New Life in the Woods

I’m happy to say that it seems like I have turned a corner of sorts personally. For my first few months up here I was aching almost all the time. All that work cutting wood and then tossing it, carrying it, splitting it, stacking it, moving it again, not to mention all the work on the cabin really took its toll. I probably spent 2-3 days recovering from each big job before tackling another one. Of course, there was always more wood to carry inside, or water to carry, etc., so my arms, legs and back never really stopped aching.

The last couple of weeks, however, I have been feeling much better. My arms aren’t hurting all the time anymore, despite all the work digging in the garden. My right leg, which wasted away during my knee infection and surgery a couple years ago, is finally looking more filled out, pretty much the same as my left leg in fact. I am wearing pants that I haven’t worn since about 1995. I am still not totally thin, but I have definitely lost a lot of weight. Makes me wish I had kept a scale to find out how much I’ve lost. Hehe

Of course, I still have ups and downs psychologically, and I still beat myself up more than I should. It is not easy being out of work or being alone so much, but I am keeping busy and coping pretty well I think. I watch a ton of PBS (one of three channels I get here, the others being mostly useless drivel) and I sometimes watch movies I’ve downloaded to my PC. I also read a lot, mostly re-reading old books, but also reading about the plants and animals in this area, organic gardening, and other subjects I find on the Net.

Part of that has been because I have been too exhausted to do a lot outside. Today, however, I worked all afternoon in the garden area, took a break, and went back out to do more. I am tired and my muscles do hurt a bit, but nothing like before. I know I won’t be disabled by aches and pains tomorrow and that’s a big change. It has taken a long time to recover from years sitting behind a desk and/or sitting at my computer at home, but I’m getting there!