Sylvia's Journal

On Monday I visited the shoulder doctor for the 3 months checkup. I had planned to ignore the summons as I find these check-up visits not a good use of time or money, but this time I went. While in Kampala my ‘good’ rotator cuff slipped a little out of its socket and left me with no strength at all in my right arm. This was a problem because I am not supposed to carry anything heavier than a coffee cup with my left arm. Luckily I was travelling with a colleague who carried the stuff I could no longer carry.

Eventually things got better. The rotator cuff must have slipped back in place and slowly my strength, what little I have in my right arm, returned. I started to worry about having to have yet another operation. My physical therapist had a name for what happen, a sub lux, and taught me how to push the rotator cuff back. The doctor told me there was a solution to this problem (in all likelihood created by the overuse of my right arm while the left is recovering); it is a reverse shoulder replacement. I am hoping that this will never be necessary, what with the left arm starting strength training in a few weeks. I am kind of tired of surgeries and the long recovery process of healing tendons and bones.

In the meantime I touched down for two days at work where things are a little bit in limbo because we are changing our organizational structure. I presume that by the time I come back from my next trip, later this month, the dust will have settled a bit more.

During our long drive home yesterday from DC we talked about the weeks I was busy, what I had learned and facilitation assignments ahead. One Big Thing I learned (the same question I asked the conference participants during the wrap up session on Friday) has something to do with balance and imbalance.

In the middle of last week there was a moment where I had completely lost my balance. I was able to look back at that moment and my reaction to the event and realized that imbalance is actually a good thing, even though it may not feel that way at the moment. It was as if I had fallen into a hedge and came out the other end. Behind the edge, in a Secret Garden sort of way, was a whole new field full of interesting vistas promising things I had not thought about before and raising new questions I had not pondered before.

We tend to look for balance in our lives, convinced that balance is a good thing; thousands of books have been written about it. But maybe balance is boring. Falling and getting up, stumbling over things may seem a bad way to move, but if I would be given a choice now, I think I’d continue with the stumbling. All these moments of imbalance in my past, recent and long ago, have made life so much more interesting and have contributed so much to my learning, that I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

I have been back for more than a week. It was a rather frantic week with long days and early rises so that I could relax this week which is a vacation week.  So far I have managed to ignore emails for one whole day, Monday!

In the meantime Faro turned 3, last Saturday, a joyous day spent in the Nonotuck park in Easthampton amidst a bunch of 0-3 years old, family and friends and an abundance of food. Faro, who has not been exposed much to sugar discovered cupcakes, and in particular frosting. We are indulgent with birthday kids and so he was able to lick the frosting off at least a few cupcakes before we drew a line.

Sunday we worked in the garden, a good workout after a mostly sedentary life of months, no years. The asparagus are popping up, the leeks and onions are thriving in this wet spring, the potatoes foliage is looking healthy, the spinach not quite discovered by the rabbits and the garlic looks vigorous. The more delicate plants were a little perturbed by all that rain, which followed me from Holland back to the US.

Axel and Tessa returned from their mission to Palm Springs experiencing everything that is wrong with air travel, spending about 24 hours to get back home. Tessa negotiated that half the miles used for the trip got re-deposited, plus some extras, as the delays messed up her work week that is now even more frantic. She too has to clear her desk before she heads out with me to Holland for a more fun occasion, the wedding party of my youngest brother where she has a chance to re-connect with her uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews. She negotiated with me about Steve coming along (he is). She should have been a lawyer!

My big sister Ankie arrived with her husband yesterday afternoon. We celebrated their arrival with Lobster and corn on the cob, strawberries and cream. Except for the weather it is summer!