Summer Interruptus: The summer has proved a trying time for me. I had anticipated a sabbatical during which I could write, spend time with family, and get out in the wild; however, as many of my friends and colleagues have heard by now, a month ago I suffered a bad fall and mangled my leg pretty good. I dislocated the foot, suffered several complex fractures and soft-tissue damage and had to undergo emergency reconstruction surgery. Thankfully I wasn’t alone when it happened and my strapping fiance was able to rush me off to the ER where the crackerjack staff patched me up.
I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your kind messages of support. My inbox has been overflowing with supportive messages. Over the last weeks, a number of people have told me that this recent break is “God’s/the universe’s way of telling me to slow down” but I’ve never been one to believe that the divine teaches us through pain. It is my belief that bad things simply happen and then we can either let the pain of the ordeal dominate us or transcend the experience and try to learn from it.
At this point, it is hard to be philosophical about this unexpected turn. I don’t know what I will glean from this ordeal. I am in those beginning stages of trauma when we simply try to make it through the hours of discomfort but hopefully, as has happened so often in our lives, at some point, the suffering will be transcended and the experience will be redefined.
The upside to being homebound for 2 months while I recover: I finally have the chance to catch up on my neglected to do list, including updating my poetry blog! Come have a peek. I’ve also updated the events page and will be adding a few more events in coming weeks!
Luckily, before the fall happened, I was able to do a bit of traveling and gather some summer memories to see me through my recovery. I venture down to the city of Johnny Cash and Eudora Welty: Jackson, MS to visit some family and fellow poets and then come back home to visit one of my favorite places in New England: Concord, MA. Wading hip-deep into Walden Pond is the best tonic for the soul I know.
Eudora Welty House | L.M. Browning 2014
Cypress Swamp, along the Natchez Trace L.M. Browning 2014
Walden Pond | Concord, MA L.M. Browning 2014
The Old Manse, Concord, MA L.M. Browning 2014
