Last one

Okay, just one more post that relates to my leg. Some pictures, and an absolutely wonderful get well card. Linny is one of the women that I jump with on a regular basis at the Drop Zone in Snohomish. She and about three others (Christine, Cindy, Dave) formed a core group of fun jumpers (with about a half dozen others who come and go) that gave me one of the best summers in the sky that I've had in a long time. Until two years ago, every weekend was consumed with teaching the First Jump Course and jumping with students. Rarely did I have a weekend in Colorado to just play in the sky. Now that's all I really care to do.

 Linny, Cindy, Christine, DJan

Yesterday I got a call from Linny at the end of the day to tell me how much they all missed me at the DZ. Of course I was wishing I could be there, but I knew that even going to sit around and visit is dangerous for me, thinking that I am really well enough to make a jump ("well, if I'm really careful and ..."). I've done it before and been sorry. Linny told me she had made me a card and to go check my post office box, which I did. This is what I found.

A puzzle! I opened the envelope and put the pieces on the kitchen table, and went to work. Once I realized that it is a circle, I was able to proceed with quite a bit of speed (like maybe a half hour) to solve it.

Any of these pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. Apparently Linny is as talented an artist as she is in the air.  And to finish my leg saga, I just now took the ace bandage off to see if I could show how well my leg is doing. You have to remember that Thursday afternoon when I smacked the shinbone, the place where you see a scab had a half-a-softball-sized hematoma under it. (For those who don't know, a hematoma is a solid swelling of clotted blood within the tissues.)

You can see the marks left by the ace bandage, but although you can see that there is a small amount of swelling, because of the flash you can't see the really awesome coloring that goes from just below the knee to the anklebone. (Maybe this last picture will give some inkling of what I mean.) I suspect that this discoloration will continue for a week or so, but I am now able to walk around normally. On Thursday I thought I would be lucky to be off crutches by now, but it is healing up very fast. By next weekend, if the weather is good, I should be able to go off to Snohomish and get my knees in the breeze (i.e., make a skydive).

Between my blogging friends' good wishes and wonderful comments and my dear skydiving friends (and oh yes, also my Facebook friends), I feel surrounded by love and feel truly blessed. Who could ask for more? I guess I could also mention my beloved husband who fixes me scrumptious steamed veggies and fulfills my desire for a life partner.
:-)