arthritic winter stems

so. i am 55. about 3 years ago i started having aching feet after my daily walks. i eventually went to the podiatrist who took an x-ray and told me i had arthritis. he showed me the picture of the two boney plates rubbing against each other. he said it was ordinary arthritis. age related. probably hereditary. nothing can slow its progress (not even good shoes), and that is only going in one direction. i didn’t particularly like that explanation, so last year i went to an orthopedic surgeon to get a second opinion. she said the same thing. but she also offered a short-term solution of injecting the degenerate joints with cortisol steroids to give me 3-6 months of temporary relief. i had the procedure done today. fingers-crossed that i will have many pain free spring, summer, and fall walks ahead of me for the remainder of the year. may i be as resilient as these brittle summer stems, standing tall at the very end of winter.

cup plant flowers in late  winter