Thursday 13 September 2012

Winding Down


Photo Copyright: Maggie May

It seems that we have been waiting all summer for some sun but it has been an abominable spring and summer and we are still waiting for good weather, here in England. Now there is that hint of coldness in the early mornings and the evenings are drawing in. It will seem a long winter next time round after having no summer weather at all.

I am making slow progress, not so much pain now but pins and needles all down one leg and a really strange heavy feeling in it. I am definitely unable to do many of the tasks that I took for granted before.
I have had to arrange help for the gardening and that is quite frustrating.
I am beginning to appreciate the way my parents felt when they were winding down, but at the time it was happening, I didn't really understand how they felt about letting go and I used to get irritable with them. Maybe this is what happens throughout the generations. Maybe this is how its always been and always will be. Maybe everyone will know what it feels like when their turn comes and then they will remember how it was with their parents. Or maybe they won't.

I still cannot pick up the rabbits but am able to clean them out a bit better now. Makes me wonder if I should have them at all really if I can't see to all their needs. However, they do make us both laugh with their antics and the way they chase each other round their run and up the ramp into their sleeping quarters and back again. They like to trash their bedding and throw out all the hay. They seem to be laughing at me when I have to pick it up with my long handled grasper and put it all back in order, only to have them do the same thing all over again. Its a bit like when a baby chucks the rattle from out of its pram and realises there is a little game to be had when a grown up comes and pick it up again only for the same thing to happen repeatedly. The grown up gets fed up before too long. The rabbits don't seem to get fed up with this game though.

Hoping that readers will be enjoying the beginning of autumn or the beginning of spring, if you are in the southern hemisphere and that your weather is behaving in a way that is normal for where you are.


19 comments:

Irene said...

In my work I am confronted all the time with older people who are temporarily restricted in their normal movements so I know how frustrating that is. It's a wonderful thing to see them improve over the weeks and have them be in charge of their own lives again. No doubt that will happen with you too. These people get lots of physical therapy and exercises to do on their own and that helps a lot. xox

dianefaith said...

Wish I could have sent you part of our summer. We had too much of it -- hot and humid in July and August -- and September is a breeze of blessing here.

I've enjoyed watching my adult children have kids of their own and see how difficult it can be. Before that, they expected to do far better than their own parents (me included) did. Same thing with getting older. As you say, I begin to understand how that works, far more than I did when my mother was aging.

Glad you're feeling better.

Celia said...

I regret not having more awareness for my parents difficulties in later life. They did do their best to hide their decline from us as long as they could, as did many of their generation. I guess that old saying about walking a mile in someone else's shoes holds true. Keep up the good work though Maggie, sometimes its so hard to keep pushing ourselves.

Rosaria Williams said...

Our parents were much more private than we are. I tell my children how we are; explain what we need help in and how life is changing for us. They may not comprehend the entire thing, but they get the gist.

Glad the rabbits entertain you. Sorry to hear about your health issues.

Rose said...

Glad to hear that your pain has lessened, Maggie, but not that you're still limited in what you can do. My parents are both still with me, thank God, but I remember how frustrated and depressed my Dad was after his last stroke. He had always been physically active--farming until he was 80--and it was so hard for him to accept his limitations. He's doing much better now; there are many things he can no longer do, but he keeps active as much as possible, keeping mentally active, if not physically active.

I think the important thing is to find something that we can continue to enjoy--your rabbits sound like the perfect entertainment. Can you still do your crocheting/knitting as well?

I feel bad about all my griping about our hot and dry weather this summer; I wouldn't want endless days without sun either.

Keeping you in my thoughts and wishing you well,

Rose

Sally Wessely said...

I'm glad to hear you are doing better, but of course, it is sad to hear you are still not able to do all you would like to be doing.

I think of this winding down thing a lot lately also. I hear what you are saying. It seemed to hit suddenly. I wish I had the energy of just a few years back. I also understand my parents more today than I ever did. I also wonder if my kids will think back and finally understand the stage of life that I am now entering. For now, they are not always as understanding.

Mya said...

I can understand how not being able to tend the garden must be very frustrating - make sure you get out there as much as you can still, even if just to soak up the (let's hope) Indian summer the UK is about to have!You have made me want to speak to my parents, to check they are OK, instead of just boring them with my own selfish concerns - I shall telephone them tonight. Thanks Maggie.

Mya xx

John Nicoll said...

My absolute best wishes to you. Pain is such a debilitating thing. God bless you!

Jeni said...

Ah Maggie -I do believe you've hit the nail on the head with your assessment of the aging process -in your/our parents and then, down to us. Funny thing how that works and how much realization we gain over the years and now we are the ones facing the declines, aren't we? I see it here in my own life, with my kids as they wend their own ways, often not even conversing with me throughout the day or at least, at the end of the day. I was accustomed to being out and about and around people -lots of people -for so long and now, rarely does the phone ring for me, no one invites me to go for a drink or shopping, to a movie. Of course, I really can't afford a steady diet of activities like that but every now and then, would be nice, would ease the depression I feel settling in on me. And waking up now to some chllly mornings does nothing to improve my moods either nor do the chill of autumn rains that seem to settle in my joints faster than before. oh the litany we could all sing -an ode to aging, huh? Better days ahead -gotta start or keep thinking that!

Ladybird World Mother said...

A wise post, and one that will make me think...
Autumn? Really??!! Oh, dear, I suppose so. Better get my nice warm socks out and order some logs for the fire. Got to have some compensations for the grim weather! xx

Secret Agent Woman said...

I think for the most part we can't really understand what the generation before us went through until we reach each stage of it ourselves. I'm glad you are feeling some improvement.

Happy Frog and I said...

You are very wise Maggie as can be seen from this post and the comment on my recent post. I don't think we ever really know what those before us truly experience until we go through it ourselves. Perhaps that's why we like reading stories so much, we like to have an inkling of what might be to come but we don't fully appreciate it until we actually experience it ourselves.

Hilary said...

I'm glad your pain is easing but wish that your discomfort was banished completely. I'm glad your rabbits are so entertaining. Pets sure are part of the family.

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

I always feel a little sad when the autumnal feel is in the air and particularly this year when we have had a fairly dismal summer. I know what you are saying about getting older - I watch my mother sometimes and wonder if that is how I shall be, if I get to her age!

Akelamalu said...

Having just enjoyed 16 days of fabulous weather in the USA it's such a shock to come back to this miserable stuff here.

Winding down can be so frustrating as the aches and pains and slowing down really do creep up on one. :(

Brian Miller said...

oy wish i could take it away but glad it is getting better...it does give us interesting perspective though on our own parents....esp as my parents are starting to get there....

Suldog said...

The weather here is beginning to turn toward cool and crisp. It is my favorite time of the year.

You are in my prayers today.

Suburbia said...

A temporary slowing down I hope Maggie. So glad your bunnies are keeping up your spirits, you must keep them.

xx

Jinksy said...

You fuchsias are a sight for sore eyes, Maggie - I have no pinks left in my garden, but white, lavender and blue is till dotted around - my blue flowers you saw are Ceratostigma Plumbaginoides, commonly known as plumbago! They really zing against the golden green choisya - however you spell it. LOL