Sylvia's Journal

The other day, during my commute home, I listened to a chemist who is also a baker. She explained the chemistry of cookie making. Last night I tried her recipe while home alone with the puppy who licked up everything that I dropped on the kitchen floor. The chocolate crinkle cookies came out perfect because I treated the project like a chemistry experiment. I call them my ‘npr-cookies’ which gives the illusion that the cookies are wholesome and healthy (they are neither), but they are the best I have ever made – everyone in the house agreed!

We are bracing for a winter storm – from the description it sounds like the one that produced the ‘commute from hell’ which I described in my blog exactly one year ago: a 10 hour ride from Cambridge to Manchester. I had been asked last week to go to Washington today but I had misunderstood the date and thought the request was for Tuesday – a day already fully booked. Now I thank my lucky stars that I misunderstood the date. This is how, I believe, the universe comes repeatedly to my aid. Meghann, our new program officer is going alone and although I would have been happy to accompany her, I am glad I am not on this day. Working from home on a snowstorm day is so much better.

Today is a day for calls east: first Bangladesh where the day is already over and then Ghana where the morning is in full swing. I have to present on results of work we did in the later and prepare for a retreat I will facilitate in the former.

Yesterday I went to see the orthotics specialist at Brigham’s – as suggested by the last orthopedic surgeon I saw. I think I have come to the end of the line and the visit was rather disappointing because no new ending to the foot drama was produced. First I had worn the wrong shoes to my appointment (Dansko clogs do not allow for orthotics). In addition the technician did not think orthotics would do anything more for me than a good pair of shoes. He had a keen eye and made a quick prediction about my troubles with walking that was right on (maybe he was informed prior to my visit). He made it clear there was no magic here and that the best sort of shoes for me were probably hiking boots or high end sneakers. In a way I already knew this – the shoes that give the most support give the most support – it is not rocket science! But I don’t think I’ll wear hiking boots or sneakers to work.

What I need is a ‘straighter lasted’ shoe than the Dansko clogs and, presumably all my other shoes. For some reason Europeans make these better and more of them. I was referred to some very expensive shoe stores around Boston (the locations gave that away: Newbury Street in Boston and Wellesley) and when I went on the web to see their wares I was stunned by the prices which were double the highest prices I have ever paid for shoes in my entire life. Still, I suppose it is cheaper than the orthotics which I also would have had to pay out of my own pocket since insurance does not cover such things.

The visit was in a way also the final dashing of hopes that my foot problems are transitory or can be corrected and that this is just a phase. Hiking in the mountains, and, in general walking over uneven surfaces, or even long walks on flat surfaces will remain difficult for the rest of my life. The neuropathy in my foot is also there to stay. The hike from summit to summit in the White Mountains we had investigated as a summer activity years ago is probably not in the stars and will remain a fantasy. And I will probably also continue to walk looking down, like an old person, afraid to trip. But then again, given the range of other possible outcomes, I can’t be too picky and am still grateful that we are as OK as we are.