New Knee, New Toad, New Art

 

 Sonja and a bag of frozen peas, giving my surgical knee comfort 

Another month without a blog post, but this time I have a huge reason why:  I had a total knee replacement in late July.  That's the reason we moved to Tucson for the summer, and now most of what I needed to accomplish here has happened, and I'm just about ready to move on.

I spent three nights in the hospital and then two weeks in a rehab facility where I got PT, OT and speech therapy nearly every day.  (I didn't know I needed speech therapy, but I'd been living with chronic pain for years, and that took a toll on my memory and information processing skills.)  I've been back home in my motorhome for three weeks today.

I wish I could say it's been a steady recovery, but realistically there are steps forward and backward.  Fortunately more steps forward than backward.  

The trike I've coveted ever since I left Oregon in the Guppy in 2011!  Now mine!

I've been exercising using my new folding adult tricycle that I bought on sale at Camping World.  I can ride it a couple of times around the RV park, during the cooler parts of the morning or evening.  I'm also doing a lot of exercise in the RV park's pool, where I can flex and extend my knee easily in the water. 

The pool at South 40 RV Ranch in Tucson

I bought a Geo Tracker last fall to use as my tow car, but I have never felt very comfortable in it, so last week I bought a 2006 Chevrolet HHR which I will use as my toad instead.  I have too much arthritis to be comfortable in a really basic car.

My new toad, "Blue"

I am getting to where some days I can do some artwork again.  Here is the last painting I did before my surgery:

 

 Rain Dance, 24 x 24 inches, acrylic on canvas

And here is a work-in-progress that I've been doing since I got home:

Awesome Wonder, 24 x 36 inches, currently an acrylic painting, 

but it will become mixed-media

 

That's pretty much all the news for now.  I'm going to be heading back to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, in a few weeks and will spend the fall and part of the winter there.  I have two art shows coming up in TorC, and it will be fun to get back to where I have more of a social life.  

Like a Bad Country Western Song

Last week I was planning to take the tow bar that my friend Brian had given me to the mechanic, have him install it, and then I figured I'd zip off to Arizona within a few days.  But it didn't go exactly like that.  

"There was a hitch in my travel plans, and I'm chained to the place I am."

Twang-twang!  Sing it, Sister!

It's all gonna be fine, though.  It turns out that the base plate that was already attached to my Tracker fits the Blue Ox tow bars.  So I checked into buying one of those, decided to buy a used one from an online seller, and should have it here by FedEx today...or tomorrow...or whenever.

In the meantime, Steve heard the anxiety in my voice while we were on the phone one night, and now he is here to help me with the details of getting the Beluga and Tracker road-ready, and he'll be making the trip back to Arizona with me.  Yay!  

It's a good thing he's here, too.  I seem to have a mental blank spot when it comes to adding water to my various batteries, and everything was down and problematic when he got here.

Maybe another verse?  

"I'm powerless to leave this town, because I let my battery levels get down..."

I also found out that I needed to have some wiring done in both the Tracker and on the back end of the Beluga to get the lights set up for towing.  I mentioned in my last blog entry that I was working with Travis at Pit Stop here in Truth or Consequences, NM.  He's been doing really good work for me and has helped me a lot, so here's another pitch for him and his new business.

"I'm getting wired to travel, and so is my tow,
When everything's done, I'll be ready to go..."

Friends ask me when I'm leaving, and I am glad I've learned to be comfortable in the unknowing.

Gearing Up to Tow My New Toad

I'll be leaving Truth or Consequences within the next week or so.  I'm not picking the date of departure yet.  I'm trying to get a bunch of stuff done by the end of the week, and then I can leave whichever day I feel ready to go.

On Thursday, I'll take down my solo art show that I talked about in my last blog post, and my friend Janice and I will be hanging a group show in its place.  It's an annual Postcard Show.  All of the pieces are 4 x 6 inches, but they can be any media.  It will be interesting to see what people contribute.  The prices will be moderate (nothing over $50) and the Happy Belly Deli takes a reasonable commission.  So we're all hoping that there will be some impulse holiday gift purchases  made, and that all of the artists will make some money.

 I'm punctuating this blog entry with my own postcards, which are acrylic on canvas board.  

 I don't need to stick around to take this show down--Janice will do that in January.  I also left about 10 of my own paintings at Grapes Gallery to be shown for the next couple of months.  

The biggest news for me in the past couple of weeks is that I bought a toad!  This was not something I was planning to do immediately.  I had a 1998 Ford Windstar minivan that I'd been keeping here in Truth or Consequences as my getting around vehicle, and I wanted to get it sold before I leave for Why, Arizona, for the winter.  But I did not expect to replace it so quickly with a smaller vehicle that I could tow behind the Beluga.  I figured on buying a toad in Arizona sometime over the winter.

But, lucky me!  I saw a nice 1992 Geo Tracker parked on a nearby street with a "for sale" sign on it, and I managed to get the van sold quickly to a friend.  So now when I leave for Arizona, I'll be driving this big honking Class A motorhome that I'm not yet altogether comfortable driving yet, while towing a car, which I've never done before.  Oh, boy!  

The Tracker already had a base plate, and my friend Brian gave me a tow bar which I'm having installed tomorrow morning.  I also went to buy a hitch for the back of the motorhome today.  I've met a nice mechanic here in TorC, Travis from Pit Stop on Date Street, who has been super to work with on several things lately.  (That's a recommendation to anyone who needs work done while in this area!)

I had a very nice Thanksgiving with friends, and I'm relishing my last few visits to coffee shops, thrift stores, book shops, etc., here in Truth or Consequences. 

That's all the news from me for now.  After staying in one place for nearly half a year, I'm pretty busy stowing things away and wrapping up business here.