Home

 Well, I'm home. 

As I walked, I was having problems 

with 3 things: 

my lungs, 

the 92 degree heat, 

and the mosquitos. 

I was also reading a book called 

"A Cup of Zen" each day.

In Puente la Reina, I walked out of a shop, 

and a speeding car almost hit me.
He literally stopped 5 inches from my body.
AT this point, I was exhausted 

and asking myself,
"Why am I doing this?"

Then I opened my book and read, 

Just out of curiosity, 

I turned to the next page and read:

And I asked myself,
am I doing this simply because 

it's what 
I've always done?

What would happen if I let go,

because honestly,

I feel the Camino no longer serves me.

And I made the choice to let go.

I got a bus to Logroño 

where I spent one night.
I got a bus to Madrid 

where I spent a night.
And I flew home the next day.
I got home September 1

And I KNOW I made the right decision.

I'm happy.
I have my garden.

I have my bed.

I have my bathtub.
It's good to be home.

An accident must have been in the stars 

for me,

because on September 5, 
I tripped on an upended board 

in my garden.

I fell forward and did a face plant

on the front of a water barrel,

throwing my head and left arm 

violently backwards

as the rest of my body hit the ground flat.
I felt and heard a loud crack in my neck 

and in my shoulder.

I told Joe,
"I think I broke my neck!"

I also hit a piece of rebar going down.
You can see it with the orange tape on it.
It scraped my knee, ankle and foot

and I ended up 

with a big goose egg on my ankle.

After a bit, Joe helped me up 

and took me to the ER.
After CT with contrast of my head,

neck, shoulder, and left arm,

I was sent home with an ice pack

and grateful that nothing was broken.
I felt like it was a miracle 

because I HEARD that loud crack.

It's been about 9 days since the accident.
The swelling on my ankle has gone down, 

but there is bruising all around the ankle,

the foot in front of my toes, 

and it still hurts to walk.
They did not x-ray the foot and ankle

because at the time, 

we were more concerned

with my neck.
And even if I did break bones in the foot,

they wouldn't do much 

except maybe 

put it in a cast. 
So I have just been elevating it with ice.

Joe helped me wrap it 

with an ace bandage today.

My arm is really sore.
It throbs so I must have torn 

or sprained the muscle.
I can't lift a coffee cup with it,

and getting dressed is painful.

But all in all,

I so grateful it wasn't worse!
And

I'm glad if I had to have an accident,

I had it at home. 

This week, despite my injuries,

I have had a great time 

canning tomatoes

and corn.

And this morning, 

I boiled the corn cobs

added brown sugar,

and made 6 half-pints 

of pancake syrup.

The garden is going nuts!
Joe canned green beans this week also.
My sweet potatoes are taking over one end.

I dug one up this morning 

to see if they were big enough

to harvest, but they need to stay 

in the ground

another couple of weeks.

So that's it.
I'm home.
And that's where my heart is right now.

Love,

Annie