THE RAIN COMES DOWN

10th and 11th August 2010

We have been absolutely inundated with rain over the past two days here in Canberra, not that anyone is complaining, the rain definitely gives rebirth to our Earth but it can be so demoralising when you have to try to go to school and appointments.

I woke crying yesterday morning because I was in severe pain, it ripped through my body like a hurricane on a destructive course. It had kept me awake most of the night and I think my tears matched the drenching rain outside. I really did not feel up to going to school but Mum convinced me that being there would take my mind off my pain. My Mum is such a remarkable person but on this occasion she was wrong. I could not even bend my knee as when I tried to, a shock of pain almost like a spark of electricity shot up my entire leg, so there I was in my wheelchair with my right leg sticking out being pushed in my wheelchair, umbrella up in the rain to school. When we arrived I felt like bursting into tears because being in the bitter, wet weather had made my pain worse. We had Science first and I tried to concentrate on our lesson about Static Electricity but I found I spent more time endeavouring not to cry. I heard bits and pieces about protons, electrons and neutrons that form an atom and how two positive charges repel each other but a negative and positive attract. Luckily, Mum took all the notes from the board so that I can read over them and understand them when I am not in so much pain. After Science was English and we read through a short science fiction story about people living on Venus and the sun only shone once every seven years for just one hour. How abysmal would that be? I love the sunshine it warms my aching bones and lifts my spirits. We have to write a Cinquain poem which is a poem of five lines with a syllable pattern of 2-4-6-8-2 or 22 syllables in total, something like this:

The sky

grows light and pink

as the sun rises and

warms the sleepy mountain with a

soft kiss

or a Haiku which is a Japanese form of poetry, it contains 17 syllables that are divided into three lines being 5-7-5. It does not rhyme, here is one:

Freezing winter wind

blows the snowflakes here and there

making soft mountains

anyway we have to do one on sunshine or rain for homework. I think perhaps I will do mine on rain because with it raining you can use that for inspiration. My next class for the day was Mathematics and we were working on algebra, which I absolutely love doing. We had questions to copy from the board which Mum does for me because I am way too slow and would never even finish the questions if I had to write them. I wrote the answers though, just before recess we began work on our next unit which is solids, I don't think I am as good with those as algebra so it will be a challenging unit for me. I pushed through my pain to do this but by the end of class I just wanted to break down in a flood of tears, in fact after I was signed out for the day and we went out the sliding doors I just burst into tears.

When we arrived home, I vomited probably from crying because it only happened once, Mum comforted me with a loving cuddle that soothed the tears but unfortunately not the pain I was feeling. Heat, dencorub, rest and warm cups of tea helped me feel a little brighter, I did my Mathematics homework and had a game of Upwords. With all the rain I had been hoping that running training would be cancelled as I did not want to venture out in the arctic weather again. The ACT Government had closed all the sports grounds but running training was still on as it is not a team sport. In a stroke of what could have only being luck, the rain stopped while Jarrett was at running training however came pouring down in buckets just as we returned home. I went to bed tired and aching but felt some comfort in the fact in knowing that the next day I had my physiotherapy appointment.

I am not sure if the weather from one day to the next can deteriorate so drastically but today was even more turbulent than yesterday. In the morning it was almost as if snow was falling from the grime, grey, heavy clouds that floated gloomily across our skies. Today I could not even bend my right leg, it was stuck and it was painful. I looked through Shirley Barber books for inspiration for my paintings that I am doing for the new Ronald McDonald House here in Canberra, her illustrations are so unique and draw you into her wonderful imagination.

Then it was time to go to physiotherapy, I was so excited. Rhiannon asked how I had been doing and she could tell by my face that I was not well. She worked on my knee which was hot and swollen and then my hip which I could feel relief as she massaged through the muscles. She said she wished she had a magic lotion that could make it all better for me, she is the one though that helps me so much with my muscle problems, unfortunately they seem to only be relieved temporarily, I think it is going to take a long time, if ever to have total relief always. My pain remains but at least there is some less muscle tension and a huge difference was that I could bend my knee, do you know how frustratingly difficult it is to go to the toilet and not being able to bend your knee!

I rested when I came home, my body just feels like it is worn out, what a pity you can't have a tune up on it like you do with your car. I played Upwords and then worked on my Integrated Studies assignment on Feral Rabbits. I am finding that when I have to concentrate on something for an extended period of time I am experiencing double vision and headaches, so I have to try to learn to stop before they come on. I then watched Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure DVD.

If I could sleep soundly I know my dreams would be of our trip to Brisbane next week where I am hoping that the warmer climate will provide me with the relief I so desperately desire. The rain continues to tumble down on the already soaking ground outside and the winds blowing powerfully picking up leaves and papers and tossing them wildly, as it carries them along. In life you can feel like those leaves or pieces of paper being tossed roughly but then you have to remember that eventually you find a place to gently rest.