my surgery, and I would have to say I'm only feeling mostly myself by now. Four to six weeks is apparently a more normal recovery time. But this summer has been anything but normal. And, just as a reality check, being 67 has something to do with it. Most of the averages are based on younger people having their appendix out, so there's that.
We did an 'into town' day yesterday, which basically entails all the errands and shopping and banking and anything else one might do over a ten day to two week period, but all in one day. We bring in garbage and recycling too. And yesterday we even did a thrift store donation run.
All that was a LOT of walking, and I managed just fine. No walls of any sort were hit, although I did so a summer late afternoon mini nap once we got home.
It's not a bad thing for me to navigate a lesser energized way of doing life for a while. I say that obediently. I didn't like it at all. And I was grumpy and frustrated more often than I'd like to admit.
It's actually not that easy to take it easy. Especially when you are smack in the middle of big things like moving out of your house of 36 years, or taking your 18 year old granddaughter on her first missions trip.
Am I done resting from it all? Nope. Things might be all healed up inside my gut, but my spirit is just getting started I think. It was pretty intense for a rather extended period of time, and while it's happening you don't really have the chance to process.
The kayak helps. A lot. So does longish lingering times down at the dock after supper. And chipmunks and blue jays to keep me company on the deck. And my journal.
And hey, I realize I only had a 'little' surgery, and many of you have had to deal with far more medical chaos than a simple appendectomy. So I don't mean to make more of this than it is.
It's just helpful for me to remind myself, and anyone else who might need reminding, that healing takes time and that's okay and it's all part of the humility and strength of what makes us human.
Grateful for the time and space to keep on healing, keep on growing.
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