First Fasnacht

During my last visit to Saturday Market in Portland this summer, I met a couple who had lived in the Black Forest region, and they told me to be sure to visit Basel for Fasnacht - one of the oldest carnival celebrations on earth. This hippie couple was emphatic that it was an experience not to be missed, but now knowing some Basel residents, it seems to be a much less impressive event. The PTs and nurses acknowledged it was a big show, but none of them seemed to think it worth being overtly excited about. "You can always go next year," they all shrugged, commenting it might be worth seeing once. 

I slept through the main event - a parade at 4am Monday - and I don't feel any remorse over it. I don't feel any allure to a Mardi Gras type celebration of separation from the church, but it made me pause and think about what I'm celebrating when I have PT each day. I took a few more steps in the parallel bars yesterday with just on PT helping. It almost felt normal, and to me, that was a far greater cause for celebration than the carnival down the street. My greatest struggle was to lift my thighs high enough to get my feet off the ground since I have no movement in my feet and they just want to hang and drag. I'm praying that the muscles currently weak but working in my hips would wake up and be able to pull up the weight of my legs more easily. With that improvement, I would be able to be more in control of the steps I take and need less help from the PTs. Please pray that this week my hips would be significantly strengthened.