Saturday, January 17, 2009

Thankful for the bucket

Folk Wisdom: The bucket goes down in the well every day -some day it won't come up. ~Virgin Islander

There are so many days that come, and I wake up and marvel at the chance to spend 8, 10, even 12 hours knitting. I know there are many who would love to do this and can not. I recognize that it’s a luxury to be able to do what I love and count those as among the best days. Then there are days which I watch hurriedly fly by when not a stitch passes through my fingers. I feel a small sense of regret at the supposed missed opportunity.

While I appreciate the time I have for knitting I seldom reflect on my physical ability to do so. I started young. Many people do not discover an intense love of knitting until later in life, after the families have grown and work has been retired. Often I assume that there will be another 40 or 50 years of knitting ahead of me, and count this as a blessing. But there is the distinct possibility that my concentrated knitting efforts may ware down the cartilage in my fingers early that my eyes may grow weak or some other unforeseen ailment may interfere with my knits and purls. Until such a time comes, I must continue to marvel at my knit-a-tunities (opportunities to knit) and be thankful for each one, as all things change with time.

3 comments:

MarieAnge said...

I definitely agree with you. I too appreciate the fact that I can knit, some days more, some days less. I still work, can't retire, too young and too broke LOL
Enjoy it while you can!

Angel

Anonymous said...

I practice knitting blind. I feel the stitches and try to figure out mistakes without looking. I don't do it a lot, but I do do it. Mom thinks I'm silly. But my Great Grandmother had Macular Degeneration, a hereditary eye disease that will eventually render you blind, and my grandfather now has it too. I may never get it, and if I do it's likely it will be very late in life, so by then arthritis or dimensia may get to me first, but I always want to be able to knit...kind of morbid probably, but I can certainly relate to your post and appreciate what I can do now.

rita said...

Amen! I too worry about losing my eyesight. Two years ago I developed Wet Macular Degeneration (at 54!!! "You're too young for that." Big help!), but I'm fortunate because a new treatment (series of 3 injections in the eyeball) was approved just weeks before I was diagnosed. I've had 6 injections so far and will probably have to have them periodically for the rest of my life, but they really help. Even the original blind spot is slowly disappearing.

I'd love to have the chance to knit all day!p