My knees are sore, and that makes me happy.

Push hands was fun, and I happily, intentionally overdid it. Everything but my arms and ankles was so sore yesterday and today, it hurts to move. That sort of endorphin-generating good soreness of a great workout.

Including my knees.

See, when I was young and stupid, I really pushed my right knee past what I should have. Pain was, in this case, weakness entering the body. It hurt so bad and got so weak as things went on that I eventually ended up using a cane on bad days. The problem was that the knee wasn't hurt bad enough in any one way to fix, so I was pretty out of luck.

Then a Tai Chi practicing friend taught me Part the Wild Horse's Mane, Single Whip, and a "hipwork" movement in which the legs are placed at 90 degree angles to themselves and the weight is shifted forward and back using only the pivot of the hips and purely linear movements of the knee. At first, the exercises felt so easy I wasn't sure I was getting anything out of them.

Then I put my cane in the closet.

Ordinarily after a workout like Sunday's, I'd be using my cane to get to the bathroom, because that's where we keep the Advil. Now I'm sitting here on the couch, cane still in the closet, poking my knee with my finger and smiling at the mere presence of a little over-did-it stiffness.

And being thankful.