That was quite a post. I enjoyed it.
Many thoughts on many things.
Glad to hear you are on the mend and wish you a rapid as possible recovery.
I'm currently out in the mountains of Alberta with Black and Brown Bears (separate species because they are either black OR brown). And there are Grizzlies that will kill and eat the Black or Brown bears (they don't appear to have a preference).
There are ticks that carry nasty (permanent diseases) that drop out of the trees like vampire Ninjas.
Trying to live with mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds that are (literally) so numerous they leave a shadow on the ground. No talking in the wetlands without a net because you will inhale them and start to gag. Then there are wolverines, elk, moose and Cougars (four legged but arguably less dangerous than the 2 legged variety). And the things you don't see.
One of our safety guys parked between a horny male Elk and a provocative (???) female Elk during rutting season. He didn't find that even remotely acceptable and charged his F-150. Aluminum panels or not he hit it so hard onlookers claimed it unloaded the suspension on one side and lifted the tires. Then he really was pissed off when his rack got kinda tangled in what was left of the window, lift mechanism and wiring.
Serious critters here.
Yes, it is an adventure of sorts but the rewards outweigh the general perils. It keeps me on my toes.
The Covid fear mongering doesn't make the top 500 things to be concerned with. Divided camps for sure. I have buddies that claim I'm irresponsible toward the Covid 19 farce but it's my shell and if I don't look after it I have nowhere else to live.
Get the swelling down and it will offer some pain relief for your knees. It will take some time for sure as a chassis rebuild like that is a major.
Like Morgan Freeman said:
"If you want to stop "Racism", stop talking about it".
An incredible amount of whining going on these days. I'd much rather listen to the whine of supercharger.