Lessons in humility

I've had two things happen that are teaching me to be humble this week. First, I found out I need surgery on my ankle, and I'm going to be in a cast up to my knee for 8 weeks, starting July 2. So there goes my relaxing summer by the lake, right? I'm actually quite freaked out about it - no walking or putting any weight on it for 8 weeks. That royally sucks, especially because there are like 30 steps from our driveway to our doorway, and they're not all nice and easy, either. Our house is built into a hill, so they're uneven, stone, etc. I guess I'll have to scoot down on my butt if I want to go anywhere, even if hubby drives me. That's all I can think. And I'm lucky in that our bathtub is against the wall on the right side, and the surgery is going to be on my left ankle, so I'll still be able to take a bath with my leg hanging out the edge of the tub. But they're cutting a huge amount out to get good tendons to replace the bad ones. So I'll have a big scar, and the idea of it is just really gross. And the whole thing just has me really scared.

But here's what I realized... there are people who don't have mobility all the time. I'm being all dramatic because I'm losing my mobility for 8 weeks. There are people who will never be mobile again in their lives. There are people who lost legs in Iraq. And arms in Afghanistan. And just have diseases that keep them from being able to walk around whenever they want.

I feel like it's my duty to take care of this body, which largely works, in honor of the people who don't have bodies that work 100% like mine does. So that's Humbling Incident Number One.

The second one is that I got busted using Wikipedia on my Renaissance English History Podcast. I say "busted" like I was trying to get away with something, and that wasn't the case - I'm just super-embarrassed because I know better than that. Soooo.... that's humbling incident number 2. Lesson learned. No more wikipedia without fact-checking.

The other thing is that I'm engrossed in Agincourt: A Novel about the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. I've never ready anything by Bernard Cornwell before, but I'm definitely going to become a fan. It is just all-consuming. I find myself sneaking a sentence at a red light. Not very safe! But happy to find a new author I love.