I reckon that I’m doing better. I’ve done the Ricki Ave. trail hill twice now, and it’s fine for me. I have done it both times without heavy breathing. I walk slowly, for sure, but still, I feel stronger. Also, I am not napping as often, so maybe Dr. Chen was right about my problem being my lungs. Anyway, I’m a lot more relaxed about my health and that’s a great thing!
Mid-day, I went into the village for cash to pay Grayson, and on the way back Sheba and I played fetch. I’m not better. What I know now is that I felt better because I have learned how to live within the boundaries of possibilities. I walk slowly, I don’t carry anything heavy, and life seems normal. And that’s good enough for me.
Grayson is a Godsend! He is a tireless worker, and he has done an amazing job of bucking the fallen trees. He is almost finished bucking, so next is splitting and stacking. He is tidy, thoughtful and endlessly chipper. I shall miss him when he is done, but I hope he comes back to stack the wood I bought that is coming in April.
Last night I watched Sing Sing. It’s an inspiring and incredibly complex movie given that it is very close to being a documentary in that the film is loosely based on John H Richardson’s Esquire article The Sing Sing Follies, which covered the RTA program’s 2005 production, Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code, a raucous time-travelling musical revue that has pirates, gladiators, Freddy Krueger and Hamlet.
The RTA program is an inspiring prison program that helps members escape the rough and tumble world of maximum-security penitentiaries. RTA stands for Rehabilitation Through the Arts. It’s a program that brings dance, theatre, music and writing workshops to prisons. Currently, sixteen prisons have a functioning RTA program, and this delicate and affectionate film is cast with many of its members.
It's also a magnificent story of friendship. One of my favourite films ever is Talk to Her by Pedro Almodovar. I love that film because it’s about two men whose wives are in critical care in the same hospital. We see these two strangers with something in common become vital to each other, and that’s exactly what happens between the two protagonists of Sing Sing.
Sing Sing, directed by Greg Kwedar, is an inspiring testament to the RTA program, which is an avenue for restorative justice that has a proven success rate as far as recidivism goes. Only 3% of RTA participants return to prison, according to the program’s site, a stark contrast to a national average flying well past 60%.
Today has dawned bright and sunny. Sheba and I slowly walked the Ricki Ave. trail. I love this trail because it is so bright. Most of the trails are deep in the forest of dense tall Fir trees and they are dark, but the Ricki trail passes through a lot of deciduous trees so it’s lovely and bright in the Winter.
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