Licking one's wounds

Today I feel I am in about the same condition as my nearly ninety-year-old mother; maybe worse, as I 'm so stiff I have to down the stairs sideways. Walking around the neighborhood was about as much as I wanted to do. A mile round trip walk to the grocery store seemed arduous; I almost sat down about three blocks from home. Beautiful weather and my mother's sympathetic yet humorous remarks buoyed us along.
I'm nearing the end of Eliot's "Daniel Deronda" - a strange but wonderful book.