Another Birthday Creation from Darrell

Our friend Darrell is so inventive with his birthday card creations. Last night he amazed me again with these pumpkin cards. The occasion was an early birthday dinner for me and our friend Rudy at Mary Ann’s house.

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My great Pauls are Bunyan, Ru, Ryan (strictly for his ironic value, Darrell explained), McCarthy, Newman, and Cézanne.  Rudy’s great Rudies are Kipling, Nureyev, the movie of the same name, Giuliani, Valentino, and York (the ball player, not the sergeant).

In related birthday news, We bought a Roku box and set up the family room TV for streaming. That’s my birthday present this year. What, no iPhone? I wanted an iPhone! (holds breath, realizes no one gives a shit, goes back to breathing again)

I mentioned my ongoing knee problems in some earlier posts. Earlier this week my doctor sent me for x-rays and the results indicate my knees … yes, both of ’em … are worse than either of us initially thought. Moderate to severe osteoarthritis in both, with some “loose bodies” floating around in my left knee. Pieces of cartilage, I hope, not bone chips. So I’m going in for an orthopedic consultation next week to see where we go from here. I’m hoping arthroscopic surgery on the left knee will take care of the loose bodies. Possibly arthroscopic surgery on the right knee as well. Worst case will be a new knee or two. Oh, well, I’m old enough now that a knee replacement will last the rest of my life.

This didn’t come about from running across the street two months ago. I first injured my left knee in 1994 on a long hash run in Honolulu. I didn’t get arthroscopic surgery then and kept on running. I had to give up running a few years later when my knees told me they couldn’t take it any more, but I continued to walk hash trails and ride bicycles. This time my knees not only told me they can’t take it any more, they used strong language. For the past several weeks I’ve barely been able to walk, and after pulling air museum duty a few times had to admit to myself that I can’t continue doing that until my knees are repaired.

So: not good. I should have taken better care of my knees. I hope they’re salvageable. I hope to be able to at least continue bicycling. I’ve always been active; these next couple of months are going to be hard. I’ll keep you posted.

Kids, take good care of your knees. And always wear sunblock.

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