The good news for me is the orthopedic surgeon cleared me to put weight on both of my legs after waiting nine weeks for my right femur to heal.
So my attention turns to rehabbing my body and getting back into the mix of Matagorda County news.
I've been laying out the paper the last three weeks and doing some stories, but now I'll start attending meetings.
Most of that will be with the aid of a cane – oh joy. But that's better than being homebound and watching the world go by.
Things change when you're gone.
For example, I've missed the regular session of high school soccer, which I've covered over the past 10 years.
In the world of news, I've been curious in my convalescence about the saga of Councilman Ben Flores' pig farm off Hamman Road.
Council received the study of the environmental impact of the farm and was supposed to act on it during council's March 26 meeting.
But no discussion or action was taken in open session – it was an agenda item – and the matter was pushed into executive session.
A public statement was read at the end of last week's executive session.
That statement dealt with the constitutional amendment to preserve the right to farm.
It also recalled that council paid $15,000 for a consultant to study the swine farm.
The consultant wasn't able to tie the swine farm to "any particular imminent danger," so the city cannot take any action.
"We want to let the Citizens of Bay City know that we tried every avenue that the city could take but we were unsuccessful," the statement reads.
Let's stop right there.
What isn't said is this study that taxpayers paid for was all in secret.
Why isn't this in the open?
Why do Bay City citizens have to be told, rather than let the public hear it for themselves?
This council and mayor loves to meet behind closed doors where they can talk freely.
If you recall, these folks were elected by the public to do public business.
And the public has a right to know what the pig farm study indicated, not have some interpretive statement.
This is not transparent government, no matter what council says its doing.
Oh, the statement said citizens unhappy with the pig farm should get an attorney.
That will make things transparent.
