On riding in the car

Take me riding in the car, car;
Take me riding in the car, car;
Take you riding in the car, car; 
I'll take you riding in my car.

From “Riding in my car” by Woody Guthrie.

It is not one of Woody Guthrie’s most profound songs, but not all songs need to be profound and it is appropriate to how I am feeling right now. After various plans that didn’t pan out, Mummy drove into Montreal today which is where the plan nearly went awry when her car suffered a problem with its transmission. She managed to get to my apartment, where she phoned the Volkswagen help line. They sent a tow truck which hauled the car off the nearest VW dealership. They in turn lent Mummy a car. 

In the meantime, I was having physiotherapy. I had successfully climbed up and down the test stairs four times before, when I was asked to try climbing the stairs only using the left hand railing as my internal staircase only has a railing on that side. Hanging onto the railing, I put my right foot on the first step and pushed. I rose an inch or two before my right leg suddenly couldn’t provide any strength at that particular angle, and I started going down. I held onto the railing with a death grip as the Physio rushed to steady me and give me a boost upright. I got back into my wheelchair. The Physio insisted on icing my knee and then cutting the session short.

Mummy arrived during lunch. We chatted until about 1:30 when we went to the gym. There, the Occupational Therapist greeted us and we went out to the borrowed car. The OT stood by as I gingerly maneuvered the wheelchair close to the front door, then carefully transferred my body onto the front passenger seat. I lowered the back of the seat, then maneuvered myself backwards until my left foot could clear the door frame. I was seated in the car!!! 

While the OT demonstrated to Mummy how the wheelchair should be folded for stowage, I practiced how to get my left foot out of the car. Then, with the OT’s approval, Mummy and I set off on a modest trip around town.

Our first stop was at a fabric store. I inherited my living room sofa from my Great Aunt Lorna. (Another candidate for an Adventure Auntie type show.) I believe it had been bought when she built her house around 1970. In a very Aunt Lorna-ish fashion, it is covered with a red and orange checked cloth which she concealed with a floral patterned cover during the summer. I never particularly liked the feel of the red and orange cloth, so I left the outer cover on all year. At some point after years of lying on it to read or sleep, the cover ripped. It had been a project for several years to have a new cover made and Mummy precipitated it into happening. So we went fabric shopping. 

I ended up choosing what I think of a loose floral pattern in muted colours in a yellow and green section of the spectrum. When we went to get the necessary length of material cut, we learned that it was 50% off on top of being 50% off. Unfortunately, this did not mean it was free, merely 50% off the 50% off, e.g. “only” 75% off in total. We ended up buying some extra material just in case.

We then went to the Library to return a book and say “Hi” to some of my co-workers. Two of them remembered my mother from various events, most of them twenty plus years ago. It was easier for me to visit this time around.

Next, I paid a visit to the drugstore across the street where I went a mild shopping spree for some basics such as laundry detergent and toothpaste, as well as some “extravagances” such as fizzy water and honey roasted peanuts. Then it was back to the Lindsay.

The thing about practicing getting in and out of ordinary cars is that it makes it easier for me to getting around. I don’t have to carefully plan ahead with the relatively expensive adapted taxis. I can take regular taxis. I might even get lifts with various friends and relatives. It might not be a case of the sky’s the limit, but the ceiling has certainly been raised.