Comments on: Of Traffic Cones and Lobster Traps https://livingwithscleroderma.com/of-traffic-cones-and-lobster-traps/ Reflections on the Messy Complexity of Chronicity Tue, 24 Dec 2013 21:25:44 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 By: Evelyn Herwitz https://livingwithscleroderma.com/of-traffic-cones-and-lobster-traps/#comment-1906 Tue, 24 Dec 2013 21:25:44 +0000 http://www.livingwithscleroderma.com/?p=2144#comment-1906 In reply to Pat Bizzell.

I’ve never read “Billy Budd,” but now I may just have to! Thanks for that one.

Yes, aging certainly has a lot to do with limits. One of the big challenges of chronic disease is that is ages you prematurely.

Big news about your part-time leave. Enjoy! Sounds great.

]]> By: Pat Bizzell https://livingwithscleroderma.com/of-traffic-cones-and-lobster-traps/#comment-1905 Tue, 24 Dec 2013 16:13:07 +0000 http://www.livingwithscleroderma.com/?p=2144#comment-1905 Two widely divergent thoughts popped into my head when I read this post. One: I was reminded of Herman Melville’s brilliant novella “Billy Budd.” The title character is an exceptionally handsome–and inarticulate–sailor who is persecuted by an officer over him. Billy is unable to back Claggart off with words or explain to the captain what is going on. Finally he lashes out with his fist and inadvertently kills the man. Captain Vere decrees, sadly, that Billy must die by the law of the sea. Billy, contrite, agrees that his fate is just.

Now for something completely different: I am very aware of the phenomenon you describe, Ev, of having to set limits to what one can do, though less than what one once could do. I am in a similar situation, although not primarily due to illness. Yes, my arthritis limits my physical activity, but mostly it’s just the general low fatigue threshold of aging, I believe. I can’t do as much work in a day of any kind as I could ten or twenty years ago. In fact, I have applied for and been granted a part-time leave from teaching next year to ease my work load, though I love to be with my students. It’s my first step in phasing toward retirement–coming slowly but surely.

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