Contrasts

October has been a tough month for me. I first developed a bad case on tendonitis in my left knee. After about a week, just as the left one was getting better, the right knee flared up. I suspect I was favoring the left leg so much that I overworked the right one. Once the right knee got stiff and sore, I wound up overworking the recovering left knee and wound up with two painfully swollen knees at the same time - which pretty much puts you right out of commission for awhile. So say hello to icepacks, elevation, anti-inflamatories and the life of a couch potato. Basically I was laid up for four days with very little mobility.

(P.S. It turns out that I had Lyme's disease, which I didn't know when I originally posted this.)


Fortunately, the sun eventually came out and the inflamation began to subside, and lo and behold, on this fine morning I found that I could actually WALK without significant pain. Trust me, walking is nothing to take for granted. It is a wonderful gift!


Winterberries, arguably the most beautiful berry of all.


Sunlit pines against a gathering storm.


This scene was made all the more exquisite by the fact that I was actually able to walk off the road down the level of these berries without pain.


Sunshine is never more beautiful than when it follows or precedes a storm.




None of us wants pain. We try to avoid it. Yet somehow it opens us up to see beauty in new ways. I like to think that it expands our capacity to experience happiness. When you can walk slowly on still somewhat stiff knees for a mile without feeling any of those shooting pains that have been your companions day and night for a long while, you begin to wonder is there any greater joy than walking slowly in a beautiful setting without pain? Pain is a humbling thing, but it teaches us to accept life as it comes without demanding that it obey our wishes.


Red is the color of pain, but it is also a very beautiful color.