On July 14 , a surgeon cut the top of my femur off and replaced it with a piece of plastic that will fit into the socket of my pelvis. No more pain occurs when I walk or sit for too long.

Pretty amazing, huh? And I’m healing nicely, except I take an opioid, oxycodone, for pain management. That messes my head up. I sleep when others are awake. And I am awake at 2:20 AM. My world is topsy-turvy. Comes with the territory called healing.

This is how my world is supposed to be right now. Little things elicit profound gratitude. My son dropped by this afternoon and pruned my azaleas. My friend Scott texts me about baseball scores and what he ate for lunch. And these inconsequential topics suddenly take on great meaning because he is sharing his time with me. My wife J is either working, sleeping, watching TV, or sleeping with the TV on. I guess that last activity counts as multitasking.

I think about sex a lot. The physical pleasure is profound, as best as I can recall, but the intimacy, lying with a woman, after we’ve made love, and we are the only two people in the world, in that naked embrace, is the greatest feeling in the world. If only we humans could match our feelings and desires perfectly with our lovers.

No swimming until this wound from the surgery is healed, not just the scar on my thigh, but all of the muscle and bone beneath is healed.

That’s about it. I’ve avoided blogging, but I need to share my life with you people, who are my friends.