Daryl's Belleville Outdoor Musings

I was halfway through peeling the sticker off my coffee cup at Tim Hortons, standing in that slow-moving line at the Humberlea location, when I noticed the shoe print in my lap. Not my shoe. Not quite. My knee felt wrong, like a tight rubber band had snapped and left the whole front of my leg fizzing. I looked down and the right knee was puffier than the left, the cuff of my jeans sitting oddly on it. Someone behind me asked if I was okay and I lied. "Just tired." That w

I was halfway through the Costco parking lot, coffee in one hand, stroller folded into the trunk with the other, when I first noticed how funny my knee felt. It was a dull, heavy sort of ache that made me shift my weight, then a sharp sting when I tried to climb back into the car. I remember thinking, not for the first time, that I should have listened to my dad when he said you do not ignore weird pains after turning fifty. Except I am not fifty. I am 38, my dad was right

I remember standing in the Costco parking lot, cart full of weekend supplies, and realising I could not put my full weight on my right leg without this deep, grinding pain. The sunlight off the pavement felt almost too bright. My son was in the cart, pointing at a toy truck, and I was trying to act casual while shifting my weight like a drunk man at a wedding. It had been six days since my arthroscopic knee surgery and the swelling was worse than the surgeon had warned me a