Buckets of Rain in January

January is Minnesota is often bitterly cold, as it was for the first two weeks of 2010. A few years ago, I knitted myself a soft, very warm scart that I wind around my head and face if I make the mistake of going out for a walk that turns out to be longer than originally intended. I wouldn't have needed that scarf in the last 10 days, even if I had been able to go out for a walk. Most days, the temperature has been above freezing.

I was hoping to venture out a little farther afield today, perhaps down to Fort Snelling State Park, to see the deer. I abandoned that idea as the morning wore on and puddles of water began to collect on the snow. The sidewalk is both mushy and slick. No amount of grit can make it safe. There will be no deer watching today, nor my usual Saturday evening Mass, either.  Nothing good could come out of a walk on the ice.

In the last week, I have avoided using the Continuous Passive Movement Machine. It is a very heavy piece of equipment with a crude device that holds the lower leg and bends it, at the knee, to a predetermined angle and back to 180%, a set number of times perhour. The angle must be increased over time, with the objective of attaining the maximum possible range of motion in the affected leg. While its effectiveness is subject to debate among orthopedists, my doctor and the U of M are major believers so I was sent home with one "on loan".

My first attempt to use it last Sunday was unsuccessful. The pain was excruciating as Bob strapped me into it, a device that would not seem out of place in a museum of medieval torture pieces. I swore off it until today, when my leg felt so stiff that I was willing to try it one more time. Let's just say that it keeps every moving well, if not merrily.

I'm off the machine now, sitting with a blanket around myself, watching the US Figure Skating Championships. I have to say that it's wonderful to watch an afternoon of skating, feeling no guilt! I've begun the obligatory hand wringing that necessarily precedes the Vikings Saints game late tomorrow afternoon in New Orleans. If the Vikings make it to the Super Bowl, I don't know if I can take the excitement!