Some Things I Can Do

I visited Bob Compton and Judy Gordon this past Thursday. Some of you will recognize the pattern of the golden ratio at work here.

Compton remains the best boss I've ever had, and much beyond that he remains a champion of solid reporting and good writing. He joined The Dallas Morning News in 1956 and retired from there in 1998, probably best known as the longtime, highly literate Book Editor of the News. Judy and late husband Roxy are cherished among certain indie publishing circles as the nagual antithesis to what John Graves has called the “blockbuster syndrome.”

By any measure, it was an extremely satisfying visit. I was reminded of an Encino Press (see William Wittleff) release of Roxy’s called, Some Things I Did. In that spirit, here’s some things I can do, now:

1. Handle plastic food cartons, letters, notepads, etc., and grocery sacks, without fear of severe paper cuts;

2. Dress myself, for several weeks now, with almost full rotation of my right shoulder and much improved rotation of my left--this was still hop-skip-and-a-bounce when I left Dixie’s for Robin’s place;

3. Cook for myself, which I hardly dared while still at Dixie’s and Byron’s house, for fear of anything hot splashing onto any part of my skin, either healing or unburnt--I simply could not deal with a new burn (more on this later);

4. Now I can open either canned drinks or liter sizes--before, the skin on my fingertips of both hands was too tender to either torque a liter-size bottle-cap or to leverage the flip-top on a canned drink. I had to use “tools” as best I could improvise;

5. Drive my truck--the first time I drove, the steering wheel ripped flesh off my hand as I cornered. That’s no longer a problem.

6. Manage most of my bills and finances. At first, the “information glut” of what was due and what might be overdue and what could be pending and what might get canceled and what is really important was overwhelming. This is, of course, sort of like the hospital joke about “can I play violin?” because I couldn’t play violin in the first place. Still I’m getting better…

7. Ladders. Yup! I can climb ladders. Not with great agility, yet, but without scary awkwardness, thank you verrrr much

8. Tools. Yup! I can make most of my hand tools conform to my will.

9. In other words ==> YAY! I can work.

In fact, I have worked, three days in the past week. I hooked up the primaries to two transformers and the secondary loops inside the attic of a building for neon on a new sushi restaurant not far from the motels where I’ve been staying.

It’s a good feeling to be back at work. I thank each of you for your support.

PS: Got paid tonight--another first, my first since immediately before the fire: In that light, you can imagine how valuable your donations have been…