Patience vs Prudence

I am two weeks past the beginning of my back problems, and still not recovered. I tried to do some walking last Saturday and just re-injured the area. I've worked with Amy three times since the initial injury and there is no doubt the back is much better. But I'm going to put off walking this weekend to see if I can recover completely before I start the distance training. I'm going to go to a shoe fitting session tomorrow for 3 Day Walk participants, and have a spot of tea with my good friend Jenny, who has just announced she is moving from being a walker to a crew member this year due to lingering bursitis problem from last year's traing and walk. Physical limitations and challenges improve our humility and humanity levels, I think. It does me no good at all to be angry that I can't walk right now...in fact that just contributes to back spasms. I'm not much for prudence, but I have learned more about patience.

Turn me loose.

My back is still very tight, but I went to see my trainer Amy this morning. She took me through 30 minutes of stretching and exercises designed to loosen it up. I followed up at noon with a visit to my chiropracter, who spend about that same amount of time lining my vertebrate back up and pounding the left back side of my pelvis back into place. It feels better some now, but is still very tight. I want to be well enough to walk in Everett on Saturday morning. This is the same argument I had with myself last Friday/Saturday: should my ambition to get started in training supercede my caution that I will hurt myself more if I don't take the time to truly get better before I start? I guess the more practical question is whether or not my left foot will go into the shoe on Saturday morning.

Top of the Morning

It's St. Patrick's Day in Seattle, and I'm looking forward to a couple of hours at Belltown Billiards after work today. This past weekend was very wet. I'm still recovering from travel and and bronchitis, so I did not go to Mulkiteo to walk on Saturday. I took a turn at Green Lake on Sunday instead. I pulled muscles on the left side, then skidded on some stairs in the middle of the night, so today you could call me a stiff Mick. At noon today was the annual Seattle Public Library's lunch at Town Hall, featuring journalist Daniel Schorr as guest of honor. His talk was remarkable, called "Forgive Us Our Press Passes." Though his body is that of an old man now, and he has to be helped to walk, that voice is the one I remember from the earliest time I watched television. He is the last of those original television journalists still reporting, still standing, still completely in the middle of the most important issues of our time. What an honor to hear him speak, and to be so witty on topics as diverse as the White House Press Office, bloggers, and distractions that pass as news on television.

Washington DC Tales

I flew on Sunday morning and made the mistake of checking the beautiful Italian bag Leroy got me last spring in Florence. It arrived 24 hours later, causing me to rebook several Monday appointments. I'm back on track now, having just completed giving a keynote address without coughing. Small victory! Memo to self: always carry laptop power cord and blackberry adapter and prescriptions in hand-carried bag.

I've had wonderful sunny weather here. My friend Clarissa came to breakfast, then came to hear my talk. We've been relaxing with the newspapers until my next appointment, listening to the news and wondering once again at the arrogance and hypocrisy of public figures who somehow think they won't get caught when conducting secret lives.

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." -- Confucius

Right down to the wire. But I shipped off my paper this morning, for next Tuesday's talk in Washington DC. And we were able to announce team changes this morning. And my amazing executive assistant has me completely prepared to travel while she finishes a heavy load of work here. I love my job, and I'm right in the thick of the most interesting work I can imagine.

Medications seem to be working and so I should be golden by the time I fly early Sunday morning. I'm exercising at a minimum right now, mostly stretches and some walking.

Happy Days...

We had a wonderful weekend with relatives in Phoenix weekend before last. We spent time with Cassandra and Sabrina and their families, and also had a chance to visit my Newman cousins in Carefree, home of that cactus you see behind us.

I had grand birthday festivities on Tuesday. At work, managers past and present took me for lunch, about 15 of us altogether at Bruno's. At home, I was overwhelmed with gifts and best wishes from friends and family. Yesterday, my doctor packed me out with three prescriptions aimed at knocking out/off the bronchitis that reappeared last week.

Not much walking this week, except puff-puffing up hills. I fly Sunday morning to DC for meetings and another talk about pandemic readiness. I hope to deliver it without having to socially distance myself from the audience.