A tale of two stickies

Take a look at this picture:

On the left you see a very dilapidated golf club, a one iron of some ancient make probably used by the Morris clan (golf joke) and left in a garage sale.  The paint wasn't on there originally.  Just an added touch to being stuck in a garage by a guy who found that he could not play golf, but could hit a ball with a stick and follow it around.  I just didn't feel the need to pay some stranger for the use of their land to hit the little ball and follow it around privileges.

The club has a MS use though.  A few times a week I grab the club, stand in the grass, assume the position, and take a good swing.  If I remain standing, its a good day.  If I come down goofy or start to tumble, this is not a good day and I should be careful.  So while my one iron and its friends in the bag sitting in my garage may never see a golf course again, they do remind me of another day when I could freely play a sport I sucked at.

Now as for the stick in the middle of the photo, that's my new walking stick.  On Friday, Jackie and I went to the Southern Vermont Craft Fair in Manchester, Vermont.  This has been a tradition for many years and we'd stay at local B & Bs and go to the Craft Fair at the rolling lawns of Hildene, the former home of Robert Todd Lincoln and his family.  Highly recommended. Well, the bed and breakfasts closed.  And this year the Craft Fair moved to the other side of Manchester.  Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, said Mr. Bowie.

Time to turn and face the strain.  The Craft Fair is in the midst of a field, a Vermont field, meaning rocks and little gullies and tiny holes, and if you have any problem with coordination, and I believe lots of MSers do, here was a challenge.  If I held my wife's hand I could move pretty well, going from booth to booth, but the moment she stopped to look at jewelry or whatever and I continued on my own, any quick turn or "excuse me" step out of the way might send me reeling into any booth anywhere, and I'd find myself staring at a piece of crockery that would only set me back three hundred bucks.  I'd mumble some excuse like "Astounding work. I must remind the Queen." and move along, find Jackie and head out.

We got a drink and hit the food tent where free samples were distributed.  My favorite was the rye whiskey (butterscotch in a paper shot cup).  When we left the food tent, we headed out to the tents off to themselves on the other side of the field.  There was the temporary abode of Debi Hitter, purveyor of custom made walking sticks (Eagle Scout sticks a specialty).  I ended up with one of the those sticks, and used it successfully to move around the craft with slightly more balance.  The stick also opens up new possibilities for career options:

1. Religious leader  (i.e. Moses) - see the staff in his right hand - by the way, the statue is in Washington Park in Albany NY, and this shot was taken during the Tulip Festival held each May.  Let's see, I might  ask my former employer to "let my people go", but they would, and then try and run the Department of Social Services with trained monkeys  (a lot easier to pass out bananas than support).  And where would I lead my people anyway? Across the street for lunch? The parking lot?
2. Robin Hood - there's that scene in every Robin Hood movie and parody from Mel Brooks to Daffy Duck where Robin and Little John parry with quarterstaffs, like this.  See maybe I could become the local Jedi Knight for the Luther Forest area.  There must be an opening somewhere.  I know my first enemy, the chipmunks in the back yard.  Not those:

but these:

I figure a swing or two with my new Jedi stick (I can make the noises) and those little buggers will head off into the Endor forests.

3. Join one of those German groups with the leiderhosen, and the sticks with the jingle bells on them, but I'd probably be asleep in my chair by the second song, so never mind.

I'll try to come up with other stick uses (open for suggestions).  Right now I'll use it on tough walking days.  It's better than a wheelchair.  It's a reminder that tough days may be ahead, but I can handle them in style.  The lady who made the stick is also interested in providing others to the MS group.

From the update pile: I've got appointments with both my new psychiatrist and neuro this month, and just need to step away from my old psych (who I noticed in the newspaper today didn't pay his taxes and got slapped by the Feds), and do my paperwork to transfer stuff. Best of luck to my old neuro as she moves to New Jersey.  I found that out through a meeting of the minds of the two people who showed up at the support group Thursday.  I could not have met a more gracious lady, and I hope the group works out.

As always, more to come....Thanks for reading... 750 hits.   I am honored.