Monday, July 19, 2010

A Bad Wing and a Summer Weekend

I'm suffering from some sort of writer's arm....or texting arm....or carrying-too-many-sacks-plus-a-far-too-heavy-purse arm. More than likely a mixture of all of the above. All I know is it hurts and it really aggravates it when I write. I've been told my chair is too low, which is true, and what I really need to do is buy myself a decent office chair. 


It's just that my Provençal yellow, vide-grenier-find chair looks so pretty with my desk (anyone who knows me also knows my desk is never this neat and that there is a pile of assorted crap tossed on the couch for the snapping of this photo and will probably remain on the couch until I have to clean up for the next round of visitors).  Thus, little writing will be done this week. And since I don't have a Monday Memory article for today, it's going to be picture time.
 As in "What I did this past summer weekend in Provence".



Earlier in the spring, my friend Lynn and I bought tickets to Saturday's Chucho Valdes concert.  I knew nothing about him, mostly because I'm a complete jazz imbecile, nor did I know where it was to be held. But Lynn is my esteemed ticket advisor and she hasn't gone wrong yet! I was delightfully surprised by both the musician and the milieu. Valdes is a world renowned, Cuban improvisational jazz pianist. An enormous man with an enormous sound and a kick-ass percussion section. The concert was held at the bucolic Chateau de Beaupré, which is just outside the village of St. Cannat near Aix en Provence. Aside from a cold mistral that kicked up and froze my bare shoulders in a permanent, protective shrug, it did not succeed in cooling off his smokin' fingers and the hot, latin riffs coming from the piano. 

Check out the setting. 



Sunday morning, the mistral blew itself out and the summer heat moved in quickly. I ended up going to Lac de St. Croix, near the Gorge du Verdon, in an attempt to cool off. It's about an hour north of here and though it is not the sea, it's turquoise expanse is thrilling to see...and even more thrilling to paddle around in and sooth the sizzle.






Lac de St. Croix is a man-made lake; a canyon flooded in 1975 by the EDF (electric company)and the Verdon River. In all it's beauty, it caused a lot of heartache when the decision was made to destroy an ancient village in the name of progress. Click here for an interesting photo history. The village has been rebuilt which is what you see in the photo above. But of course, what you see in the black and white photo can never be "rebuilt".


And since it's only a hop, skip and a jump away from Valensole, late afternoon was spent at the Lavender Festival.  Oh boy...more PURPLE! 

I'm sitting on pillows, my wrist in a splint, but my entire arm still hurts. So I'll save those photos for tomorrow. If you have any tendonitis advice, please send it my way.

What did you do this weekend?

Photobucket 

13 comments:

  1. The last time I had a bad wrist, The Girlie slapped me for being so disgusting!

    Being serious (just for a moment, I really can't keep it up for long), I used to have the same problem (known as TMS, I think) and a proper office chair resolved the issue straight away.

    I seem to remember that your elbow need to be level with your wrists?

    All the best

    Keith

    P.S. Any luck on the "finding a boyfriend" issue? I would have thought that the Jazz concert would have been a great opportunity?

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  2. Delana,
    Sorry I can't help with tendonitis, but can relate to the migrating crap on the couch. For the sake of a photo, I'm constantly moving piles of stuff from the bookshelf to the table to the chair.....Still waiting for that personal assistant to ring the doorbell and start right in.

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  3. Oh, that's the worst! I had tendonitis, too and had to have an "arret de travail." NOT using the aching arm is exactly what you should do.

    I also bought an ergonomic mouse, which helped immensely (I had to do a lot of clicking and scrolling at my job). A good office chair is also key though I have the same problem as you - I just haven't invested yet! If anyone has suggestions of which kind of chair to buy, I'd like to hear them, too. There are competing theories out there...

    Good luck, Delana!

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  4. Delana,

    I call mine knitting elbow . . . and resting it - not knitting for a while works for me . . . but I did not like giving up one of my favorite past times so I knit differently now; Less movement in the arm that hurts. It's starting to act up again, though:(

    What did we do last weekend? We went to the annual Sinz camping up at the Winter cabin. We missed Ryan and Colin. (Can't help thinking of the nephew - I think it was Garrett - that said, "ColinandRyan" whenever he referred to Colin or Ryan:0 Remember?? And Lindsay was not there either. But we did have a great time! I missed you too. It's truly not the same.

    Love your article, as always! Love the pictures! I did go to the link of the pictures of the old village under the lake - interesting!

    Vicky

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  5. oh no! this is not good! Is there anything i can do for you??? I'll miss my du jour terribly.....will a little bubbly make the pain go away??

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  6. I so feel for you. Don't know what I'd do if I couldn't write!

    Here's me sending you healing thoughs: "WHOOOOSH"

    (Beautiful pictures though ;-)

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  7. I'm so sorry about your arm! I hate that for you and yet, I understand. That yellow chair is charming.

    Even so, your weekend sounds wonderful!

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  8. I'm trying to avoid writing too much but I have to respond!
    keith: That's it. Getting me a chair. As for the boyfriend thing...not actively searching...that's your job!

    Diana: when you find the PA, tell her she has a free place to stay in France

    Paris: thanks for the mouse suggestion. Anything you find out about chairs...please pass my way.

    Chausette: bubbly ALWAYS helps.

    M: yes this is a problem. I don't know what I'm going to do either.

    Lisa: sun and water is good for what ails you, that's for sure.

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  9. oops..Vicky: I remember getting a twinge when I was knitting this winter too. Glad you had fun. Colin/Ryan are on tour and are on the east coast right now. I'm sure they were sorry to have missed it.

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  10. Delana, I hate to say because I love reading your blog but you need to rest that wrist! The pain needs to subside first and then you'll need to sort out your chair and a mouse as the others have suggested. My Hubby suffers immensely from this and it's the only thing to do, except his has a more serious issue now but that's due to 15 years of neglect...

    I know the Lac de St Croix but in my ignorance knew nothing about its history really so this was lovely to read :)

    Take care of yourself :)

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  11. Piglet: sorry for the delay. trying to avoid writing. I'm taking your advice and it's in a sling. Lots of ibuprofin and after 2 weeks I'll start some stretches. Thank you so much for your concern and advice.

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  12. Delana: Not sure how I missed these last two posts til just now! Yes, get the right chair. Ice it, 5 x a day!
    And, definitely, you need to get a Wacom pad, instead of a mouse. I had terrible elbow problems and have used the Wacom ever since. You hold it like a pencil, so it's an entirely different motion. Google it. But, as everyone else has said, I am sure rest is the best...
    We'll talk soon!

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  13. LibbY: I've been missing lots of posts too lately and I feel out of touch. I'm right now trying to find an ergonomic mouse which is not good because that means I'm on the computer which I shouldn't be! And this week I have a car so it's off to the office store for a chair. I've got the gel ice pad and I'm trying to remember to use it. Okay doc, 5 times per day. I'm on it.

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