Walking in the Woods by Steffe, on Flickr

I took a walk on Christmas Day. I haven’t walked outdoors much because my treadmill is much more joint-friendly than the pavement that surrounds my house. Mom’s house was nice, but a little too warm, and the sunny 45° day beckoned. My mom’s housing development has a “nature walk,” a paved route which winds up and down hills to a small lake. I imagine in summer it is leafy green and full of mosquitoes, but in winter it was easy to see squirrels and birds of all shapes and sizes among the bare branches. It had recently rained and I didn’t trust the Georgia clay to not be slippery any more than I’d trust it to not stain my dress if I took a fall, so I stuck to the pavement. Three of the girls joined me and I was very surprised that I held up as long as they did! We all slept well that night, I wasn’t awakened with pain in my legs. I wasn’t even sore the next day.

The guest bedroom where I stay when I visit Mom is upstairs. I got quite a kick out of going up and down those stairs like a “normal person” instead of one-footing it like an old lady. One time I even did the boxer-jog down the stairs, something I haven’t done since I was a teen.

Three days of dining from boxes, bags and mixes at my mom’s seemed to do much less damage than earlier in the year. This, combined with increased flexibility and stamina leads me to think that the changes I’ve made to my diet are more permanent than just a temporary alleviation of arthritis pain.

For those of you who are new here, I had an undiscovered birth defect which prevented the proper formation of my leg bones. My first knee dislocation occurred just weeks after my 6th birthday, and I underwent 13 surgeries (in the 1970s, well before the microsurgery available now) in 20 years on both knees. The doctors told me a knee replacement wouldn’t “take” because of the way my leg bones twist, so since my 30th birthday I’ve pretty much looked forward to increasing pain and decreasing mobility until I was wheelchair bound. I hope and pray that every person reading this entry never, ever takes a single step for granted: and that includes the newly mobile ME!

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