Luck of the Draw? No Thanks in Everyday Ramblings

Again a Happy Equinox!

This is a shot of ripening figs on a tree earlier this week a few neighborhoods away from here. I noticed a lot of the leaves on the trees up there are turning yellow and I usually associate that with November.

The weather has been mild, the sky sometimes blue and the light gorgeous. Last year this time Kes and I went out to Sauvie Island to see the Sandhill cranes and hear their unique trilling sound.

I take care of my feet but I also use them a lot and coming out of the summer season where I basically wore sandals for almost three months. I am back in more traditional shoes this week.

I noticed my feet were a bit achy earlier and then on Thursday morning as I put on some slip on shoes to wear to the office it became clear that something was going on with my bunion. It was hurting across the top of my foot in a way it never has before.

That was the morning I was getting my hearing checked, which involved a walk up the hill to the otolaryngology clinic and so I changed into shoes with a slightly wider toe box. My foot hurt in those, so when I came home I changed in a different pair of shoes and then later in the afternoon I changed into one last pair to wear on the track. 4 pairs of shoes in one day! What if I only had one pair?

My feet are fine when I am barefoot.

I elevated my foot and then took a bath but it was still sore yesterday and I realized, as is the way of bunions, that the bursa that protects the joint must be inflamed. So after texting with Kes, who has struggled with this a lot longer and more intensely than I have, I started icing it and took ibuprofen and elevated it and wore a toe spacer in my slippers.

This is genetic having to do with the structure of my feet, not because I wear inappropriate footwear or ignore my feet.

I have a gel pad I can wear once the inflammation goes down but this is going to provide additional challenges to getting in my exercise prescription every day.

The good news is that except for one pitch that has become inaccessible in one of my ears my hearing loss is stable. I do need hearing aids for that one ear but in the other one the hearing loss is manageable. I have been saving for them. Now I need to make an appointment for a fitting.

My concern now is not this pair, but the pair I will need after these wear out well into my retirement. I’ll need to teach a whole lot of yoga classes to pay for even a Costco brand pair. Eek.

So the prospect of now going to a podiatrist! Seriously, I did not sign up for this. Luck of the draw and all that and I know these things go in cycles.

Our health insurance is going up next year too. An additional $32 a month right off the top, with higher deductibles and maximum out of pocket limits.

Still I know that I have so very much to be grateful for. I am working, and I am teaching and the cats are healthy and active.

I am doing this 40 day spiritual challenge where I do this deep Yoga Nidra practice for just under a half hour a day. One sets up lying on the floor, not the bed and I put a bolster under my knees to position my pelvis in a way that releases my lower back. I can do it anytime, though it is easier not to fall unconsciously asleep in the morning.

Anyway, Diego who is used to coming charging in after breakfast to sit in my lap while I do a more traditional cross legged meditation practice is completely baffled by this. All week he has tried licking my forehead, sitting on my hand, patrolling the perimeter as options but today he crawled up on me and onto the bolster and then slid down and sprawled across my lap. 2 minutes before I was finished.

We’ll both get the hang of it.

In the meantime I need to figure out what shoes I can comfortably wear today. I am having lunch with Mrs. And Mr. Sherlock.

Last updated September 23, 2018