Day 33

It’s a day off today and instead of putting the blame on Sandy who we are waiting for as he flies and drives from London suffice to say I needed to check a pain in my heal. Hospitals will see Pelegrinos for free for any problem “from the waist down” so I’ll get my head seen to at another time. The problem is a small spur that doesn’t like walking, the solution is a rubber pad that better like walking

The day off (as I look out on a large hill silhouetting the town’s rebuilt castle for tourists) has me reflecting on Parkinsons and walking. Walking evens the playing field for all and even if you’re in a wheel chair (with help) it can be done, with probably even more chance of a ‘duende’ (poem below) moment. I know it’s not for everyone but for me (along with poetry) it gives me a way of expressing myself on a level playing field I’ll never be able to put my socks on easily, verbally express myself as clearly as others or type anywhere nearly as fast as I used to but I can walk and write and that’s fantastic and when I can’t do that, then more opportunities will arise to address those challenges when they come

For those with Parkinsons who are reading my blog I hope life is going ok for you where it is possible to go ok and I am thinking about ‘you’ and talking about ‘us’ at every opportunity

Duende – a sonnet

I saw it writ upon a chair

Then deftly carved into a tree

Somewhere we go but we don’t know where

Sometimes we feel it sometimes

it’s to see It may be walking in the moonlight

And sensing something never sensed before

Or connecting with someone whose a pure delight

A feeling so strong you simply must have more

But just when it happens it slips away

It;s brief but it’s something you’ll never forget

The word is Spanish the indefinable ‘duende’

It can come to any one at any time

So always be ready to experience the sublime

Castle at end of street

Three flowers

Duende