Sylvia's Journal

Last night the mercury dipped below 50 degrees for the first time. It is getting cold in New England. This means we have to start thinking about winter clothes. My cotton drawstring pants are a bit flimsy for cold weather. The many washings have shrunk them and they leave a big part of my leg bare. I have started to wear airplane socks to cover this up but soon I will need something a bit warmer. Of course I have plenty of warm clothes but there is something that makes me want to hang on to these familiar and comforting clothes a bit longer Axel has also been wearing the same pants, cotton plaid pajama pants of the kind that teenage boys in the shopping center wear, with tee-shirts that don’t necessarily match. The only difference between him and the teenage boys is that his pants are pulled up high over his brace while theirs hang low. Axel wanted to wear real pants (and look a bit more normal), pants with a zipper and a button. But with the brace in place this is not possible. Now the big question is should we get him a new set of flannel pajama pants of the same type or hang in there until the brace comes off, hopefully three weeks from now.

Yesterday morning was another milestone for me as I did the laundry. First I kicked the laundry basket at the top of the stairs over and let the laundry spill down the stairs. Using my crutch I plucked pieces of laundry from the stairs and whipped them further down as if I was playing field hockey or lacrosse. At the bottom I assembled all the laundry in one big wad using my crutch and then pushed it to the basement door. We have no rugs in the house so this is very easy and kind of fun. I repeated the process down into the basement where I haven’t set foot in 9 weeks. The washing and drying was easy; the machines do that for me. The whole process took hardly longer than before. So scratch the laundering off our ‘tasks-we-need-help-with’ list.

In the afternoon Carol Williams picked us up to take us to Edith’s and Hugh’s housewarming party in Ipswich. Their very old but newly renovated house is nearly done (or not nearly done, depending…). It was the first time that we went to a social event that included a lot of people. It also included steep stairs and many opportunities to fall or trip. That we did not do any falling of tripping is because we were at all times surrounded by people who looked out for us. Edith and Hugh had even stocked up on non alcoholic beer. The liquor stores may have noticed a trend this summer.

The party turned out to be a trip down memory lane as we re-acquainted with many of Tessa’s Kindergarten classmates’ moms from West Newbury (1985-1993), vague recollections of last and first names coming into focus. Axel was in his element and Carol and I had to practically pry him loose, he was having such a good time. We briefly visited Carol’s house, also renovated after their fire, and talked about emdr, trauma and fire while Axel helped himself to Carol and Ken’s discarded book pile bringing more stuff into our house.

I was sore and exhausted after the party, more so than Axel (who had taken a nap beforehand). Part of my problem is that when I stand too much my foot starts to hurt and swell and when I sit too much my belly scar starts to hurt. Lying down in a hot bath and going to bed is the solution for that sort of discomfort. Axel stayed up watching a movie and talking with Jim. We got another email from Sita who is enjoying her explorations of Shanghai. Her work starts today.