i had a knee injury when i was 12 and my parents refused to get it looked at for a month. ever since then my right knee has been a problem for me. most of all when i walk downhill it starts to feel like my leg is bending the wrong way, it's incredibly painful, especially at long distances. it's unfortunately a massive limiting factor in birding, which is my life's greatest passion. and it's only getting worse as i get older.
but today i decided to buy a walking stick from the visitor center of a park in the atlanta area where i had come to see the migrating birds. i don't know why it had never occurred to me to try this until now. i walked EIGHT MILES with only a negligible amount of knee discomfort. my good knee was actually more sore than my bad one! it seems so obvious in retrospect
i want to cry, i feel like i've been given license to do the thing i love most without such limiting restrictions.

