The major life issue I’m dealing with right now is the health of the electrical system in my apartment building.

Last night I went to bed like a normal person.  Hours later I awoke to feel a little shock in my right foot.  Not much, but there.  I’d say 3 out of 10 on the pain scale.

I was in and out of sleep for the rest of the night.  When I was awake, I started timing the bursts in my foot.  They averaged every twenty seconds.

The pain was in the exact spot of the tendon transfer surgery I had in 2003.  That’s a bad memory – seventeen weeks on crutches.  My surgeon inserted a five-centimetre screw in my heel.

And here I am today.  Is the metal conducting electricity … that somehow comes from my apartment building?

I just reread that last sentence.  Sure sounds weird.

It’s mid-morning in Lloyd Coffee Eatery.  The frequency of the jolts is less often, but they’ve accompanied me for coffee.

I don’t know what’s happening but surely the body and the emotions are intimately connected.

***

Now I’m remembering another time of the body – 2018.  With seventeen other souls, I started riding my bicycle across Canada.

I lasted four days, terrified of the semi-trailers passing close by, and lacking the necessary bike skills.

What did the body say in response?  My right hand shook uncontrollably for a week, maybe two.  (Sigh)

…

And so, dear body, you are a mystery to me