Sylvia's Journal

Just barely back from Maine we packed our bags again and left for Western Massachusetts for a few midweek days with friends at an AirBNB at the very northwest tip of the state that is famous for its mountainous vistas and museums (spellcheck doesn’t allow musea).

Before we left we had a physiatrist doc measure the functioning of my left foot’s sensory and motor nerves to better understand the neuropathy and needle pricks I experience in my left foot that is so severely traumatized, first by the accident and then by the fusion. The closest she could come to give my condition a name is ‘ski-boot syndrome,’ a disturbing sequel to my aviator’s foot (there is no treatment) and could have come from a too tight cast or else it would be nerves tangled up in a mass of scar tissue. I had already resigned myself to the fact that this is just part of my ‘condition humaine.’ I will not subject my foot to another surgical operation which, so far, none of my care takers are recommending, not even the orthopede.

We stayed the first night out west with Sita and Jim. We hadn’t seen our grandkids for about two weeks and could not possibly go to their part of the state without a visit. On Tuesday a snowstorm hit the region and so schools were closed. It was a reminder how this complicates the life of working parents when two kids under 5 are home and you try to get something done. And so the timing was good as I could run after the kids while mom and dad earned money.

The drive from Easthampton to Williamstown should be about one and a half hours but with the snow it took us quite a bit longer, over roads not plowed and the temperature dropping steadily below freezing, a bit of a hairy ride.

We met up with our friends at The Clark Museum in Williamstown, had a lovely lunch and then visited a wonderful exhibit on Japanese woodblock prints.