Vine

I was sitting at a sunny table at Cafe Freida waiting for John to order his coffee and my chai latte when I spotted this vine growing up a post. I liked the simplicity of the spaced leaves against the backdrop of the grey wall. Tobi was giving a Master Gardener talk at the library in Windsor. It's No Food Waste week and people are giving talks on making broth out of food scraps, pickling giant zucchinis, and canning fruit. 

The rest of the gang was assembled and Bob, whose birthday is Sunday and refers to John as his 'older brother' because he's three days older. He brought an envelope with a special gift for John which, predictably, turned out to be a joint! 

Just as well he didn't open it in the waiting room of the orthopedist, although I don't suppose anybody would have batted an eye. We didn't have time to take John and Spike home and get to the orthopedic office, and we didn't want to miss coffee, so John walked Spike around the parking lot and environs while I met with Dr. Kevin Howe, who comes highly recommended as a knee surgeon. I'm not ready for surgery yet, but wanted to meet him and have a somewhat established relationship with him when the inevitable happens.

I was afraid he would think I was wasting his time, but he was very easygoing, confirmed that my right lateral knee is bone on bone and that he wasn't there to force me into surgery but to answer questions and get to know each other. He talked about how he hated computers and how he had bought a book for a friend and had almost forgotten how to hand write something in to front of it. 'Good thing I bought one for myself because I messed up the first one', he said. I commented that I had arthritis in my back as well as my knees and probably my hip and wondered where to start!  'Don't have back surgery',  he said, surprising me because again it confirmed what I already thought. 'It's very complex and hardly ever successful.' 

'Your right  leg is this much shorter' he said, holding his thumb and index fingers about an inch apart 'and you may think you don't limp, but you probably do'.  Interesting that he never watched me walk or even looked at my actual knee. 'The good news is that you have very good bones. I've seen a lot of x-rays and I know good bones when I see them'.

He recommended another cortisone shot four months from my last appointment and one to check in with him in six months . All of which was exactly what I was thinking, so I'm glad I kept the appointment and that we're on the same page. 

It's still quite warm but as long as it doesn't go over 90 it's quite manageable. It's usually starting to cool down enough by wine time that 
we can sit outside....