Satisfaction in little things

I am right-handed. Today I made a cup of tea with my right hand. That means filling the kettle, pouring water into the teapot, and stirring the sugar in the cup. All that stuff. Nothing special.

Except when one's right arm has been pretty much out of use for a month.

I still have only 90 degrees of movement in my shoulder, where the normal expectation is 180 degrees, and that's without holding any weight. Tomorrow I see a specialist who will decide whether I need surgery.

When someone falls over during a sports event or in a film on television, I immediately wonder how they can do it without injuring themselves, and then remember that it's something that I couldn't manage. A couple of weeks ago I watched a DVD of a David Attenborough documentary featuring orang-utans, and could hardly bear to see all the swinging through trees. How are shoulders like that possible?

But one thing that all this does: it gives a new sense of just how remarkable the everyday life that we often take for granted really is. Opposable thumbs and all.