I have been feeling better lately, actually doing things. Instead of pushing myself like in the waning moments of a soccer match to do anything, the fatigue has abated enough that I can just do things and apply the pushing energy instead to the task at hand.

I tire easily, but tiring is different from being fatigued. I have days where I can be on my feet for hours at a time; not doing heavy work but still accomplishing things.

I can have help over and be able to supervise or be a gofer so we are catching up on some things. For example, we have lived in this house for 12 years come Christmas, and just now finished replacing the last of the windows. Much of the delay has been financial, but the last few years it was my health.

It’s been like that cliche image of someone opening a closet and all this piled up stuff comes tumbling out. For the last few years I have had to ignore, for the sake of my mental equilibrium, so much that I didn’t have the juice to do, and now that I can, to a degree, my awareness of everything that could and should be done comes to the surface.

I have little stamina, but I can walk short distances at a stroll and not be winded. My days under interferon treatment used to start with a coughing spell that built up until I gagged, and any time I took a deep breath I would cough at deepest inhale but all that has passed. I can now fully expand my chest and not cough, which bodes well.

I still get winded easy but one side effect of soccer playing is that I am used to functioning winded so that doesn’t stop me. I suspect that to continue getting stronger, there are a lot of winded hours ahead of me.

I have even had a few visits from my old friend endorphin, which I discuss here and here, that I hadn’t had the association of for a long time. I have missed him.

I am even contemplating doing a little gardening next year. We used to make a meager living growing for Farmer’s Markets. That may not be viable anymore, but the first step in any case would be a small garden.

Several years ago while I was already fading, Bhima Walker came and set some posts for me that were 8 feet (2.4 m) above the ground. It was going to be 5 posts a side of a 45′ by 12′ (13.7 x 3.6 m) trellis to grow gourds on. He got 8 of them in, and we just finished setting the other two this week. It was one of those projects I had to abandon as the world closed in on me, and now has been resumed.

I won’t do the whole trellis thingy, but I will close it in as a critter proof area to garden in. Deer can jump a 5 foot fence. I have much better soils other places but the critter pressure is so strong, they are functionally less suited. The weaker undeveloped soils of the proposed trellised area will be a better choice for Garden 2008. Replacing the electric wire with 8′ fencing around the regular garden will be an ongoing project, I hope, so eventually I could finish the trellis.

Will Gosh be able to grow Pruden’s Purple tomatoes and Italia sweet peppers next season? What about green beans and brussels sprouts? Will recovery from liver transplant buy enough time before the untreatable highly active chronic Hepatitis C pounds him down again?

Stay tuned.