That's my excuse. It's Patty's fault that I haven't been blogging. Her name isn't really "Patty". It's discopathy, pronounced deesco-pat-tee in French : two pinched discs in my lower back, one of them bulging angrily toward my spinal nerves. The good news is that neither are herniated. OK, you're right, I do have to take some of the blame for my injury. Falling hard on my longboard, Mt. biking (they do call my bike a "hardtail"), a weightlifting accident, long hours of laptop induced bad posture, take your pick. The doctors can't tell me exactly how I met up with Patty, only that she is the one who brought me down. Patty and I have been gettin down ever since we met, but we haven't been doing much dancing.
Back pain focuses the mind ... on the pain. I haven't been able to do much but think about how to get better. The body takes care of itself that way. If it didn't hurt so much I might be able to meditate on one of the Apostle Paul's favorite metaphors for the church.
I finally went to the doctor after momentarily losing consciousness. The brain 'crashes' when it overloads with pain signals. I fell to my knees like a rock in a stream of fast-walking, unseeing commuters at the St. Michel metro station. An intense moment of loneliness in the crowd.
The fact that I'm writing this post is proof that I'm doing better. Fifteen sessions with a physical therapist have really helped. Although I need to use all my sitting at the computer time to finish up my semester writing projects for school, I've got an idea on how to start blogging again: Paris pictures !
Next week, I'll bring my camera with me as I commute into the city. I'll try to post at least 3 worthy pics a week: Paris in ... uh ... February. When you train commute the same route everyday, you tend to stop seeing. A camera will help me open my eyes again. I hope you'll enjoy what I see. It's just too bad that someone didn't take a picture of me on my knees at St. Michel station as hurried commuters passed me unseeing on all sides. Makes me wonder what I don't normally see. I'll try to show you next week.
