Times goes by so slowly

Dear family and friends,

It's hard to believe that I have been in this fix for less than 48 hours! The time creeps by so slowly. Daughter-in-law Debbie and Dave went shopping and got all the fixings for lunch and dinner. He enjoyed taking her to a range-free chicken farm, a one-man operation, in a nearby community (Lattingtown). He plucked a dozen eggs from the hen houses and made a delicious omelet for his lunch, and we all had a little taste. Fantastic. These eggs are sold locally, and they are truly range-free. Barbara, I thought of you and the chickens in your life and writings.

Debbie likes puttering in the kitchen as much as I do, and her results are beautiful and wonderfully tasty. She has offered to stay when Arthur returns to New Hampshire, but I think it will be better to get some professional help, people who know how to lift a dead weight. I made myself an asparagus egg-beater omelet for lunch, with a little help reaching the burner controls. So I think Merwin and I will be OK as far as meals are concerned.

Getting into and out of bed is very difficult, so I had a nap on a chair, but most of the day was spent on my rolling desk chair. The marvelous Sergey made leg supports for the bathroom sink so I could put my full weight on it as I negotiate my way there. He also made a ramp for the entrance to the bathroom to make it easier to roll my chair over the threshold. Today he will bring the materials for the rails he will install this morning.

We found out precisely what had happened. The good news is that nothing structural broke. Dr. S., the orthopedist, said it is a pubic ramus fracture. If you are curious you can Google this and get the Merck manual description. It's not possible to walk or put full weight on this yet, but nothing is required except help getting around. That's the big deal. Getting into bed last night, and even worse out of bed this morning, was a trial, not possible for me and Merwin to manage by ourselves. So today will be spent in part looking for help.

Vicky, the PT, called with helpful information and telephone numbers to try. We hope to get something set up before Arthur and Debby leave here on Sat. a.m. In the meantime, we started the process of unraveling all the delightful plans for travel to Chicago and much-anticipated meetings there with colleagues, who are also dear friends. I think we have determined that the five of us on the hamletworks.org team will meet here in Glen Head as soon as I can walk, which will take some weeks.

Southwest Airlines was terrific: without any documentation, they simply canceled our tickets and refunded the price without any penalty.

I did a very little work yesterday on my Le Harve essay and on Fernando's essay but hope to accomplish more today, in between the necessary phone calls.

Hearing from so many people with their good wishes made me feel loved. Lee and Murray, who are dealing with their own more serious situation, called to express solidarity. Antoinette, whose daughter was injured badly in a motorcycle accident, found the energy to condole with me about my accident. And so it goes: the circle of friends and all the caring people around me support and sustain me.

I promise I wont dwell on this pubic ramus fracture in my blog. I have to get my mind wrapped around what is good around me—most of all loving family and friends.

Much love,
Bernice