Shaved Meats, Piled High: July 2022
The Prime Directive
My tennis instructor also likes to ski and last year he told me a story about an older man, very fit, who was on a ski trip with him. The man was 70-plus, an accomplished skier, but he took a fall so bad that he had to be airlifted to the hospital. As they were taking him away, he shared the secret to a healthy old age: "Don't fall down."
On June 23rd, I failed to follow this prime directive, slipping down a short flight of rain-slick steps. Because I was in public, my initial response was adrenaline-fueled embarrassment. I popped up very quickly, assured everyone I was all right and headed home. It soon became apparent that I was not all right. I had braced myself with my left arm as I fell, injuring my shoulder. For days, I found it difficult to sleep because of the pain. I couldn't raise my left hand above my shoulder and it's interesting how many tasks require that I do that. (Shampooing, putting my hair in a ponytail, zipping up certain dresses.)
(Someone on Twitter thought this was a photo of my leg.)
And I feel so lucky. I have a relative who ended up in rehab last year after a fall. My dad suffered a terrible fall, breaking his tailbone, shortly before his death. A week or so before my accident, I watched a little boy in my neighborhood face-plant on the sidewalk and bounce right up, laughing. Those days are long gone for me and I can't quite believe it. I'm a klutz. I've been falling down and bumping into things for decades, and I have the scars to prove it.
Yet monitoring the slow but steady progress of healing reminds me of what I like about writing novels. I like the fact that I can't write a novel quickly, that time -- call it gestation -- is a factor. I also like being reminded that my relative good health is a by-product of luck and privilege. Plus, the injury was extraordinarily well-timed, as my daughter is away at sleep-away camp, which allows me to live an extremely quiet life.
And today, I put my hair in a ponytail and zipped up my own dress, just like a big girl.
Read/reading: Let Me Be Frank With You, Richard Ford; Collected Poems, Philip Larkin; Dirtbag, Massachusetts, Isaac Fitzgerald; student manuscripts.
Rereading: One of the Crowd, Rosamond du Jardin; The Cheerleader, Ruth Doan MacDougall.
Me, Me, Me: Dream Girl has been nominated for the Strand Critics Award in some truly stellar company.
And remember to keep an eye on my Instagram account and my Facebook account for a chance to win the Mystery Box.
Laura Lippman
July 2022