"Punxsutawney Phil...

has nothing on me." Seems I, like this precocious beaver, had grandiose aspirations of coming out of hibernation to embrace a new season of promise only to see his shadow and retreat reluctantly back into the comfort of his burrow for a few additional weeks of solitude. So has it been with me. My desire to pick up once again with regular entries to this blog that was my practice prior to my surgery has been reluctantly curtailed during the past several weeks due to my body's continuing need to stay focused on regaining the strength I need to again burst forth to embrace a new a season of promise and opportunity. I think I am out of my personal burrow this time to stay.

I am still experiencing some lingering discomfort on the left hand side of my chest, in my neck and along the inner portion of my upper left arm, but all is bearable and "to be expected" according to my surgeon. A couple of Advils a couple of times a day seems to address those physical issues. I still find that I tire easily (also "to be expected"), which finds me giving in to the urge to take importune naps throughout the day. Haven't taking these many afternoon siestas since I was in kindergarten! Not un-welcomed believe me, but it sure puts a hole in one's day.

My mental acuity continues to steadily improve. I am thinking more clearly, but there remains still a noticeable lag between the brain and the finger tips. My inner dictionary and thesaurus have suffered little from non-use, but knowing the words and remembering how to spell them are still divided by a rather annoying chasm. Can I get an "Amen" for Spell Check? Practice makes perfect, so the more I continue to engage the old cranium to perform mental gymnastics the quicker I will be back to putting together cogent thoughts verbally and on paper. There's nothing more frustrating than to be engaged in a conversation and to suddenly go blank trying to think of the next series of thoughts that were so crystal clear just a moment ago. Gee...I hope that is related to my surgery recovery and is not to be attributed to my just getting on in years. Oh well...

Hopefully I will continue to find the daily renewal of physical and mental strength to again engage more frequently in this exercise of communicating my random thoughts on random subjects if for no one elses benefit but my own. In the mean time I think I am over due for another afternoon rendezvous with the living room couch. Later...but hopefully not too much later.