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The Aardsma Weekly
August 3, 2008
Writer: Rachel Aardsma
That's One Long Hole
Lots has happened since I last posted a Weekly. Almost a month has passed. Beka has turned sixteen and Mom has turned fifty-four. We've gone places and done things and met new people. The Fourth of July has come and gone (very eventfully). We've worked really hard and sold enough vegetables to feed an army. We're also in the middle of installing major drainage tile on the north side of our property. A new puppy and a new cat have added a little more fun and frustration to our lives. All in all, it's summer and we've been busy.
I suppose the first thing all of you want to know is what actually happened to my wrist. Two readers wrote to me asking me to tell the whole story, so here is a majorly abbreviated version...
I climbed up a tree late on the afternoon of the Fourth of July while watching Matthew move his two big cows from one pen to another. I offered to get some hay to distract the cows with, and thereby assist with the moving process. On my way down I missed the last of the unevenly-spaced boards nailed into the tree that act as steps, and fell about four feet. I landed on my right ankle, and then fell onto my outstretched left hand. When I got up, my ankle was throbbing and my whole left arm was numb. I spent the rest of the evening in some of the worst pain of my life. My ankle and wrist both swelled up, and I couldn't use either. Dad put my wrist in a brace we had, and Mom did research online. I was afraid my wrist might be broken, but we finally decided that I had the symptoms of a scaphoid fracture. A scaphoid fracture is a fracture of the scaphoid bone directly below the thumb.
The next morning Mom and I drove to the emergency room and after two hours of waiting (they were busy!!), had my wrist and ankle x-rayed and examined. The ER doctor was very nice, which was good because I don't like doctors in general. He said that they couldn't tell with initial x-rays whether or not I had a scaphoid fracture. So they splinted my wrist, gave me a sling and instructions for what to do for swelling and pain, and sent me home. For a week I couldn't do much. My ankle got better rapidly, even though I couldn't use it for major things, but my wrist was useless. I got to see what it might be like to have only one hand. My family was great about helping me do everything from brushing my hair to opening jars, things I couldn't do properly with just one hand. I re-gained use of my left fingers, which were pretty useless for the first few days, but still couldn't type because of the splint. That's why I stopped writing the Weekly.
Caleb, Timmy, and me on a big flat car at a train museum we visited a few Sundays back. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get up on one of those things in a long skirt! Photo by Mom.
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After a week I went to see our family doctor who examined my wrist and said it didn't look like I had a scaphoid fracture, and that I could take the splint off!! I was very glad to get it off. So, what was the aftermath of my little accident? Well, I have a fairly weak left wrist. I have had to work on building the strength in my wrist again. It swells a little and gets achy when I use it too much. As for my ankle, it has become very weak. I don't know if I will have a weak ankle for the rest of my life, or if it will soon grow strong again. I trip and fumble a lot more then I used to, and have to be careful how I position my legs when sitting on the ground or floor. Too much pressure on the ankle causes pain and mild swelling. I am constantly getting mini sprains, which I understand is normal with a severely sprained ankle.
Besides that, I learned a few things. I learned all about getting x-rayed, and what an ER is like. I learned that I will be five feet six inches for the rest of my life. (The doctor showed me something on the x-ray, a joint or something, that is done growing, which means I am also done growing.) I also learned to be very grateful for two hands. Oh yes, and now I can only sleep in one position: with my left arm above my head. When I wore a splint, this was the only comfortable way to sleep because the splint was hard, cold, and uncomfortable in a bed where usually there is nothing but warmth and softness. So I started sleeping with my left arm above my head where I wouldn't be laying on the splint. After a week of doing this, it became a habit and now I find myself in this same position every night! I thought it took longer then a week to form a habit, but I guess not!
Nothing too exciting has happened since I last wrote. Beka had a very good birthday back in June. She turned sixteen complete with a huge card signed by all her friends from all over the U.S. (we asked people to e-mail greetings for us to paste into the card). I got up early Sunday morning to decorate the dining room with balloons and garlands, and to set out all the sweet sixteen decorations Mom had picked up at yard sales. I really liked the way everything looked. Caleb was fascinated with the personalized favor bags I had filled and decorated. Each bag was decorated in stickers that had something to do with the individual recipient. After lunch, Beka opened her cards and presents. She was so surprised with her card! But the biggest surprise of all came after the presents.
I had been warning her for weeks that we were going to give her a present that would make her cry. She declared that she did not want a present that would make her cry, and besides she never cried except when she was really sad. But she did indeed cry when Dad walked in carrying a bouquet of six huge, beautiful red roses. In fact, we all cried. Nobody quite knew why, but for a few minutes the scene took on a slightly damp look. I then had the triumph of telling Beka that I told her she would cry. She was feeling too emotional to answer.
Our new puppy, Farley, apparently got a little bored of watching Matthew answer e-mails. Photo by me.
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Mom also had a good birthday, but not a quite so sensational one. I had intended to make her a card, but my wrist kept me from doing that. Dad made her one instead. We took up a collection for repairs on our hallway wall that she had asked to have fixed. Dad took her out for a day of shopping and fun, while the rest of us at home...well, suffice it to say we don't get to enjoy the absence of both parents at the same time very often, and we took full advantage of it.
As for the new puppy and the new cat, the cat is mine and the puppy is Matthew's. The cat, a 2-year-old gray male I named Jack, was a half-starved stray I adopted nearly a month ago. After a week of coaxing his trust and love, Jack became my cat. He moved on to our property and hasn't left since. He enjoys a pampered life as my personal cat, and spends his time sleeping, putting a little meat on his bones, and dominating our other cats. He has ear mites which I am working on taking care of, but otherwise is very healthy. Next Monday he is going into the vet to get neutered. Jack loves me very much, and likes sleeping on my lap. The funniest thing about him is the way he follows me as I work outside. Whether I am picking beans, digging ditches, or husking corn, Jack is sure to be somewhere around. He lies down five or six feet away from me, taking small naps but always waking up when it is time to move onto the next job. As I have never had a very affectionate cat before, I enjoy every minute of it.
The new puppy is a six-week-old Golden Retriever. He belongs to Matthew. We got him on Sunday, July 27. His name is Farley. (I know one of my readers has a husband named Farley. You can tell him we named our dog after him!) He is full of energy, mischief, love, and happiness. He and Buddy have the time of their lives practically killing each other. Beka is trainer-in-chief, while the rest of us come in for our share of doggy kisses and fun. I'm not really 'in' to dogs, so I don't have much to say about Farley. He is really cute, I have to admit, but I know that as soon as he loses his puppy cuteness I won't bother with him anymore. Beka is a different story. She loves him already! Farley has been called everything but 'Farley' ever since we named him. Matthew calls him 'Far-far'. Beka calls him everything under the sun, including 'Farzy.'
Ditch-digging in progress! Matthew runs the machine while Dad looks on. Photo by Mom.
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Of course, the big thing going on right now is the drainage project. That's where my title comes from. Dad and I were laying the tile together, when he called over to Timmy and Beka not to knock any dirt into the 'hole'. A few seconds later he added, "Or ditch, or whatever you call it."
"I think a hole is traditionally round, isn't it?" I asked. Dad nodded, so I looked at the hundreds of feet of trenches stretching out in a maze around us, and said,
"That's one long hole."
Fortunately for us we did not have to dig all of those trenches ourselves. We rented a ditch digger from a nearby store and Matthew and Dad took turns running it all day until all the ditches were dug. Currently we are nearly finished laying the tile. We have to install it in front of the barn still, but we expect to do that later this afternoon. (I am writing early Thursday afternoon.) Even without the work of digging trenches, it has been a big job. We can tell that our farm needs draining when the ditches fill with water, so I have the comfort of knowing that all is not in vain as I haul shovel-fulls of liquid mud from the bottom of the two feet deep ditches.
School will soon begin for us, so I am trying to enjoy each day without it. Somehow, though, I'm not doing a very good job. School just sounds so inviting when there are ditches to finish by hand, or rows of loaded bean plants to pick. But beans and ditches are summer, and school is fall, and we should all enjoy beans and ditches while they last, because in just a few more weeks summer will be over and fall will be here...thank goodness!
The Weekly Bible Verse
John 1:47: When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
A Day In My Week
Thanks very much to Timmy for this great idea.
Saturday, August 2, 2008: I spend a few hours early in the morning cleaning and organizing the farm's store. It is a mess and takes me quite a while to sort out! When I come back inside, there is a batch of banana bread to make for a customer. I am just beginning to clean up from breakfast when Beka and Mom get back from Beka's piano lessons. There is suddenly a lot to be done and for an hour chaos reigns in the kitchen.
After a lunch of 'Sloppy Joe's' on homemade rolls, I run out to help Dad move the watering system Dad invented. It takes us a while, and when I come back inside Beka is almost finished the dishes. We go to my room, and I do her hair in three different styles while we listen to music. Then, we have some fun with Farley (the new puppy) and Buddy. I decide to go play with Jack. I grab a blanket and a book and spend an hour under the trees playing with Jack and reading. When I come back inside I have a quick snack of melon before Beka asks me to start a computer project with her. We spend the rest of our time off working on the project.
After supper, Dad, Matthew, Beka, Timmy, Caleb, and I head outside to work on the drainage project. We clean out trenches, dig another (thankfully short) trench by hand, lay tile, and pump water in and out of mucky holes. After two hours of work we are all tired and hot. I quickly get cleaned up and go into Beka's room to begin work on our computer project again. Beka joins me, but it is soon time for her to go to bed, so the project is finished for the night and I head to my room to write for an hour. All too soon it is ten o'clock, and time for me to join the household in sleep.
Bits and Pieces
Our garden has been doing great over the past couple weeks. Sales were booming for a while, what with corn and beans and raspberries and new potatoes, but now things have quieted down again. Our third and last patch of corn will probably come ripe next week some time, and our tomatoes are just starting to ripen. I expect this coming week will be busy in the garden again.
We have lots of vegetables to eat right now. Zucchini, cucumbers, herbs, tomatoes, Swiss chard, and new red potatoes keep our table full. We have zucchini everything these days. I really like zucchini bread, but Mom has tried a few new recipes lately. My favorites were zucchini fritters and chocolate-zucchini muffins.
Timmy and me in the 'upstairs' of a caboose we went through at the train museum. Photo by Beka.
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Beka and I have had to change our schedules a little because of the drainage project. We now take two hours off in the afternoon, and work for two hours after supper. This is a little inconvenient for us, since we generally plan for free time at night, but we are adjusting our time. I actually like being able to enjoy the outdoors before mosquitoes come out.
I can hardly believe that the summer is almost over. August means the end of summer for us. In just a week or two Mom will start talking about school, and we will all be learning about Henry the Whichever-He-Was and how if you exert this much force on such-and-such an object, in will move so far because of somebody-or-other's laws.
Matthew playing with Farley's big brother at the farm where we bought Farley. Photo by me.
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August isn't a very important month for us. On my calendar I have three birthdays marked. Two of them are friends' birthdays, and one of them is mine! I will be fourteen this year. I've always been excited about my birthday before, but this year I am not very excited, at least not yet. I've noticed that each of the holidays this year has been less a time for excitement and more a time for thinking. I can't say that I really like it this way, since I enjoyed the holidays a lot more when I got really excited over them. But this time, as I get ready to turn another year older, I'm not regretting the absence of excitement. I can sympathize with Beka a little, who said that she felt very depressed after turning sixteen because she felt like she was leaving her childhood behind her. I told her she was crazy, but I'm feeling a little of the same. I must be getting old.
The other big day this month is the second anniversary of The Aardsma Weekly! I cannot believe it has been two years since I started writing this. The last Sunday in August is the anniversary day. We won't have a party or anything (unless somebody is planning something I don't know about), but I'll have a little private celebration within myself on that day. For two years I've been writing about my life in this weekly feature, and it has become such a major part of my life that I can't help celebrating.
A Word About The Weather
What a hot week! Temperatures have settled around 90 every afternoon, and the mornings have been humid and foggy. Looking forward to cooler fall temperatures!
A Word Of Wisdom
Junk is something you throw away three weeks before you need it. ~Anonymous
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