Before I left the hospital, a neurosurgeon came to see me and warned me not to expect an instant recovery. “Head injuries don’t heal in a straight line,” he said, “you’ll be fine one day and a mess the next for weeks at least.”

It was good advice. I was getting better every day until yesterday. In the morning, I could barely move and never once left the farmhouse, a first for me in my memory. I had a high fever, could not keep food down, and was exhausted. I lay down and stayed down. I ate nothing all day and drifted into a debilitating fog.

This is to be expected, yet I didn’t expect it. This brain injury is unlike any other damage or sickness I’ve experienced. I am getting better. It was disorienting to see the world spin every time I stood up. I had to hold onto Maria or a chair to keep upright.

The extreme pain in my back has eased; I’m not light-heated and dizzy whenever I get up. We are sure I picked up a virus while in the hospital; I was also warned that this is likely.

The fever broke around 8 p.m., and I couldn’t sleep much. It’s back to normal this morning, and I went outside with my Leica to take some photos, which I’ll post after breakfast. I feel weak but more robust. I had no trouble going outside to get a picture of Zip, Maria, the sheep, and my St. Joseph statue; I think he is the farm’s overseer.

I’ve had temper flares, and the world sometimes spins, but I am recovering a bit every single day. My heart goes out to people who can’t recover a bit every single day.

Maria has been wonderful in caring for me; we agreed that she would go to the Mansion this morning ot take my weekly spot. She’ll do art instead of meditation.

We are ensuring she gets time to do her work – she’s made 16 beautiful new potholders in the past two days, and they will soon be up for sale. Our plan to keep her working in incidents like this seems to work. We just had to plan for it.

I hope I can get to the Mansion on Friday. And Bishop Gibbins is firing up again, and I want to get out there and meet the new wave of refugee kids. I’m not good at resting or waiting, but I had no trouble staying in bed yesterday. I felt like I was run over by a truck.

Today, I’m planning on beginning the path to normalcy, working on blogging and taking photos. I’m on the mend, and thanks for all your kind and generous messages. I’m kicking off the day with an oat bran and melon breakfast. I spent a half hour in the barn with Zip this morning; he’s a great cat and a good match for us.

More later.