Books

Like my inspiring daughter, Marika, www.marikanolt.blogspot.com I'll be including lists of books and sometimes magazines that have been a part of my life. Most of these I've read but I will include others that I've just closely scrutinized, sometimes only reading excerpts of. Obviously this doesn't work for novels, but it can for collections of poetry and also for non-fiction books, some of which have summaries at the end of each chapter or section. Books have been a life-giving part of my existance ever since I can remember and they continue to, as I put it, "follow me home from book stores and libraries." I open the door for them and direct them to the nearest shelf, or in some cases to a stack on the floor where they wait patiently for my attention. They sometimes solicit instructions from my patient wife, Karen to "clean up the books" in the "study," which is the room where most of them reside. Reading has molded my life as well as my political and religious beliefs, and it continues to be a source of information and inspiration. I don't expect that to change.

Christmas 2007

I celebrated Christmas, 2007 in an unusual manner. I was walking the 5.5 miles home from work in the morning as I do occasionally, and at 13th street in Hyde Park at the corner of Camel's Back Park, I failed to lift my size 13 Land Rovers (I know they sound like an SUV , but they are shoes!) adequately to clear the curb and landed on my face on the cold sidewalk. As I recall there was no time span between being upright one moment and less than a fraction of a second later, being flat on my face, nose now broken, planted into the concrete. Gravity sucks! I slowly picked myself up, blood running from my nose, and slightly dazed by the experience although I wasn't knocked out. I wiped the blood with a handkerchief that had been white and my green gloves, and plodded on until I reached the Jackson Store on Bogus Basin Road where I fumbled in my backpack for the change to call Karen and have me picked up, which she did 15 or 20 minutes later further west down Hill Road, as I kept walking toward home,rather than wait at the phone booth. Needless to say I was watching my step more closely than before.
I'm glad it was cold and December rather than hot and August, because the cold kept the swelling down and probably helped to arrest the bleeding. Fortunately I had a few days off work so by the time I went back there with raccoon eyes the worst was over. I didn't go to a doctor or ER because there wasn't much pain (except for other people who had to look at me), the bleeding soon stopped, I was always able to breathe through my nose, there was no neck pain or spinal fluid draining from anywhere, and the swelling decreased significantly in a few days with the help of a lot of ice. I don't think my nose is significantly altered and it doesn't hurt except yesterday when Zach romping in my lap nailed the end of my nose with the top on his hard head.
I'm pleased to report that on New Year's Day I retraced my steps on that route home from work and remained vertical the whole distance, never once kissing the sidewalk with my nose. I also took some night photos of Hyde Park on the way. I hope to make walking a part of my exercise program for 2008, but also hope to avoid accidents. I ran and played basketball regularly for 42 year and never once was traumatized like that, at least not to my face. I did have a sprained ankle, a twisted foot, and a broken thumb and finger, and one or two blisters. Walking can be dangerous, but it's probably more dangerous to be sedentary.