Not Much for Sitting Around

If you stare at a wooden shelf, littered with enormous books, over several years, the wood will start to bend. Or at least, that’s how I attempted to explain “shoulder surgery” to my ten and eleven year old students, so they didn’t have to worry about why I was about to be gone for a week. In medical terms, they call it osteoarthritis or supraspinatusitis, an impingement of the muscles caused by a sagging shoulder bone, probably because I’ve carried the heaviest of bags on my right shoulder for more than a decade. And, if we’re being honest, because even though I’m not terribly old, I’m also not terribly young anymore. Because my body doesn’t heal itself like it used to. We can’t all be Tom Brady.

But alas, the surgery went well. And while my shoulder is definitely in pain, this is my recovery room. Finishing a book by Bernie, then Tolkien, then Westover, then on to continue writing that book about teaching I started last March… because if you know me at all, I’m not much for sitting around if I can’t be productive, even if my arm is in a sling.