Just When You Thought
October 7, 2004
Screw it all now, I've managed to mess up my knee, my good knee. I was lying in bed the night before last, turned my leg and felt a pain, clenching sensation go from my ankle into my thigh. It hurt in a dangerous way, as in, I've never felt like a pain like that before. My leg was tight but I forgot about it until I got up from a very long deposition yesterday andmy leg was very stiff. By the time I got home, it hurt, and by bedtime it was throbbing. It was hard to sleep and this morning I can't put much weight on it. I have to go to court and tomorrow I have two trials, so this should be interesting. Just what we need, another parent on the disabled list.
I am reading anew book, Five Thousand Days Like This One, by Jane Brox. It's a non-fiction account of the author's family's ownership of a farm and their emigration 100 years ago from Albania. Her writing is exquisite, and if you are all interested in New England the textile industry, you'll like this book. The best parts of the book are where she talks about her father's death and her caretaking of the farm and his estaet afterwards. It bogs down in a lot of history about the textile industry and the growth of Massachusetts along the Merrimac River. However, it's one of those books that is pushing me to take my writing to a deeper level, wring it out, edit, and make it crisp and commanding. I am most envious of authors who can write non-fiction with such lyrical style, with as much vivid imagery and compelling language as a great novel.
I've become aware of how much my laptop has displaced reading for me. It's pretty funny that I harangue the kids to get off the internet and I'm probably the biggest abuser in the family. I kid myself that I'm reading well-written blogs and surfing great art sites, but I realize that I have a growing addiction to that bright screen and I suddenly have a hard time getting into a book. So I'm limiting myself to one check of email a night, one full read of the blog roll every few days, and then the laptop has to be put away - and not on the floor next to the bed! No, it has to be removed from my grubby hands and put all the way in the art studio so I can't just lean down and pick it up before I go to sleep.
Off to limp to work - enjoy this gorgeous autumn weather!