Trigger Thumb

I have graduated from a Big Foot to a “Trigger Thumb!”

Perhaps I am suffering from Early Onset Old Age Decrepincy.

Decrepincy is my own self inspired word that is an extension of  the state of being decrepit.

After all, what would you call the systematic deterioration of body parts?

I am out of the Big Foot boot after wearing it for seven months (for bone marrow edema), and out of a different brace after wearing that for weeks (for plantar fasciitis).

  And now I am wearing a splint for a Trigger Thumb!

This malady is supposedly caused by overuse and may be the only part of my decrepit body that gets overused!

My right thumb now bends and clicks just like pulling the trigger of a gun!  And no, this has nothing to do with 2nd Amendment rights either.

I feel a kinship with John Wayne  though, the silver screen cowboy who used his trigger fingers (or thumb?) to blast away at evil doers!

 

John Wayne

The term”trigger finger” makes a bit more sense than a trigger thumb,  but there you have it – Decrepincy knows no bounds.

Get ready my friends in the blog-us-fear – I’ll meet you at the OK Corral!

For inquiring bloggers who have never heard of my latest malady:

“Trigger finger, also known as stenosing tenosynovitis (stuh-NO-sing ten-o-sin-o-VIE-tis), is a condition in which one of your fingers gets stuck in a bent position. Your finger may straighten with a snap — like a trigger being pulled and released.

Trigger finger occurs when inflammation narrows the space within the sheath that surrounds the tendon in the affected finger. If trigger finger is severe, your finger may become locked in a bent position.

People whose work or hobbies require repetitive gripping actions are at higher risk of developing trigger finger. The condition is also more common in women…”.

Source:  www.mayoclinic.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Exploring New Territory

Bill and I  have been gone for about two weeks on another Wild West trip.  I missed you, my blogger friends, and though I tried to keep up and comment on your fabulous posts, the landscape and vacation pressures kept getting in the way.  We returned to reality yesterday and have been sleeping things off all day today.  I call it a Travelogue Hangover.

I hope you haven’t forgotten me…….

New Driver Offers to Lead the Way

We discovered a new driver hiring out chauffeur services when we hit Arizona, but he was a bit too short to manage the itinerary.

Where did we go?

Phoenix, Arizona to see friends.   Sedona, Arizona to share vistas and fun.   Las Vegas for heart pounding excitement.  And Carlsbad, California for family and whales.

I know this is supposed to be a “Virginia Views” site, but the next few blog posts will be about a Virginian’s views of an alien world.

 

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A Remarkable Photographer

Look at this!

The Wild West as you have never seen it before!

Photographs by Timothy O’Sullivan, a 19th century photographer.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149899/The-American-West-youve-seen-Amazing-19th-century-pictures-landscape-chartered-time.html?ITO=1490#axzz2KbjoiK00

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Visiting the Wild West

CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME! 

We somehow found our way to a very comfortable timeshare in Escondido, California (in the Wild West).  It’s about an hour from San Diego and 30 minutes from Carlsbad.  My brother and sister-in-law live in San Diego.  Our son and his family live in Carlsbad.

I know California is supposed to be civilized because the settlers struggled and endured all manner of hardships to tame it and that settled that.  Nevertheless, I consider a trip to California is still only for the bravest explorers.  Imagine what the pioneers experienced in their Conestoga wagons.  I wonder if they had traffic jams like today.  Maybe if one wagon got stuck, the others would bottleneck behind it.  Did they know they could drink from cactus?  Did they travel the road we are now lost upon?  But I digress.

Our Wonderful Timeshare in Escondido

Timeshare Morning Walk

If Only the Pioneers Had Lola!

Although we felt like perpetual pioneers, we were fortunate enough to have a GPS guide named Lola.  However, once outside our vacation unit and in a car, we were inevitably lost; lost within the timeshare itself; lost on roads and freeways; lost in parking lots.  Remember I predicted this?  And we took along our Garmin thing too with the GPS gal we named Lola.  And by the time we found our way around, it was time to go home to Virginia.  Gripping the door handle or the overhead thingy, worrying about the next wrong turn has left me slightly arthritic and perhaps perpetually paranoid.  I never did have this eye tic before or the twitching in the neck.  Could it be that because Bill is left handed he manages to consistently turn in the wrong directions?  How can anyone make four wrong turns in a parking lot in broad daylight under clear California skies? And no, I am not exaggerating.

But How Was Our Trip?

Well, we did get to visit with family and friends even though one family member had just been in the hospital for chest pains (that turned out to be nothing), another getting intravenous antibiotics for a skin infection, and another with a kidney stone waiting to descend!  All of these things happened two days before our arrival, and all of them had happy endings about the time we left (with the exception of the kidney stone which is still lurking somewhere).  And no, we are not all really that old and decrepit even though it seems so.  My hair color was black before we left and now, a week later, it’s white!  Try to picture me with black hair, o.k.? – and without the tic.

California weather was HOT upon arrival… like up around 100 degrees, then cooled off a bit in a few days.  Skies were oh-so-clear and there were lovely breezes even inland, but especially toward the beach areas.

What Did We See or Do?

Well, we went to a Beatles concert that was so real the old-time fans in the audience were swaying and singing along with the  young impersonators who were truly fantastic.  I wanted badly to sing too but my voice is so bad it makes people flee the room.  When my grandgirls want their father to leave they say, “Sing Grammy!” Did you really want to know that?

The Beatles Live Again

We also went to a funny cowboy town called Temecula and cruised on foot in and out of the shops but didn’t buy anything much. At least on foot we found our way.  I think Old Temecula is sort of like a ghost town where you walk on plank sidewalks and everything is the way it probably was.  They do have food and water and bathrooms though – not like when the pioneers arrived.

Temecula Court House

Temecula, California
An Odd Wild West Building

We took a ride around Carlsbad and had a wonderful dinner there.  We had dinner at our son’s lovely home.

We had a lot of wonderful dinners in California – and lunches – and breakfasts – and snacks – and bread!  We found the most scrumptious bread ever.  I would have gone back for more but we found it on one of our lost detours and I’m sure we could never find it again.

And having gained at least five pounds, we went home.

I like California a lot, but –

I like home better.

I love home.

We don’t get lost here.

Related articles

• Everything’s Bigger in California (countryliving4beginners.wordpress.com)
• Rare Wild West Photos (broeder10.wordpress.com)

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Everything’s Bigger in California

I know. I know.  Texans claim everything is bigger there.  But my husband, Bill, and I just came back from California and we are convinced California wins.

Bigger Sky

Big Sky in California

Bigger Ice Cream Sundaes

BIG Ice Cream Sundae

Bigger Breakfasts

BIG Breakfast

Bigger Lunches

BIG Lunch

Bigger Bunnies

BIG Fearless Rabbit

Bigger Flowers

California Flora

I realize these photographs are not your typical touristic impressions.  Other more traditional pictures in blog posts will follow describing our week in the Wild West.  Stay tuned please!

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