My dad’s words came to me quickly after I slid down an embankment late this fall and managed to catch myself on a thin fence wire which wrenched my collar bone, shoulder, back and neck. It was a thin and sharp jolt, and as I climbed down the embankment to the ground, my dad’s words came to me: Why didn’t you watch what you were doing? How many times had he said that to me, and I still don’t do it.
I can hear my dad’s words from when I was a child up in Maine. He wasn’t big for sympathy at that time. He’d say, “If you had watched what you were doing, this probably wouldn’t have happened.” Later he would become a great sympathetic dad and I love him so much. He’s been gone for quite a few years now. But he just couldn’t understand how people could get themselves into such crazy situations and get hurt.
At any rate, I was out for a walk and going to meet Monika when I took a shortcut, I thought, down an embankment, thinking back to my younger days on skis where I would slide sideways down a hill and just be able to grip the edge of the bank and stop when I pleased. This didn’t work out that way. It was quite painful, but my legs are fine, my lower back is fine, and I was able to spend a little time walking with Monika, but found I could not even put a shirt or a jacket on over my head, or take one off, for quite a while.
Back to Tylenol.
I’ve limited myself this year quite a few times, with the incident in the spring where I flew off of Star and it took me months to recover from that, and this slowed me down from my fall shows. I did not go to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, I did not attend the ASA Landscapes for Landsake exhibit, and Bedlam Farm did not hold their open house, one of my favorite events, either.
But I kept on with my batik art, very slowly doing everything as I couldn’t do anything fast. I could not even put a halter on Star for a while, and she wondered what in the world was wrong with me, but still enjoyed the food and treats I gave her.
I am better now, and back to delivering my artwork to shops, and as the season for shipping things on Etsy is ready to close, if you waited too long, then you would still have a tiny bit of time to visit these shops listed on my website. They have so many beautiful things and have worked so hard to have shops where people can come and find a great selection of gifts.
I thank everybody for supporting me this past year and I really love the letters of appreciation that so many have sent me this past year.
May spring come early!
