Dunkirk NY – I had a rehearsal last night for a benefit reading I am participating in for Shakespeare in Delaware Park. I always help out when I can with their fundraisers because I’ve been offered so many opportunities with the company all these years that I feel it’s the least I can do. I had to drive up in the dark since it gets dark by 5 PM now, and that actually took just a bit of adjustment. It’s the first time I’ve been out on my own for an extended period of time, and the most amount of driving I’ve done in over two weeks. I really don’t have much to do – just two small scenes – and we are doing all this on book. So it’s not all that taxing.
Nonetheless, I found that I had to get my leg elevated after a bit. It wasn’t that I was in pain or anything. It felt more like fatigue in the leg, like the leg was just getting tired. I also wanted to keep the leg moving as well, so in between scenes I walked around a bit. The rehearsal went longer than I expected, and when I got home I immediately slapped some ice on it. The biggest mistake I made, however, was stopping at Wendy’s and picking up two junior bacon cheeseburgers and small fries. I think that sat in my stomach all night and caused a bit of restlessness. The gig is next weekend, so I have until Sunday evening to rest before doing that again.
I think the fatigue factor is perhaps most annoying. I honestly don’t have a lot of pain, no more at this point than one would experience with, say, a sprain or slight twist. But I do at times feel the fatigue. Simple tasks like cleaning up after dinner or rolling the summer tires down to the basement are tiring. I presume my body is putting a lot of effort into repairing that knee, perhaps more effort than I can really sense. But like all recoveries, it gets boring to sit around all day and accomplish very little.
Yet that is another thing to consider – what is there to accomplish? And why should I be concerned about that? Perhaps I am over-concerned with this idea of getting things accomplished. The question has been on my mind since retiring, and at some point I need to settle this question. Not today. But at some point. -twl