After December is the time to prune Muscadine grapes in the south. For some time I was able to do the pruning myself and it can be a big job for one person, as good days are not very common at that time of the year. One year I did accomplish the task and I had twenty five vines to prune. Now I have downsized and have about seventeen. My son-in-law came up to help me on a beautiful sunny day in February when there was no wind, and since we were in full sun it turned out to be a great day to prune. But something prevented us from working very long that day.
Jim and I got in the golf cart - great transportation on a small farm; We had pruners, and rakes, and set out in a jolly work mood. Jim told me to stay in the golf cart and not to try to help, rather just keep him company. Which I did for a while and watching him I began to think I could at least pick up the vines he had cut and toss them into the woods where they would in time rot and make more rich woods soil. I began to do that and it was going just fine until I saw a yellow bloom a few feet away. I wondered if it came from a forsythia bush this early in the year. I had to know, so I took one step into the wooded area and immediately slid a short distance. I was standing on a slope and my left foot stayed on solid ground. My right foot tried to do the same thing. However the ankle did not cooperate and I had the strangest sensation of my left foot staying put and the right one trying to adjust to the holding still. I remember having the thought of why I was not moving, then I felt the pain and fell back onto the grassy slope. Immediately my right foot became swollen and too painful to move. Jim rushed to my side and helped me crawl into the golf cart. My ankle looked horrible and was turning blue. We spent only a few seconds deciding that we needed to head for Quick Care and have a doctor inspect it.
Luckily the Quick Care had a sports doctor in that office. After an x-ray showed a spiral break in my right ankle bone which goes up the leg. I had to reconcile myself to some immobilization. The doctor sent me home in a big black pump up boot and instructions on starting the healing process. Jim got more than he bargained for as with a broken right ankle I was unable to drive. He stayed with me and drove me around and tried to keep up my spirits. Also I had to keep off of it for a while, so a walker was purchased to help me hobble around indoors.
In two weeks time we went back to see the good doctor and I saw the x-ray for this visit. He told me it had begun to heal. I had some questions. I wanted to know how he could tell the break was starting to mend. I will paraphrase, but essentially he said the break looked wider and that indicated that the healing had begun. He went on to say the blood comes in and takes away the debris from the break. After this has happened it can really take hold. I was satisfied with his explanation and better understood why rest was important.
This thought had been resting in my mind and it came back to me a few days later as I was meditating quietly at my breakfast table.
The blood taking away the debris seemed like a good comparison to how other types of breaks go about the same healing process. Be it a hair line fracture, a complete break or a personal relationship. Neither will begin to heal until the fragments surrounding the incident have been removed. It may take a form of forgiveness, some acts of contrition, or manifestations of clearing and cleansing. Each break will have it's own unique ear marks. Whatever it is, complete healing will not take place until a new slate is available for building up again.
My mother had a saying, " a good scream clears the air". Having eight children to deal with, that way worked for her. A good scream from her put us all on notice that a change was taking place. We all have to find what a "good scream means for us in any given situation. Perhaps recognizing the need for it is a good way to begin.
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