October 2, 2017 SHAKE YOUR BOOTY

Piriformis Syndrome. Fanny--derriere--haunches--rump--bum--behind--rear. Okay--my BUTT HURTS. It's A DULL ache and tightness in the GLUTEAL MUSCLES--DEEP IN THE BUTTOCKS--that radiates down the back of my leg. The good news--WHO KNEW I HAD MUSCLES IN MY BUTT--I would've bet money that it was all FAT!  The bad news--it really makes it hard to run. ACTUALLY supposed to STOP running for a bit to let it heal. I've been stretching and icing--trying to work the BUTT-but it's SLOW going. OKAY DON'T LAUGH--I've only been trying to work out the KINK for 24 hours--EVEN THOUGH--I've had the injury for quite a while. I was in DENIAL. Runners aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. WE THINK--we can RUN "THROUGH IT" but we're actually just making it WORSE. I'm sure that every ache & pain I've had over the last month or so is because I've been compensating for the BUTT!! DUMB--DUMB--DUMB. Will I ever learn?????? Probably not. Most of us don't want to admit anything is wrong right? This is an issue Lucy Barton has been wrangling with first in Elizabeth Strout's My Name is Lucy Barton and it's sequel that I am currently reading called Anything is Possible.

If you loved Olive Kitteridge--THIS is the book for you. Strout returns to the short story format linking each  to Lucy Barton and her family. The characters are so richly drawn that they could be --neighbors,  friends or relatives. Strout has the unique ability to portray real people--the good and the bad--sorrow--joy--and every emotion in between. Her characters are flawed in many ways; people who are struggling to understand themselves and others. She can also capture small town life --in this case a small town in Illinois--in such a way that the reader feels part of the scenery. In this installment,  we meet several people who live in Lucy's hometown and we  learn about Lucy's childhood through their eyes. We also meet her sister and brother--when Lucy returns home after a 17 year absence. This wonderful story is about the bonds of family--even in a family as dysfunctional as hers--and the hope that anything is possible. This novel is only about 250 pages--or a 3 mile run that is dear to my heart.  In order to really appreciate this book, I  definitely recommend reading My Name is Lucy Barton FIRST because most of the characters in the first book reappear in the second book, linking the two as they come full circle.