After late word Friday that the pain in my shoulder and arm was due to a torn rotator cuff tendon, I finally knew why I was only getting about three hours of sleep a night due to discomfort. It also identifies the root cause of an unfortunate fire drill I went through at a hospital ER this week after asking to have someone evaluate my condition. Unfortunately, when male, mid-50s and 'thick', hospitals assume you are having a heart attack when you show up at their door step complaining of pain radiating down your left arm. After 2 days that included blood draws, stress tests, blood thinner shots in the belly, a romp on a treadmill and an afternoon in an MRI tube, they let me go; I left radioactive which wasn't so unexpected since I'm a nuclear worker and familiar with Technetium-99. The 10,000 counts per minute decayed off within 3 days leaving me no worse for wear.
With a sore shoulder and knowledge my heart was fine, I took Kuma d.o.g. to the cabin for some much needed rest. Stretching out before a fire in the peace of a dark, silent, winter night in the forest was just what I needed to finally get a full night's sleep.
While on cabin time, I've learned to appreciate the work horse of the kitchen, our wood stove affectionately named Beulah. Although it was 29 degrees outside, a small arm full of fuel was all that she needed to heat the kitchen to a balmy 80 degrees. Her hot oven cried out for a pan of chocolate chip cookies that I couldn't resist accomodating.
With all that is wrong in the world around us, its good to know there are sanctuaries off the grid to go and relax.
As Beulah rules the kitchen, Kuma and I enjoy the bounty of her labor.
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| Beulah |
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