vision, design, and change

All the flowering trees are done, and are now covered with tiny cherries, apples and plums. It seems like Spring is done and summer has begun here at Pré Borel. The other evening I was doing some weeding in the garden – at 6p.m. – and despite tank top and shorts, was perspiring up a storm. Soon it will be too hot to do much outside at midday. I do love the warm evenings – with the birds chattering away as they prepare to bed down, and the crickets and frogs just beginning in on their evening chorus. “Evening sun” was my favourite time of the day as a child in the Ottawa Valley, and it’s been a very long time since I’ve *felt* that time of day: the gentling of the sun, the rising scents of various green things about, and the rustling, chirruping, and calling of a myriad of little creatures with voices defying probability.
We will try to post photos of the veg garden. It is well on its way to edible production. And all with thanks to friends Loren and Mary-Ruth, who spent many many hours turning what had been a forgotten plot, thick with a tangled rug of weeds, into a beautifully turned over and ripe-for-the-planting series of beds and furrows (and all after spending several days trail hiking in southern France – their ‘rest for the weary’ is defined quite differently than most folks’!) Greg and Loren laid the drip-irrigation lines, which will cut down on water-use, and magnify efficacy, and Andy hoed enough that his muscles were aching the next day. He and Greg agreed that they didn’t just hope to be as fit as Loren when they reached his age – they wished that they were that fit now! Already spinach, carrots, beets, courgettes, pumpkins, onions, garlic, potatoes, lettuces, tomatoes, peppers are merrily growing away – with more veg either sprouting, or awaiting a last final bit of space-clearing, so that we can cram them in (ie, sweetcorn – which is not as easy to get fresh on the cob in France, as it is in North America).
All of which provides sufficient ‘low-impact’ exercise for yours truly. And it is paying off. Having consistently comfortable days, in which it is ‘easy’ to be outside (no bracing of oneself against the cold), means that – even if in little spurts – I am able to get out, wander about, and DO things. How I love being outside so much again! And as I putter around watering, weeding, clipping, surveying, I am getting more exercise and fresh air than I have gotten for too many years. The combination of the efficacy of the new drugs, with the fact that they are enabling me to be more active, is making me stronger, haler, we are quite sure. Numerous people made “Heidi-jokes’ when we moved here…hoping that the alpine air and comfortable outdoors might, Clara-like, get me further and further from life in a wheel-chair. And, combined with the new meds, I think it has indeed occurred.
Some of you will want an update from our latest meeting with the RA consultant: and it is good. My liver has stabilized, and I am currently on less pain meds than I have been on for at least five years. I think my hair has even started getting a bit thicker again, now that my dose of the ‘chemo med’ is so much less. I am still on daily steroids, but that does mean I get to keep the Methatrexate dose down. Apart from my right hand (which is pretty weak, and usually swollen), and my feet, the rheumatologist was quite pleased – as Greg says, it was probably the most positive meeting we’ve had with any of the rheumatologists yet! He thinks that things might get a bit better yet, but that the disease is certainly starting to look ‘controlled.’ This means that deterioration is significantly slowed down. He reminded us that my hands and feet will always be a bit of a problem, as there is nothing that can be done about the permanent damage already done to bones and cartilage, and the resulting pain – but it was amazing to realize when talking to him that: “no, my hips are fine, my knees are fine, my shoulders are fine, my neck is fine, my elbows are fine, my jaw only occasionally a problem…” – how quickly we take things for granted all over again… but all of these parts of my body are not constantly ‘dragging me down’ now, as they have been for so long. I still have ‘bad days,’ in which I’m more or less out of commission (‘overall body’ not doing great) – but these are lessening…and it is rare if even these days are not punctuated by at least a few minutes of ‘poking around’ in the garden.
So – lots of natter on Kirstin’s body rather than Greg’s, but an update I know some of you will want. And, an update significantly connected to the next adventure in the Johnson’s unusual life: a semi-recumbent tandem bicycle.

This isn’t the beast herself, but it is close-enough in design to give you an idea of what I’m talking about. It’s been more than eight years since I have adequately ridden a bicycle. The last serious attempt was on our honey-moon – we did not yet know at that point that my loss of adequate balance, my fatigue, my weak hands, and my generally sore body were due to RA. All we knew was that repeated wipe-outs and building frustration meant that we would not be viewing the island of Tiree by bicycle (not to mention that we got lost -- in wind and rain -- on Tiree’s only hill, and had to drag the bikes across sodden marshes! Rarely has a cottage fireplace in early summer been better appreciated!)
A year later, inspired by our friends Paul & Kathy (married the week before us, they had left their wedding mounted on a tandem), we tried an afternoon on a tandem bicycle, sure that this would be the answer for us. It was a glorious day, as we cycled around the car-free island of Porquerolles, and many were the tourists humoured by the appearance of Greg busily cycling in front, and me with my feet up in back. What they didn’t know was that Greg was fully aware that I wasn’t cycling – RA-tender bones had made it impossible for me to sit on the bicycle seat for more than a few minutes before needing to assist support with my feet. Despite a lovely day, we were disappointed – even tandeming didn’t seem to work. The design of a traditional bicycle is not one for those with physical limitations.
But Greg, true to form when he is determined, did not give up. And sure enough, he has since found a company that makes race bikes, designer bikes, and bikes for people with disabilities. Amazingly, often all three in combination. The bikes designed to suit those with physical limitations are equally tempting to those without. And now, having tried some ourselves, we realize why those who have ridden a recumbent are ever dissatisfied with a traditional bicycle. And the greater speed of a recumbent is by no means its strongest selling point. *That* is comfort.
So 7 years on, on our anniversary weekend, we went to Lake Annecy, to give this strange beast a try. And Kirstin, who hasn’t lasted more than two minutes on any bicycle for years, and who is limited even in how long she can comfortably sit at the dinner table, cycled 40 kms in one day.
Greg and I did the circumference of Lake Annecy, with a stop for lunch and ice-cream in the middle, and even arrived back at the shop 2 hours earlier than we expected we would. En route we passed a couple in their 50’s, with the same bicycle – had they any regrets? Only that they hadn’t bought it sooner. Now I must admit, Greg worked harder than I did – though this is one of the pluses of this set-up: if my legs give out, I can just rest my feet on the pedals, while Greg keeps cycling us on (though I did actually cycle the entire time!) – but what a glorious day! And though tired, I was even ready to go for a short walk that evening. Barely short of miraculous.
So the bike has been ordered. Two years of research on Greg’s part have paid off, and hopefully in a few months both of us will be even stronger. We will continue to get strange looks, but between wheelchairs, eye-patches, kayaks, kite-buggies, and a car with the wheel on the wrong side….we’re pretty used to that. And quite possibly the best feature of the semi-recumbent is that the cyclists’ heads end up being quite close together, yet with an unimpeded view for each – which makes it really easy to converse while travelling, and to actually chat about what we’re seeing and where we’re going. In comfort and contentment. Three cheers for vision, design, and change.

And now, with a need for recumbent fingers,
Bonsoir!