I have been off for a few days.

Last Friday was a funeral down in the country near Uncle Joe’s farm. The lady was a first cousin and an avid polka dancer. I first met her and her husband at the National Polka Festival in Ennis, Texas, a couple years back. After that, I always looked forward to seeing her bright smile on the dance floor as she and her best friend polkaed, waltzed, two-stepped and twirled across the polished wood sprinkled with corn starch and racing children underfoot. Polka dancing is a family affair.

So, no blog on Friday. Sorry.

Then, over the weekend I took a walk on the trail with Ms. Mary. On our return, we noticed my back was twisted to the right. Sure enough, I was in spasm. That old sciatica had acted up. It’s been about ten years since I had an episode. The sciatic nerve is the largest and longest nerve in our bodies. Starting out from the lower back, it begins about as thick as a person’s thumb. It travels out from the spinal cord, between a couple lower vertebrae, and down the leg to the foot, branching and thinning as it goes. This is the main phone line to your leg and foot. The problem is that where it travels between those vertebrae on its exit from the spinal cord, the space is tight, not much room between your bony backbone and the gelatinous disk between your vertebrae that keeps the space open. That disk can become compressed (say, by lifting something the wrong way). When this happens, the verterbral bones move closer and can touch the sciatic nerve, abrading its surface. Oh, Wowee!! That sure can hurt, sending shooting pains down the leg. To prevent the pain from and damage to the nerve, when the nerve detects the irritation beginning, it signals up the spinal cord to the brain to pull and tighten the back muscles to open the passage wider, if they can. That’s the muscular spasm, a pulling and tightening by your back muscles to pull the bone away from the nerve to protect the nerve and you. When this happens, it’s best to lie flat and rest and give your body some time to straighten things out. Your doctor can help with what to do and take to relax and repair things. To prevent these spasmodic episodes of lower back pain (sciatica), I do straightening exercises for my spinal cord every morning, I squat down and lift things with my legs rather than bending over and lifting with my back (must have forgotten this one), I get up and walk around when I am sitting long at the computer, I exercise (walk and lift light weights – I’ll wait a while to start these again), and I try to sit with both feet on the floor (crossing the legs is rough on that sciatic nerve). Sciatica is very common – about 40% of the entire world’s population will experience some form of sciatica in their lifetimes. The good news is sciatica is treatable by rest and a visit to the Doc, and it is preventable by changing a few things you do and getting some regular exercise.

So, I haven’t been writing for a few days. Sorry.

I love to write.

I am finishing the background reading and will begin writing a book. The plan is to publish each chapter here, on Uncle Joe Stories. I am hoping to have the first chapter for you to read sometime next month, February 2013. Keep your fingers crossed.

So, I may be writing fewer blog posts in order to work on the book. Sorry.

Keep stopping by — as always, a lot is happening,

Grandpa Jim