Archive for April 9th, 2009
Just call me ‘Grumpy Toes’
Let’s face it; my toes weren’t my best feature to start with. I inherited my father’s toes, and well…it’s best not to go there. Now, however, I’m waiting to see if they are going to end up looking even more, um, prehistoric.
A couple of days ago, I got up during the night to get something to drink. I didn’t put my shoes on. I didn’t put the lights on. I stumbled right into the corner of a bench, and yelled “OW” very loud. I thought I had broken my toe. I put down my glass of water, half of which had spilled on the carpet, and turned the light on, and looked at my foot.
My left second toe really, really hurt! I felt it, gingerly. It seemed to be intact. Good. I didn’t want to go to the emergency room and have it set. The whole front of my foot felt kind of weird, though.
The next morning, all five of my toes, and the areas in between, and part of the bottom of my foot were the most extraordinary combination of colors! What on earth could I have done to get my foot into this condition?
I reminded myself to always wear slippers if I go to the kitchen at night. You’d think I would, anyway, just because of the chance encounter with a scorpion—rare, but possible.
I had work to do the next day, so I hobbled around. I wore my sneakers, the shoes with the most protection, but I still walked funny. I wasn’t able to go hiking, and it still looked weird, and I thought I might be turning into a swamp creature. So I was grumpy. Too grumpy to blog; too grumpy to care I wasn’t blogging. I managed to publish a post that was already in the hopper, waiting for a few finishing touches it didn’t get. I didn’t want to tell you about my toes, because I felt like such a doofus, but I didn’t want to write about anything else, either!
Why is it that a localized injury like this takes up so much of our attention? Yes, it hurts, and all, and it’s a bit of a challenge to walk around, but the rest of me is fine, and my typing fingers are perfectly functional. It seems bashing one end of the body affects the other (brain) as well.
I had to ask myself why I needed to slow down. Isn’t it symbolic to have a foot injury at a time when one is running around too much? I will say, that in spite of being grumpy (there’s a part of me that enjoys being grumpy, I must confess), I’ve also experienced great calmness. “Hello, my foot is indisposed at the moment, perhaps I can do that next week.”
The tricky part is figuring out how to parcel out the tasks without having to have a case of zombie-toe first. I think injuries can be traced back to an imbalance somewhere—not that I’m blaming the injured, myself included, because it’s all too easy to become unbalanced as the busy humans we are.
I sat still, with my foot elevated, and asked myself what I needed, to bring myself back into balance. A little grumpy blogging perhaps? Getting the money thing sorted out (ongoing)? Maybe getting that blasted electronic keyboard out of the closet, and spending quality time with it every day (or almost) no matter what! Ah, that one hit home. And, “coincidentally” my foot started to feel better, too—how about that?
I was able to set up the keyboard on my stand. It had been in the closet for a while, because it, well, it DOES sort of take up a lot of room. When it’s not in the middle of the room, I have the illusion of more space, but there’s also a void. It’s better to have it out, and to connect, and to let go. I only have one pedal with my keyboard, and since I’m right-footed, it works just fine! 😀
Happy Passover, y’all!
MusEditions 