Small Wonders

Mile Marker 205:

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse…

Can you believe that’s how I planned to begin this post??? 

Can you believe after all that’s happened this year, I almost implied that things were THAT BAD?

But I’m only human, stymied by whatever obstacle looms largest in front of me.  Leg irritations, phantom pain, the fiasco of getting dressed in the morning....

You'd think that after such a tumultuous year, things would be different.  I’d let the little stuff slide

But the last few miles have been uncomfortable.  And when you're bearing discomfort, those little annoyances seem even LESS bearable.

I stayed close to home this weekend.  Logged a few local miles.   Afraid to stray too far from a safe haven where I could re-fit my leg.

Click to enlarge me...

Yet somehow, magically, for every DISCOMFORT of the last few miles, an equal and opposite REDEEMING COMFORT appeared. 

Law of physics?  Maybe.

Small Wonder?  Definitely.

Take the tiny marigold poking proudly out of its cold, cracked sidewalk.

The tremendous ramp inside Fante’s kitchen store,  providing endless challenge (and FUN) for me and my Genium!

In fact, YOUR COMMENTS from the last blog post gave me a much-needed boost, too.   A kindred spirit from San Diego!   Inspiration from best friends and teaching buddies!   And a monumental statistic from Shelley.... We’ve already journeyed TO MANHATTAN AND BEYOND!  

Small sentences, big impact.

Speaking of comments, my brother Mark did stop by this morning to taste the Angry Cookies.  And small wonder, his arrival coincided perfectly with a light bulb blow-out on my bedroom ceiling!   Up the stepladder he went!

But that’s not all.

Mom chipped in with household chores. 

My friend Mary took a break to wander the Italian Market with me.  

Even the Genuim loves
HOLIDAY SOCKS!

Friends Heidi and Carl served holiday treats laced with truffle oil.  Alayne drove with me to the party, and Kindle walked me back to my car in the dark. 

And this morning, in the midst of my 4-hour leg-fitting ordeal, friends Susan and Rocco called.  They insisted on brunch at the Oregon Diner even though I SWORE I’d be miserable.   (I wasn’t.)

I’ve heard the devil’s in the details, but isn't it true that GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES, too?

Almost one year ago, my days were filled with pain and uncertainty a thousand times worse than what I experienced this weekend.

Wheelchair-bound, my phantom sensations roamed restlessly.  My toes felt squished underneath me; my leg was on fire.  Stomach pains clenched at any moment.  Anxiety reigned supreme. 

PT Patrice found me in my room at the tail-end of a meltdown.   I was late for “group,” and she’d come to fetch me.   As she pushed my wheelchair toward the gym, we passed a lounge where another group of patients was involved in gardening therapy.  We both glanced inside the doorway.

“Want to plant something?” Patrice asked.

All I could do was nod.

Someone handed me a dish with snowflakes.   Someone else handed me a cactus.  I started planting.

Before I knew it, I’d joined in the conversation.  Fellow patients Val and Zach offered ideas for decorating my mini-landscape.  My hands got busy.

And in their smallness, the soil and pine-cones and roots soothed my pain.

Now on my windowsill at Mile 205, that small wonder cactus is still working its magic.  Look carefully.   It's about to BLOOM.

Tonight on the way to buy groceries, my mom and I passed what I can only believe was one last SIGN:

Really, it was just posted there.  At a street corner near my house.  It had never been there before.  And who knows if it’ll ever be there again.

An equal and opposite reaction?   Perhaps.  But I’ll take it.

That's how small wonders work.