The Spell is Complete

During the last two weeks, I engraved about seven or eight “spell panels” per day, and by the time I got to my 100th panel, I could see a marked improvement.

The human figures I engraved were livelier. My engraved lineweights varied more and more with each spell, which added dimension to each composition. And everything looked more fluid after engraving thousands of curved and straight geometrical forms.

This was the result I had hoped for. But something else happened that I hadn’t planned on.

It’s been 10 months since my cancer surgery, and my recovery has been just as the doctor said it would be, which is to say, agonizingly slow. The biggest struggle hasn’t been with peeing my pants all day. In fact, I’ve come to employ it (almost enjoy it) as a weapon. Say something mean to me, and I’ll secretly pee my pants at you.

Instead, the biggest challenge has been my physical endurance. Early on after the surgery I found I was working too hard, and I almost ended up back in the hospital. So I …