Good Day Sunshine

The sun came out at last. I hope it’s a good omen for my visit to the doctor tomorrow. Since my fateful fall, the weather has been mainly crappy and deep inside of me I don’t mind that at all. My world has been so dramatically altered for the worse that somehow I resent the universe for not stopping for the coming weeks just like my life will. Talk about sucking at being Zen and stuff. But anyway, truth be told, even limited as I am to the patch of uptown Manhattan sky I can see from my living room, blue and bright really does something to your soul, to the point that my leg almost feels a little better.

Being born in southern Spain, I used to take good weather for granted. I don’t mean to sound chauvinistic, but Mediterranean weather really rocks. It seems to be the exception in a world full of really shitty climates. I don’t care what Mike says: homo sapiens is a tropical animal, and the Belorussian Riviera (whatever that is) will not be in my beach travel plans anytime soon.

Of course during the summer it gets hot back home, but you have the beach and none of that nasty humidity that wraps New York in a thick sweaty layer during the hottest weeks of the year. Nights are especially delightful. I remember the childhood family dinners al fresco in Chiclana or more recently the dama de noche scented Marbella nights after one of Dan’s amazing meals.

Also of course in winter it will get chilly. My father used to say “But it’s never cold in Cádiz!” -his favorite quote when he caught me with the electric heater pumped up to the max in my room. Well, trust me on this one: it can get pretty damn frigid. But still, many times you will be able to enjoy a beer and a tapa de ensaladilla in a terraza under the December sun with as little as a shirt on. And unlike in scorching August, those sunbeams feel so right on your skin…

I don’t know why this post turned out so meteorological and nostalgic at the same time. It must be that today I saw the sunshine on my window. Or that according to my original plans today I was supposed to have an outdoors barbecue with high school friends several thousand of miles away. All I can say is that today I saw the sun and felt a tiny bit happy. Now that’s something to blog about.

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PS: This may sound a bit desperate, but writing is quite lonely so if anybody is reading me and wants to leave a comment, that would make my blogging day.

I Wanna Be Sedated

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans (John Lennon). That’s how my older wiser brother explained my accident. Spending all this time locked in my apartment in pain and discomfort clearly wasn’t among my plans.

The worst is at night. Waking up tired and in pain and not being able to even change position. Closing your eyes and wishing real bad to be asleep again, to fall back to drug induced weird dreams. Hating the darkness and hoping for a relief that won't seem to arrive.

Of course feeling helpless, vulnerable and incapable of performing the most basic tasks doesn’t help. When dragging yourself to the bathroom is an ordeal and taking a glass of water from the kitchen to the table a physical impossibility, cursing becomes a very very frequent activity.

There are obviously much worse things in life that can happen to you. Among them, going through this nightmare without my friends. I knew they were great, that’s why they are my friends in the first place. I didn’t know they are extraordinary. Thank you.

What a difference a day makes

Three days, one hour and 4 minutes ago I was walking towards the East Village to have delicious Serrano ham eggs Benedict with a group of good friends. Apart from a couple of Duane Reade medicines and cornhusks (wtf, I know, one of Dan’s “indispensable” cooking utensils) my Christmas gift shopping was done. In two days' time I was flying home to Spain for the holidays. The first snowstorm of the season began hitting Manhattan right after I exited Astor Place subway station surrounded by the usual Saturday crowds in St. Mark’s place.

Three days, one hour and 3 minutes ago I was lying on the cold icy street, my leg broken and my prospects for the next few months irreparably disrupted. This is the chronicle of my new life out on a limb.