Springing forward

This week's blog is mostly about health.  The good news this week is that my doctor has fixed Covid vaccinations for both of us today, which is a relief.  Of course, the rapidity with which vaccines has been developed and made safely available is pretty extraordinary.  It's interesting how many of the fears about vaccine denial have faded, though there is still negative babble at the fringes - I think most people see it as the only possible route back to 'normality', though there are hundreds of questions about what that should be or how things may change.

But the unholy tangle of new strains being discovered, problems about bulk manufacture and distribution of vaccines, political mud-slinging and bureaucratic delays, justifiable or unjustifiable caution about safety and side-effects, all of these created an unsettled atmosphere in ordinary people who worry about jobs as well as getting ill, with more time than usual to ponder things.  So other quite trivial things - for example the jamming of the automatic ignition on our gas hob, issuing a stream of crackling sparks for 24 hours - add yet more tension, and it took longer than it should have done to discover the off switch!

Hopeful buds on a drought-hit lemon tree, recovering this spring

I've written before about my physiotherapy, mostly a very positive experience this time (previous sessions of treatment for knee and sciatica were far less useful).  But I keep on realising how much better things will be as and when I can take responsibility for my own exercise and recovery.  When I was in a clinic after my knee operation I spent one hour out of 24 actually being treated; now I have a good half hour's intensive massage, and 20 minutes a session wrapped in a kind of cold blanket where icy water is pumped through.  And above all I have exercise machines at home which I can use when it suits me.  I've kept up the static bike throughout, and now I'm about to experiment gently with the cross-trainer whose arm movements seem to fit into what is allowed, applied gently!

Dogs meanwhile provide a structure and timetable to our days.  I've been able to resume early morning and late evening short walks, which takes pressure off Mary.  They have some digestive and bladder problems which need vet checkups.  But although these vet sessions are expensive, they are also reassuring, and the dogs are OK, and continue to provide us with enjoyment.