'Twas the day after Christmas and all through the town
gifts were being returned and prices marked down.
Not interested in shopping, I took a walk by the lake
and there I spied Santa--he was taking a short break.
He still wore his hat but had ditched that red suit.
I waved and he nodded, then off he did scoot.
After a sleepover in Clarksville, he's off to The Pole.
In a year he'll be back and gifts he will dole.
(If you're good!)
- - - -
It's been a rough year. First I had a problem with neuropathy--burning legs, elbow pain, numbness, even pain in the eyeballs. I'm not diabetic; I learned that it was caused by a prescription--statins--which I'd been taking for years. I stopped taking them and the burning/pain/cramping stopped; I felt great for a few weeks in July--so good that I moved the summer furniture from the workshop back porch to the deck. That's when the tick must have latched onto the back of my knee. In August I was diagnosed with Lyme's disease. I finished four months of antibiotics a few weeks ago and felt like myself again. Two weeks later our dog Willie began limping. He came home Monday after surgery on his OTHER knee and bladder surgery for stones. What a year--a lost year.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. And here's to a Happy 2015!
Posts
Hi Hallie
ReplyDeleteWhat a year you've had! I have missed you-checking in from time to time. So great to have you posting again! You are always so clever and original in your creations and posts.
Thanks for this image of Santa and poem. I know how tired he must be. He flew right over our home-I heard the sleigh bells. Left nothing (well, that's not quite true, there were two new batteries for our house phones). I really had been sort of naughty this year.
May this new year bring you excellent health and
joy- filled days.
Your blog friend
Steven
Hi Steven. I think Santa missed my house; that might be the real reason he ended up in the lake. Family and friends brought nice gifts, though. I saw all your beautiful landscapes and read your poems; I just lacked the energy to make comments on blogs. Actually, I felt so old I changed my FB year of birth to 1905--Lyme's wiped me out and I never saw the tick, just a raised red spot that never even itched. Thanks for commenting. You were naughty?
ReplyDeleteMissed you and your work, Hallie. What statin were you taking and how long? Gosh, then Lyme disease? You mustbe very glad to see the end of 2014. Hope 2015 makes up for this one...take care!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rhonda; I've kept an eye on all your experiments and classes.
DeleteI took Lipitor/atorvastatin for at least eight years. The printout mentions side effect to muscles but doesn't mention nerves. It was only after seeing a commercial--a woman talking about neuropathy and burning--that I googled causes of neuropathy; the last sentence mentioned statins as being a rare cause. I've read a lot more since then, and I'm not sure it's that rare. Happy New Year.
Oh Hallie! 2015 has GOT to be better!
ReplyDeletePerhaps all those antibiotics staved off something even worse than Lyme's disease. (Of course you'll never know or care but trying to find the positive here.)
I hope Willie is on the mend too.
I've really missed you but I did feel your presence. You did exactly what you needed to do... taking care of your health.
Your painting of Santa is EXCELLENT!!! You are such an spectacular artist. I truly hope 2015 is filled for you with good health and copious amounts of art.
Love always,
Pamo
Thank you PAMO--I have enjoyed watching your comic grow and grow. The Santa is an iPad modified earlier painting ”August on Buggs Island." I added pounds and long johns and hat, plus our local bridges. Yes--copious amounts of art!
DeleteWillie is doing okay; stitches in his leg will be removed Monday--not sure about the abdomen; that surgery had to be restitched. There's nothing like putting on your down coat, scarf, and gloves and walking your dog in the cold and rain! Short walks, though, and no inclines. We've ordered a dog ramp for the front steps but it will be a while before he'll be able to use it. Hmm--can you really teach an old dog new tricks?
Happy New Year.
I like the reindeer waiting on the bridge!!!
ReplyDeleteI thought the bridge needed something of interest. This is actually the view from the end of my street--I sit on neighbor's porches and enjoy. The bridge was listed as one of the "redneck wonders of the U.S." last year. There are green lights under it to attract bait fish at night--not exactly sporting in my view.
DeleteYou son might love Clarksville--lots of trucks (and people still sometimes ride in the back), great fishing and fishing tournaments, lots of hunters, too.
DeleteOh dear, THAT was not a good year ...mine was quite similar , but painting is a great help . Wishing you all the best for the New Year and most of all a good health ! You started off with a fabulous Santa , keep it up ! xx
ReplyDeleteAnd what paintings you showed us--lots of figures and portraits! I wish you a great year and good health, Jane.
DeleteWowzers, I'm glad to see you here again! What a year! What a year! Yikes. I hope 2015 brings health, creativity and oodles of love. xo Carole
ReplyDeleteHi Carole. I can't say it was a horrible year--just not a good year for my art. I did manage to get a few drawings done for some local projects. I hope to see more blogs from you also; be well and have a wonderful year.
DeleteGoodness....! that is indeed a lot of TRAVAIL. I love your santa poem and kicked back santa. I am sending up positive healing thoughts for you and doggie. <3!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Celeste. Those positive thoughts are working--Willie's doing great. I don't really like this dog-walking on a leash, though--it is cold outside.
DeleteSo great to hear you are feeling better. May 2015 be a super year. You sure went through a lot and we all missed our Hallie with the great sense of humor. Santa are the poem are incredible.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary. I wish You a year of more travels and art adventures. I like reading about them.
DeleteAye, Hallie. I am so sorry you had such a terrible year. But I'm glad there is a happy ending. I have a friend now who is barely enduring almost unbearable and as yet explainable pain. So in a way I see what you had to face through him. And the Lyme disease too. And your poor dog. Thank goodness for these artificial lines we call years - chances for new beginnings. Great painting! Wonderful joyful poem! Love the local flavor. I missed your post - so glad to see you back now. I had given up looking.. There was too much real, and not enough sur, if you know what i mean.
ReplyDeleteHi Dan. It's been a while--you sort of disappeared for a bit, too (hope it wasn't due to one of my comments). I think the surreal is returning for me, had a dream where I was cradling something in my arms and it was flying me back and forth and around. Avatar or Marc Chagall--I can't decide. A "lightness" feeling,
DeleteI agree, the past year was too much real.
There is nothing you said that kept me away. Not at all. I love your comments - always friendly, clever, and insightful.
DeleteWhat a fascinating dream! I think the rest of us (most of us) might have a dream like that and laugh it off or chalk it up to the jumbled mix that dreams provide - but you think of Avatar and Marc Chagall - and make art! I am so glad the surreal is returning.
My past year has had many real elements as well - nothing as concrete as physical illness. I am sorry I did not respond to your May post, but to look at it another way - I only missed one post! ;)
Ha! It's good to have you back. I just realized that, last year, I only made two posts--between Clauses. I was busy following those artists who paint 30 paintings in 30 days; I don't know how they do that. I do admire them.
DeleteI pray that 2015 goes better for you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Vicki. So far, so good. I wish you a wonderful 2015.
DeleteHe's got the right idea.
ReplyDeleteTotsymae--what a great name!
DeleteOh no Hallie, I'm glad you're back though and I loved your painting and poem. I'm also glad your pain is gone and you've worked through your lime disease. Hope your doggie is getting better. Hang in there.
ReplyDeleteHi Carol--I think I probably slept through the Lyme's, felt like I was about a hundred years old. I even changed my FB year of birth to 1905. Things are looking up this year, and Willie is doing really well. Happy New Year.
DeleteWell, that explains that awful echo where your great sense of humor used to be. I mean, I knew something had happened, changed, that the seismic had shifted. Boogeys have been afoot for a while, about 18 months, by my count. Call it 2014-and-a-half. Call it a bad spell. Call it gone. For now. At least 'til next Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteGarrett wants Willie to know that he just had some surgery, too, and how 'bout that part when you come down off that anatheeeeesha and moan like a spook! He sez he hopes you r ok an feeln good.
You, too, Hallie. May you wallow in feeln good! I agree, it's been a bear of a year. A bare of a yare. A beer of a yeer. As my grandmother said, keeping count makes the pile bigger, so count your blessings.
Cool Santa.
Hi Sam. I think my planets and chakras have been out of alignment for quite a while. I also failed to say no to a couple of committees here in town--they take a bit of time and thought, and my brain can handle just one thing at a time. I've really missed playing in my workshop.
DeleteI'm glad you're seeing your way back to blogging; I missed you--thought you might have been riding those waves in Hawaii.
Tell Garrett to hang in there. Willie's much better. He stayed in the hospital for five days after his surgery because I remembered those pitiful moans from last time. When he cried, I cried--I knew I couldn't take that again (and checking stitches makes me queasy).
I am counting blessings, and counting on the bad spell being gone Have a great year.
I saw you at Celeste's and wondered what you've been up to. You did have a horrible year! Good thing we're on to what will hopefully be a better one. Be well and keep that wonderful sense of humor. That's what carries us through Travails out of no where. Glad your dog is on the mend too.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. This year has gotten off to a slightly better start. I was following all your work last year; especially, that self-portrait! Such patience and such wonderful results.
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