Prosthetic arms in the NY Times

A friend sent me the link to this in todays paper
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/us/prosthetic-arms-a-complex-test-for-amputees.html?smid=pl-share

Swimming for a cause

I've never needed much of a reason to go for a swim, but the Will Swim For Food offered up plenty of them:

• A cold water swim with friends,
• Around the Santa Cruz Pier,
• With bagpipers to lead us out,

 

•  and swimmers towing hand-painted ducks

 And the proceeds go to a food bank of my choice.


I am sooo ready.  Where do I sign up?

So if you would buy me a beer in a bar, please consider donating $10 so that we can help provide a hot meal to some hungry Coastsiders. 

Thanks,

John

It's not cold. It's home.

Today I finally got in the ocean

No, not the +60 (or 70) degree salt water that I grew up with, but the 50-something degree stuff that I have learned to love over the past few years and have been denied the last 14 months.

The wind had been blowing all night, but the sky was clear (something to celebrate here in HMB) and Surfers Beach was glassy AND EMPTY.

Me, Joel, Lezlee

 

I decided against the wetsuit, but had to throw on some cruiser fins so that I'd have a chance to make it to the Miramar and back.

They gave me a head start (and I needed it)

I knew that it wouldn't be easy getting into 54 degree water and I wasn't disappointed.
What did surprise me was how good it felt 10min into the swim.

My wing-men: Gabor and Joel

I really want to thank Gabor, Joel and Lezlee for sharing such a magical morning with me.

No green thumb required

The weeds were getting a bit too tall (even for me), so I decided to test my mowing skills.

I was even able to remove and empty the bag when I was done.

My new normal

So what have I been doing for the last month?

That's a bit hard to explain because my body and mind have not been doing the same things.
This is probably not that strange for some people, but I have put a lot of energy into being "present" in my life (especially in the last few years) and now when I am not...it sucks.

That doesn't mean I've been sitting in a dark room staring at a wall.

Sure, this has been a tough month; A ruptured tendon has really lowered the bar on what can be called a "successful surgery", but

My middle finger is definitely straighter than it was.I will never be able to bend the tip and, unless I have work done on my extensor tendons (the ones that straighten your fingers), the finger will never open/close.
At least my hand is back to what it was pre-franken thumb surgery

I spent a couple of days in Yosemite with my parents (no hantha virus outbreaks) and even got to hike the Panorama Trail.

And I went down to SoCal and watched the CAF San Diego Triathlon Challenge with my sister, saw my nephews play (soccer, robotics) and saw my niece (who just keeps getting smarter and smarter)

I'm still watching some great Stanford Volleyball (and enjoying seeing Kaitlin and her parents too)

And I have been able to put in a lot of hours on a presentation for the recycled water treatment plant project (who would have guessed that I'd finally love my laptops touchpad?).
But I still have not been myself. 
I know it's probably more normal than abnormal to feel this way after so much has happened.
I've had some dark moments that have lasted a day or two, but I look at it like the weather - It will pass.
This latest funk has lingered and I think it's not just because so much has been taken from me, but more from the cycle of surgery/recovery/PT which has really ground me down. 

The good news is that my doc told me that I can hold off on more procedures for as long as I need. 
And I definitely need some time.

For now, I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with what I've got (like I was doing in the beginning).


And today Joel has set me a goal - the "Will Swim For Food" event Dec 15th in Santa Cruz.   
Stay tuned.