a certain kind

There is a certain kind of occasional misery reserved for some of us. It's called throwing your back out. I know there are many of us out there, and if someone could invent a quick fix, that person would become wealthy. We innocently mind our own business, doing our kegels, as the acupuncturist recommended, going to yoga, even swimming three times a week. You would think that would be enough to stay strong and healthy. But no.

So, this morning I trimmed a few tree branches. Whatev. It's trash day: the best day to take charge of the chaos which is my yard. I figure if I trim a branch or two each week, I can stay ahead of the shade game, so the grass will grow, without paying the professional yard dudes who actually charge to trim trees. I am a do-it-yourselfer. A limb here, a branch there. Yay, sunshine! Boo, shade. The yard refuse pickup dudes come every Thursday afternoon. Today is Thursday. So there I was lopping off a major artery of the live oak in our backyard, dragging it, in sections, to the front curb.

So far, so good. I was high on fumes. I  had absolute power, horticulturally speaking. So I wielded my saw on the photenias at the end of our driveway. Yeah. That's what I'm talkin' about. A trail of cowering limbs in my wake, I attacked the oleander outside my kitchen window. It all started out innocently enough. A snip here, a snip there in my effort to emancipate our air conditioning unit. A decade ago, planting the oleander so close to the unit seemed a good idea to provide shade. But over the years, it took over, locking our air conditioning unit in a tight hug. Last year, the A/C repair man cautioned me,  "For the love of God, woman, kill that monster. Your A/C needs air."

No need to tell me twice. I've been whittling the monster down since. It seems to sprout two branches for each I lop off, but I am slowly making headway. As I leaned into the job this morning, straining with the clippers to eliminate the branches closest to the A/C, I felt that all-too-familiar stabbing ping at the top of my hip. Hideous. Really, God?, I thought. Really? I'd been doing well for months and months. Noooo.

It is easy to be philosophical about pain until you are in pain. That being said, I am in pain, but trying to be philosophical about it. I guess all pain is relative. Mine could be worse. Much worse. Also, the longer you have a certain pain, the easier it is to block it out. Right now, I am mentally on a beach in Maui. Aaaah. Surf's up, Dude!

The point is that we never know what life will toss our way. We can't control this crazy life. We can only choose our reaction. No matter what, we can find something to smile about. Count on it. Right now, I am loving colored blocks and lines. So soothing. And heating pads.