Later and later Coffee suddenly appears. You wonder why, and I don’t blame you, but today I have a most wonderful excuse. It started with the gnome who hides in my house. He, and I have no doubt the wee creature is a he, is responsible for such things as the coke which fizzes over the top of my glass, for me tripping up the stairs, for food which lands on my shirt and on and on. I’m guessing you get the idea. Well, today he knocked over a greenery decoration which my friends had given me so I could have a bit of the scent and scene of Christmas. It fell in a few clumps and deposited about 8 thousand little green needles on my rug, the one with all the ridges. I admit it. I am anal and I couldn’t leave all that on the floor. Besides that greenery was on the way to the kitchen, Gracie’s back door and, most importantly, the bathroom. I had to collect those needles before they ended up all over the house spread by feet and paws. I did it: I went for the dustpan and brush. I found only the brush but that was enough. I brushed all those suckers into a single huge pile almost as tall as I am. I couldn’t find the dust pan so I used the newspaper, and it worked perfectly. I couldn’t kneel for fear of being unable to get up so I stood and bent over as I swept and cleaned.

Almost all of the needles ended up in the trash can. I ended up with a new pain on my leg which made me yelp and curse while Gracie watched with her head bent in such a way I knew she was perplexed. The pain was from a muscle. I rejoiced. It was not the sciatica though it was just as painful. I hobbled upstairs, took a couple of painkillers, which I haven’t needed in days, laid down and slept for nearly four hours. I sort of shortened that last part of the narration for the sake of brevity as it took a while for me to find a spot where I was comfortable and without pain. When I finally did, I was out for the count. Fern, the cat, and Gracie, the dog, joined me. When I finally woke up, it was quite dark, I was dying of thirst and I needed to go to the bathroom. For me, I knew that last one would be the litmus test. Will the pain be gone? Would I be fast enough? The gnome must have been napping as I was able to walk to the bathroom with barely any pain. It was a leisurely stroll. That may not sound like a major accomplishment, but when I had to use the walker and the cane I had such pain I could barely walk and had to plan a trip to the bathroom in advance.

The pain is slight now, but I’m in a bit of trouble. I missed some of those 8 thousand needles. On my last trip to the kitchen, I stopped and picked up a few, but I see trouble ahead. I doubt those needles will be the last.