My Moon Boot Brings All the Boys to the Yard...
What a difference a day makes. I went to my doctor today (meanwhile, this "clinic" was gorgeous - it looked like an upscale mall with fish tanks and lovely printed decor) anyway, he replaced my flimsy brace and my steel crutches with one industrial strength
"iboot." Since everything these days is some shoot off of the Apple line, why not have an iboot to match my ibook and my ilife?? But anyway, who would have ever guessed that such a stormy and snowy day could suddenly become so sunny? My attitude pulled a 180. I have never felt such an extreme low to high in such a short period of time. Now I am just walking like my old self, just with a jive-talking brand of limp. I was ready to quit with those crutches. I got up this morning and I didn't think I had another day in me, nevermind as long as it would take for my ankle to properly heal. I am near certain that my weekend would have consisted of resting and moving between bed and my kitchen table because going down the stairs was just too difficult and exhausting. The prognosis is a serious sprain and the doc told me that I should be feeling a lot better in a week and in about two, I can be off the brace. It's still unclear if I'll need physical therapy... but at this point, a boot that let's me roam free, bring out the trash, walk up stairs with relative ease, and get up for a drink of water - oh, this is the most fantastic change in therapy regime ever. Ah, I am so pleased, and now I think it's time for a pedicure. I've never spent this much time looking at my toes / drawing other people's attention to the little piggies - they should look their best for their moment in the cold Wisconsin sun.
In order to celebrate my liberation and also just to celebrate Friday, some friends and I did our first Wisconsin Friday night Fish-Fry. This is big news here and we went to one of Madison's best and most revered local hot spots,
The Avenue Bar. This has been five-times ranked Madison's best FnFF. In a voice like Sophia from Golden Girls, "Picture it..." Something between Las Vegas and Milwaukee. Wood paneling. The ladies all fluffed-up glam eighties bangs, sweaters with intricate scenes and patterning, stretch pants. The men - all trash stashes and mullets. The walls dripped with antique telephones and beer steins and two handsomly out of place flat-screen plasma TVs with the Badger hockey game on. It was smokey and the lights were dim. Our party of six sat around a giant Bavarian dinner table with thick wooden chairs. Two things on the Friday menu - boiled cod and fried cod. The salad was iceberg lettuce, onions, and radishes. Potato options are baked, hashbrowns, or "American Fries." Nothing over $10. No import beers. The wait is an hour and a half, thank god for call ahead. This is the real deal. The fish was actually very good for what it is... but this was a memory worth preserving, long past the taste of grease has faded into a distant unpleasant memory. I can't say that every Friday warrants a fish fry, but if you are going to do it, do it right. I feel like this could be a J. Peterman ad for some horrendous Midwestern product. Between the wrong turn out into the sticks looking for my health clinic and now this, I feel like I've been initiated into the real Wisconsin in a way I never imagined from my sheltered University and Capital-area existence.
It's before midnight and I am thankful to be home, self-reliant, and tired from days of fatigue and muscle strain. Gosh, I am thrilled. I am in such a good mood.
posted by lmjasinski at 11:03 PM
