Good to Know

There are many things I've learned over the years. One of the most practical lessons I learned the hard way. It is this: "Never run from a thunderstorm while carrying a bag of cabbage." While not one of the great truths of life it is a good thing to know. 

Cabbages can be heavy and when they are in a plastic shopping bag dangling from your hand they can exert a force on your arm in a rather unpleasant jerking sort of way. If you happen to be running from, say a thunderstorm, the jerking force of a dangling cabbage is greater than if you were casually strolling back to your car with the cabbage.  If, upon arriving at your car, heavy drops of rain begin to hit you in the head and you decide to fling the bag of cabbage into the passenger compartment of your car, you will, most likely, somewhat dislocate your shoulder. It will hurt very much. There will be attendant tendonitis. This will also hurt even after the bones are popped back into place by your friendly neighborhood chiropractor. Fortunately after several days of ice packs and Ibuprofen you will once again, be able to dress yourself; like a big girl. 

This did, in fact, happen to me a few summers ago. It was a miserable experience. As a result I no longer run from rain as if I were made of sugar and my shoulder is prone to tendonitis. Knowing this you would think I'd be ever vigilant of my biomechanics while handling large bags of produce.

This time it was potatoes.

I thought I was being careful. I was carrying them with both hands. What I failed to take into account was the handbag slung over my shoulder. You see the handle of this bag isn't really long enough and when I sling it over my shoulder it ends up between my arm and my ribs. When I'm carrying something like, oh, a twenty pound bag of potatoes, while the bag is slung over my shoulder, the bag acts like a fulcrum. While not quite as awful as "The Cabbage Incident", this did put me out of commission for about ten days.

Knitting and crocheting were out of the question. I tried anyway. I'm addicted. I can't help myself. If I don't knit, crochet or paint for a couple of hours each day I just don't feel right. I get crabby. It's because of this that I injured my hand. I'm not really clear on what I did exactly but, since I couldn't move my right arm the way I normally do, I think my left hand was compensating.

It was a sad day when I woke up at two in the morning with a cramped up hand and a sore shoulder. Normally, if I wake up in the middle of the night I look at this as bonus knitting/crocheting/painting time. Not this night. I was quite a sight. The only way to get comfortable was to prop up my right arm so it wasn't pulling on the shoulder. To calm down the hand I needed a place to rest it. It took some doing. Finally I fixed it so I was propped up in bed with an ice pack on my right shoulder and a hot pack on my left hand. I was too sore to sleep and too tired to do anything else. I watched "Stripes" because it's funny and the only thing on the television that wasn't news or an infomercial. Somewhere before the end of the movie I did fall asleep and woke up in the exact same position. I don't know why I didn't end up with a stiff neck. It would have been poetic.

I feel better now. I'm so grateful there is nothing seriously wrong with me.

I finished up some socks and I made some progress on the "should have worn to Rhinebeck" sweater. I'll post pictures next time.

Comments

[Claudia]

Ouch! You poor thing! Glad you are feeling better, I try and keep that in mind next time I buy cabbage in the rain. I have enough problems with my shoulder already.