I’ve been pretty silent about my back issues; the spinal implant, other procedures and acute back pain. I know that many of my readers can relate to back issues (can’t you?), yet I haven’t wanted to make What’s a Girl to Do?-the adventure column into What’s an old Girl to Do?-the medical column.
My back issues have plagued me acutely since the day before Thanksgiving, 2022, when my legs gave out in Safeway. I’ve been dealing with it daily since then trying to get back into fighting shape, adventure shape, just freaking in-shape!
After FaceTiming with my dear friend Rose, who lives in San Francisco and who’s husband recently died of ALS, I noticed that she looked at least 15 years younger since not having to daily care for her beloved Alex. She’s also has been walking around her hilly area of San Francisco, walking to and from her business, walking to clear her mind. I was so inspired by her, that I decided to take the block long walk to the lake that Rose and Alex and I had taken when they last visited me, before Alex’s ALS made walking impossible.
So, I walked to the lake using my walking sticks. I felt strong and happy to make the trek. I looked forward to having a seat on one of the concrete benches in the park. Except when I got there the bench I thought I’d sit on was missing. Perhaps it was removed when the rains filled Clear Lake back up? The ducks were also missing; the ones I used to feed birdseed to when I walked my big Rhodesian Ridgeback there. So many things have changed. (Full disclosure; I took my AK 47, using it as my walking stick!) Yet, I sat there and enjoyed the view of the lake and took photos.
By the time I began the walk back home, the temperature had risen to heatwave numbers, so the slog back was MUCH harder and MUCH slower. By the time I made it to my driveway, I was barely walking, doing a shuffle around the potholes (nothing’s changed about Lake County potholes).
Once home I took a rest until the next day when I decided I needed some horse love. Horses and donkeys make me totally happy. No matter the pain.
I went with my friend Kathie to visit her horses for some horse love. She adopted Mindy at one year old and Shadow at three months old. Both are now 27 years old. We drove in her truck for the visit to the ranch where she’s boarded them for 14 years. The girls have a good two acres to run around, with lots of oak trees for shade as well as a shed.
At the ranch, Kathie parked her truck near the hay shed and we walked up the lane (beautifully paved) to where the horses waited for a treat from her. But when I came close, the girls trotted down into the oak trees. I played with the Emu that stood by the gate in a separate paddock and bobbed its head and did an emu dance that was either greeting me or telling me he definitely didn’t like me. His beak made a loud clacking sound and his ferocious looking feet stuck through the fence. I was glad to be protected by the fence from him as I know nothing about emu antics. Friend or foe?
At some point I needed to sit down, badly. So I walked back to the truck thinking that the horses wanted their mama, but not mama’s friend – me. Kathie situated the truck near the fence and took a bucket of treats for the girls just inside the fence line. I had a clear shot for photos of the beautiful mares while sitting in the passenger seat of Kathie’s truck. That made me happy, ready to go home.
For two days afterward, I suffered yet was glad I had visited the horses, the emu and the lake. On the third day, I was ready to go to the ER.
What was a girl to do?…try to do things in small doses yet keep on keeping on!
Lucy Llewellyn Byard is currently a columnist for the Record-Bee. To contact her, email lucywgtd@gmail.com
