Injured? Find a new adventure!

With this headline, my readers are now thinking, “Amy has lost her mind.” How can we find a new adventure if we’re injured?

Some readers may recall my foot injury that I wrote about weeks ago. Turns out this isn’t something that I’ll recover from quickly. I have plantar fasciitis. Unless I sit and do nothing for a week or two, my foot will take months to fully heal. Like most of us, I’d rather avoid sitting and doing nothing!

So, I’m stretching, icing, and wearing my best walking shoes with orthotics. (Boy, doesn’t that sound like a middle-aged thing?) I’m taking turmeric every day as an anti-inflammatory. Needless to say, the 10Ks I had hoped to walk this fall aren’t happening.

What’s an active person to do? In the words of Ross Geller from Friends … we PIVOT.

I learned this years ago when I injured my ankle and couldn’t hoop dance for weeks (fortunately I can still hoop dance with this latest injury, with some modifications.) I did the mature thing at first … I pouted.

But then I remembered that I had wanted to learn how to bake an incredible pie. I could handle standing up in a kitchen and now had extra time. I turned to the legendary Betty Gerrard – my former adopted grandmother and neighbor – for her wisdom. She passed away almost two years ago at the remarkable age of 101.

We spent a delightful, rainy fall afternoon baking pies together. Betty taught me how to mix just the right amount of butter, flour, salt, and water to create that perfect, chewy crust. I still enjoy making pies to this day and am a proud “first-place” recipient from a pie making contest at our Noblesville farmer’s market.

What have I done differently due to this latest injury? First, my husband John and I have been kayaking, which I’ve written about. Second, I’ve been riding my bike more. It’s made me feel like a kid again!

With new trails opening in Noblesville and the medley of orange, brown, yellow, and red leaves beginning to pop up in the trees, I feel blessed to hop on my bike and explore it all. I find that it puts me in a beautiful, meditative state of mind.

This bike is giving our columnist lots of new adventures. (Photo provided by Amy Shankland)

I know that I’ll be able to do my 10K walks again in 2025. In the meantime, I must be patient and enjoy the new adventures on our local waterways and trails.

Most empty nesters are like me – middle aged. I find that this stage of life brings more joy than sorrow … and more injuries. Unless we sit around doing nothing – which is more harmful than beneficial to our bodies – aches and pains are gonna happen.

If they prevent us from doing something we enjoy, hopefully on a temporary basis, we need to look around and think about what things we CAN do. We need to take this as an opportunity to discover a new hobby like knitting, writing poetry, playing an instrument … or baking pies!

Amy Shankland is a writer and fundraising professional living in Noblesville with her husband John, two sons, two dogs, and a cat. You can reach her via email at amys@greenavenue.info.