Cautious Steps, Literally, Toward Rhinebeck

I remember back when I was turning 40, I really wasn't upset by the concept. It just didn't seem that big a deal to me.

Insert dramatic foreshadowing music...

Since then, however, I have felt rather as though that was the point after which my body started the slow decline toward death. More things going wrong, more places that hurt, and longer healing times. Especially that last one. And never more so than this year.

A month or two ago, I saw this cartoon:

And pretty much nodded. Yes. This is me. I have a bad ankle now. And it just seems like nothing I do is changing that. It doesn't bother me all the time, but it hasn't stopped periodically bothering me. And given that the teeny-tiny-twisting occurred over five months ago, I start to feel like, well. Maybe this is just the new normal.

I keep a cushion on the couch, so I can put my foot up. I have the ankle brace, which I wear if I'm going to be doing a lot of walking, or a lot of stairs (hello, laundry day). I keep track of when I last took pain meds, so I don't take more too soon. I try to be aware of how I walk, how I stand, how I keep my feet when I'm sitting, to lessen the strain.

And sometimes, the ankle just hurts. Urgh.

So I am slightly nervous about how it will do at Rhinebeck. I did make it through Apple Festival without much trouble, but that was only about three hours of walking. Rhinebeck is longer days, and two of them in a row. So I have gone through the program, looking for things that interest me (beyond seeing All The Vendors Selling All The Things).

I will be able to sit down while watching the Leaping Llamas, I recall from past years, and I am hoping that the talks on llama care, alpaca care, and what the difference is (three separate events) will also have some place where I can rest the ankle. Ditto the sheep shearing. And I seem to recall some classes of sheep judging, which may also allow for a sit, or at least lean.

And of course, there's always the people-watching, which at Rhinebeck includes many a possibility of complimenting someone's knit item, asking for the name of a pattern, and sometimes asking if you can take a photo. And sometimes, being asked, which is always nice, too.

I think I have finally decided which shawl to bring, myself. I was thinking of bringing my magic-rainbow-yarn shawl, which I wore last year, or perhaps the Bigger On The Inside, which I've worn twice but is always very popular (I'm pretty sure it is the knitted item I have made that has received the most interest, not just at Rhinebeck but generally). But then I realized that I finished Puncia after Rhinebeck last year, so really, it should be the chosen one.

That's one decision made!