Productive Pain

Living with chronic pain is not pleasant, no matter how you look at it. But there is pain and then there is pain from actually doing things. The last two days I’ve hurt quite a bit because I’ve been doing some physical activity to make up for lost time.

It is all yard related, except for taking down my filthy blinds and deciding replacing them was easier than cleaning them. We bought some Colorado Blue Spruce and Black Hills Spruce pine trees to plant as a mini windbreak. Three of them went in the ground yesterday just in time for frost last night. The fourth and last one is indoors for the moment and awaits the removal of a diseased Asian Elm tree – if we can get a neighbor with a chainsaw to help out.

Speaking of sawing, a replacement pole saw and lopper finally was purchased a couple of months ago. Tuesday was my first chance to use it and I discovered to my dismay that my recent slide in health is worse than I realized. It was torture using it and one oak tree branch will take multiple days to get through.

No, it is not very thick being six inches in diameter or so. I am just that weak now. Oy.

Back to the frost. Last night set records for lows in some places around the area. We could use some global warming right about now. Pity it is junk science since humanity always prospers in warm periods.

Prosperity would be nice, but the coming storm is nearly upon us. China is going to be liquidating their U.S. treasury bond holdings. This shows that borrowing to increase our national debt is not going to work anymore. But that is not stopping the Fed from assisting in bailing out European banks. The insanity continues until everything falls down, I suppose.

At least the view from my window is nice with the blinds removed. It is amazing how plastic attracts dust that never lets go. I made the mistake of trying to dust them with a Webster extendable duster yesterday. The clouds of dust that arose could have felled a horse and drove me from the room.

I had purchased them close to twenty years ago to be able to vary sunlight since my eyes are very sensitive to light. But years of working on pain tolerance has helped a bit with that so I am ready to evict the things in favor of Asian blinds. Temporary plastic fake reed blinds (left overs from upgrading the dining room twelve years ago) will go up while I budget to get the real thing.

I’m thinking of painted bamboo ones but need to check my finances first.

Egad, the windows are dirty. Something will have to be done about that. Also have tomatoes to can today. So despite all the pain, at least it has been a productive week. That is something I have not been able to write down in some time.

That is worth the pain.