Well, much of it anyway. Many of you know that I live on a small farm. During the winter I make up a long list of farm chores to work on during the summer. This year’s list includes repairing the greenhouse and henhouse, fixing fences around the orchard, and building a new raised bed garden for my wife.

Those tasks might not get done.

Until now most of you didn’t know that I have a heart condition, atrial fibrillation. That means the top half of my heart beats at a fast and irregular rate. Anything to do with the heart is serious, but in my case, it has been treated effectively with drugs for about five years.

Of course, having this problem means I see doctors (yes, more than one) on a regular basis and they keep track of my heart. They recently noticed that the ventricle (lower part of my heart) was occasionally pausing for two or three seconds. That’s about as long as you can go and stay conscious.

So, last week, I had a pacemaker installed and, while I heal, much of my life is on hold. I can’t exert my left arm and my range of motion is somewhat limited. Those tasks I mentioned at the start of this letter are impossible for me to do. I can’t even drive.

But I can type!

All my fingers work just fine and it doesn’t bother my arm so, with most everything else on hold I sit in my office and type out my stories, answer emails and write this newsletter. The doctors tell me I should be back to near normal in about a month.

As much as I enjoy writing, I hope they’re right.

Life on Hold