I was going to title this post, "Grasp It Firmly," but realized that my brothers would have a field day with that, if they ever read one of my blog posts. (Sorry, not sorry, Mom.)
This is the quote: "The world is a nettle; disturb it, it stings. Grasp it firmly, it stings not." It is by Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, who apparently coined the phrase, "The pen is mightier than the sword," and was the first person to start a piece with, "It was a dark and stormy night."
Nettles have been on my mind ever since I saw an article about the 2024 World Nettle Eating Championship, but resurfaced (and warrant a quote) today, on my ride with Matt, when I got stung in the tongue by a bee or some similar creature and I said that the sensation is what I imagine it feels like to eat a bunch of nettles.
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| Post-sting |
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| I can't even blame the bee sting for this look on my face, my crooked helmet, or the horrible angle. |
Thankfully, ever since a particularly bothersome wasp season several years ago, I keep Benadryl in the little bag on my bike and quickly swallowed some and was fine. I am not interpreting this quote to mean that I should have embraced having the stinging insect in my mouth. That's just a no-win situation. Nonetheless, I've been trying to embrace (or grasp, I guess) the world/my life to just keep on plugging along when things in this country do just not make any sense - - and totally deviate from everything I learned in law school.
After my last post, I went to California to see my oldest niece graduate from college, and then spent a couple of days with my sisters. (I'm giving my brothers-in-law, nor my other niece, not enough credit here!)
After getting home, I then did a great bike ride out in Washington County with Matt, and slightly tweaked that route for a ride a few days later with a group I'm just calling "The Thursday Night Ladies" for short, even though I rode with them on a Sunday.
I then went to visit my mom and stepdad in Wisconsin, got the dogs (mine and theirs) out for a walk on my favorite route to the river (a/k/a "the bear route"), went out for dinner with my mom and aunt while Dan and my stepdad, Terry, held down the fort, went for a chilly swim, and went on a loon-rescue-mission pontoon ride with Terry.
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| The same photo I take EVERY TIME. |
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| The towel I have wrapped around my shoulders looks so... festive! |
After the visit with my parents, I got a steroid shot in my left SI joint - the side where I also had the frayed labrum and the femur stress fracture last year. I have been enjoying a relatively pain-free week (yahoooooo!) of bike riding when I rode on Wednesday (Thursday Night Ladies plus Saturday coffee ride crew) and Saturday (Thursday Night Ladies), and then again today (OG Matt). I'm hoping that this steroid reprieve, combined with continued PT and pilates, will help me feel okay when everything wears off, although last year's imaging and last month's MRI concluded that this hip is no bueno (medical term of art!), so I'm not holding my breath and just embracing the moment.
Other than that, I've been working hard on keeping the dog sane during Fireworks Season. That's quite a job; one that involves much sleep deprivation.
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| I had some issues posting a cute video here, so am posting this photo the morning after two nights of sedation to help her not freak out over the fireworks that were being shot off until 2:30 a.m. So annoying. |
Have you been meaning to donate to the MS Society, to support me? I'm at 3/5 of my fundraising goal and could use your help! You can donate now so that you don't forget, or you could set a timer to donate on Wednesday night. Starting this Wednesday, July 10, at 9 Central, an anonymous donor will be matching online donations (up to $1,000 per rider, up to $17,000).
In the meantime, I am going to keep on grasping some nettles!
https://events.nationalmssociety.org/participant/Go-Maggie-Go
I thought that cherry on a spoon sculpture was in a more crowded downtown space.
ReplyDeleteIt is in a sculpture garden, on the edge of downtown, uptown, and the highway. If I had stood in a slightly different spot, the skyline would have been in the background.
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