Grounds for sculpture

We've been planning this trip for a few weeks when summer was coming to an end.   This place is a perfect low impact fall activity.   We had hoped to pair it with some Apple picking ( and some warm cider donuts).  Then the accident happened and plans have to change.  That doesn't mean however that we cannot move forward.

Today's weather was perfect.   The sky clear and the sun shining.   We decided this time around to take the guided tour.   Our guide was a lovely lady named Elaine.   I'm glad we did it.  She brought us to a lot of familiar pieces and explained technique, significance and some gossip.  What's art, if not for a little scandal and drama?!  I began to see those sculptures in a new light , seeing intricacies that I may have glossed over.

The wheelchair held us back in a few spots but we were in the for the most part.   There were times though that I could feel s feeling left out.   She is typically the shortest in the crowd but sitting in the chair makes it even more so.  Her bonus though is her proximity to the peacocks.   Elaine had told us they were nasty.  The kids remain undeterred.

GFS is running a retrospective on Seward Johnson.  Admittedly I didn't know who he was until today.   I love the whimsical touches of his sculpture all over the park, irreverent at times due to the juxtaposition with other pieces in proximity.    His sense of humor is evident in the details within many pieces.   Yet he has pieces like King Lear who betrayed an expression deep in grave thought.   It was fascinating.

The kids enjoyed it.   I'm also glad that both kids asked to bring a camera.   These are some of their highlights.  Photo credit goes to  g.

The Bard

The commute is long and the venue shifting.   On my way toTheater Row to do rehearsals for a Shakespearean, my first in over a decade, I feel the butterflies.   A friend had an opening for a play.   I took the role against every fear and the dictates of my own inner critic.

"I'm too old for this.   I an so rusty.  Can i still remember lines?   How can I make this work?   This is a scheduling nightmare. "  So it went on and on.

I'm here anyway and give myself points for showing up,  for remembering my lines, for squeezing out drops of some emotion. I have proven again something that I've known always.   I love this stuff.

Now how to do this now often?

The C word

I felt that it would go this way but I remained hopeful.  She,  a good friend, told me that they found a lump during a routine overdue physical.   Her doctor was angry, "why did she wait?   Didn't you feel it? "

She didn't.   Like most,  she didn't do the monthly feel-up.   Like most,  she is a young mother.  like every woman.  

It is another lesson on this curriculum of fleeting time.  It was also seeing a side of myself in her reactions.  She has started a dangerous path of hiding behind her work and finding solace in busyness.  

Her husband fell apart at the news.  The cancer is small and is in its early stages, very treatable.   Hopeful.   He broke down and cried.   She stood by,  feeling more alone.  In tactical mode,  she has arranged their lives for the foreseeable future.   Treatment starts on this date.  Birthday party is booked.  Thanksgiving hosts decided.  Tactical or perhaps controllable.

As she walks this journey, she'll have family and she'll have friends.  But she will only have the people she let in. 

Simpler times

Found this Google Story of photos from earlier in the year.  It was a much simpler time.

H200000hhhh

On her feet

At Auntie K's urging, she gamely tried her walker out.  She was so proud when we came home.  Finally mobility!

Torico's

The wheelchair-bound s and g take in some really good ice cream.

The new realities

We came home today with a lot of new realities to content with, details of every day life that now has to be worked out in painstaking minutiae.

We were given a walker and a wheelchair after the physical therapist determined that crutches were too much to deal with.

We arrived at home and s immediately perked up, happier to be amidst her toys and bed.

Now how does one manage a wheelchair in a home not suited for one?  Do we have an at-home wheelchair (ie clean) vs an outdoor wheelchair?  Where will she shower or bathe?  The surgery site still wrapped in gauze and multiple layers of bandages.  Where will she sleep?  Where will she hang out during the day?

Her pain management was tylenol with codeine for the last 24 hours.  Even s knew that codeine is not the "good stuff" as she repeatedly asks for the medicine that goes directly into her tube.  She refused to take the codeine, claiming that it tastes awful.  Secretly I feel that if she is enough pain that it would require medication, there would be less of an argument about taste.

How will she sleep?  G removed the blackboard hanging on the side of her bed (our diy babygate to prevent her from falling out of bed).  She fells asleep in her own bed tonight, snuggling with her stuff toys.  She has many and her bed is full of them.

There are many points in today's riotous commotion when I felt that I could no longer deal with one more decision.  Overwhelmed, both G and I drag ourselves to sleep to the hum of the sound machine and the intercom that we've reinstated in their room so that we can hear her calling for us.  It was the end of the day but the beginning of a different life.