Remembering How to Ride a Bike and Recovering from COVID
“We do not learn, and that what we call learning is only a process of recollection.”
I actually don't completely agree with Plato on this point about learning. I think it does capture something about the "aha" moments and something about a new piece of knowledge settling into the framework and parameters of that we already know, and I've definitely had some insights into Plato that put me in "that great sea of beauty" but there are so so many things that I have learned that I am just sure I did not know in my last sojourn with the forms. I also think we learn by doing etc..... I think being in the intellectual space of learning has a recollective quality to it. My mind is ready to learn and it didn't exactly learn how to do that, though you do learn to learn by learning...
Anyway, all that has been on my mind as I'm working to relearn bike riding. I vividly remember learning to ride a bike the first time. I remember our very long gravel driveway, training wheels, the bike bell. Dad taught me. One day, we took the training wheels off in the parking lot of my elementary school and he held me for a bit, but then I had it and off I went.
I also remember Mom teaching me to read and the moment I really got it. I had been doing a lot of guessing prior to this point, but suddenly one night, the letters all clicked into place and I could read, just like that. Mom confirms that this is exactly what happened and it was exciting to see.
Joni Mitchell apparently relearned guitar after her stroke by watching herself play.
Anyway, they say, "you don't really forget how to ride a bike." Maybe, but if you don't do it for a long time and you take meds that interfere with balance and you are afraid of falling on the newly replaced hip or the other one, there's a certain trepidation that may overshadow embodied memory. Suffice it to say, my first forays back into biking were pretty rocky. Particularly trying to use Christina's fancy mountain bike that was very bouncy and I pretty much just toppled over twice. Luckily, I was on grass and in some ways that was good because I saw that I could fall and not break.
Then, I just stuck with the pink bike we bought for 100 dollars. Jeff got me balanced a couple times and ran with me just like Dad did back in the day. It definitely would be easier to ride a better bike, but two days ago, I felt more balance and today I felt pretty much stable, though I still need a lot of practice getting on and off and braking and I can't really turn well.
It is good exercise. I can feel my heart rate differently and it is, in most ways, easier on the joints and it is cool that you can go further and see more.
We are having a great time up here. I could imagine retiring here and definitely conintuing to summer here. It is just a nice mellow place. Weather is fantastic and there just feels like there is so much more to do, partly because there is such awesome nature, but also because you can actually be outside and enjoy it.
So, starting Thursday I/we started to feel better. I over did it a little that day, but each progressive day I woke up and just felt the sickness receding from my body and then Saturday I felt well (which was day after last anti-viral dose). I have a little residual sinus stuff but am not overwhlemingly tired.
I did give it to Dad which I feel bad about but he is "most all well" also. When I was very young, Dad worked in the lab with rats and a rat bit him and he developed a case of rat bite fever. I remember that he was very sick and spent a lot of time lying on the couch. At some point, I asked him if he was "most all well." I imagine I meant to say "almost well." But it is one of those things that sort of stuck as a phrase of funniness in our family of origin over the years.
I had a very productive work week last week. Have sort of gone down an Anaxagoras rabbit hole which has been fun. I have an excellent RA this semester so that is great and will help keep me on task. It is harder to write here than I was anticipating in that the outdoors is so tempting but once I sit down and do it, it comes well.
Here's sunset last night.
And a lovely walk yesterday
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