Spring always disappoints me. By this time, I’m ready for the warmer weather, but the cold and rain can’t quite quit us. My neighbor, high on life and all that, likes to say rain is wonderful! This is the way it’s supposed to be! Relish the cold – it will be hot soon enough!
OK, Earth Girl, message received, but I’m still pissed.
It rained Tuesday, but I walked anyway. I’m trying to increase my mileage as a test to see if my body will hold up for a long-distance walk of some sort. I thought I’d build up slowly (months) and eventually try to walk 10 miles three days in a row. What do you think walkers? Good plan? Bad plan?
I’m on a mission now, and I was like, rain, you can’t stop me! It actually wasn’t so bad.
Yesterday was golf, and it was cold and miserable. I played very badly. My body just won’t move properly when I’m freezing. I’m never happy about bad golf, but I have evolved. I’m no longer embarrassed. Sometimes I play great golf, and sometimes I play horrible golf. What you see is what you get.
Today is another rainy one, so in the spirit of accepting the reality of spring, I decided to make the most of it. A little Covid vaccination to kick things off. We got our second benevolent booster in the morning, but after that, I was a free agent. I went to the library and loaded up on books.
I paused as I walked across the library parking lot and reflected on the reality of nature’s cool wetness fucking up my glasses.
The “Lucky Day” stack had Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure by Rinker Buck. His previous book, The Oregon Trail, was great, so I have high hopes for this one.
As a crime fiction aficionado, I have been remiss in my Don Winslow reading. He is among the best. I absolutely loved his earlier works but am afraid to read the border trilogy, which deals with the war on drugs. I’m not sure I can get through the violence. I decided to try The Force, which is about the NYPD.
I love the library for many reasons, but I especially love the no-risk element for a book I’m uncertain about. Oh, and I’m on the waiting list for Small Mercies, Dennis Lehane’s new book. He’s another great crime writer if you haven’t read him yet. Mystic River is maybe his most famous, probably due to the movie, but I would start with A Drink Before the War.
Then I came home and consoled myself with a tuna melt. I made it in a gratin dish without the bread, and it was just delicious. I do pride myself on eating very little processed food and was disappointed to learn canned tuna is considered a processed food. I thought, well, if I’m going to die, a tuna melt is not a bad way to go.
That said, I am going to pay more attention to labels. I thought ice cream was better than, say, candy, since ice cream is a real food, except they add all kinds of shit to it, so it’s not exactly pristine, either. I’m not going to get fanatic about what I eat, but I do want to know what’s fueling the engine. I might still go for death food, but I’ll think of it as informed consent.
After that, I went out into the garage and worked on my art for a bit. That usually makes me feel good.
I really need to clean the bathroom, but it’s not high on my list. I have all those new books, and I’m thinking it’s time to get started.
I love the Power of the Dog much more than the two that follow. I could not read the third one and be fine. My problem is that I am not in love with the most recent trilogy, the third one coming out tomorrow or maybe next Tuesday. I’ve left crime for awhile to read Horse and now I need to read the people of the book. And the brand new Penn Cage coming out.
I am unfamiliar with the Penn Cage books, but I looked them up, and they’re going on the list. Thanks!
I used to have a little cheapo ice cream machine…lets you make ice cream without all the additives that make it still stand up even at room temperature (don’t buy that brand anymore). It’s not for spur of the moment ice cream decisions though (and aren’t they all spur of the moment?😂). It takes some planning. But at least you can tell yourself it’s not a processed food? It tastes better too.
That is too bad about canned fish being considered processed. I will still eat it and consider it a healthy choice.
Deb
I do have an ice cream machine, and that’s the answer. You’re right — it’s not for spur of the moment decisions. I made vanilla with the real deal vanilla beans for Thanksgiving, and it was fantastic.
I’m still eating tuna. I looked at sardines, which I also like, and the good ones from Portugal, have no additives.
I know you have mentioned several times that you and your husband have already traveled a lot and don’t necessarily feel the need to venture far away these days, but I have a feeling that you would love walking some of the El Camino trail in northern Spain. I’m currently tagging along with my husband, his younger sister and three additional friends. I only hiked the first day (due to flair up of Planter Fasciitis) of this 14 day straight hiking adventure from Leon to Santiago, but we are all loving the journey.
By the way, I am 73. The oldest in our group is 78 (with early stages of Parkinson’s disease). My husband is also 73 and the remaining 3 in our group are very fit 65 year olds. They say anyone can walk it and each can do it their own way. We have seen all ages and abilities on the trail. Given enough time, I could do it, but I don’t want to do it alone, or slow down the other 5. So I have been taking taxis each day, seeing more sights, scouting out facilities in advance of their arrival and waiting with COLD beer or wine ready when they arrive. They are always happy to see me at the end of each day. Lol. The scenery has been beyond beautiful and the people we’ve met so far, have been great.
Thank you for such great insight. You are a better person than I am — I would be so furious and miserable if I were down for the count with plantar. You get an A for attitude.
I appreciate your thoughts about the Camino. I’ve started reading more about it. I also visited the Walkers’ Britain website Tamara mentioned, and they have some cool trips I might even get my husband to go on!!
I rarely leave comments or reviews but I am enjoying your little slices of retired life so much! They are honest and realistic, at least compared to my own experiences of retired life. Keep up the good work. You’re making a difference!
Thank you so much. Your kind words mean a lot to me. Sometimes I think I’m boring, but I agree — honest and realistic!
Now I’m curious why you want to walk 10 miles three days in a row. Ten per day isn’t so bad if you take breaks and don’t try to walk it in three hours each day, for example. We did a ‘short break’ walk in England’s Lake District a few years ago, which was about 12 miles a day for three days in a row, up and down hills. We decided that was a bit much.
I thought that would be a good test to see if I could do one of those walking tours where you walk about that far every day for a week. I see what you’re saying — maybe it is a bit much, but I have this long-standing urge to try. I did a longer walk today and my knee woke up from its rest, so I have my doubts about the whole thing. But we’ll see.
We have had glorious 70 degree daytime temps with sun this week. Yesterday I planted two tomato plants in our main waist high raised bed but we have the greenhouse grade plastic at the ready to cover since May is notoriously fickle and snow could follow next week.
The library, wherever I’ve lived, has always been my best friend. Of course I also spend money on bought books too from the little Friends of the Library Store, books for my Kindle and used books from Abe’s or Thriftbooks. I am an equal opportunity reader, borrower and buyer. I put the bought books once read, into our little lending library that resides in the crook of a tree in the community where I live.
Lastly, since I’ve talked about this before, after two years of increasing pain that I thought was a product of my wonky back, today I found out that my left hip is toast and would have benefitted from a hip replacement a year ago. Surgery is scheduled for August 17. From now on, regarding my body, I will practice beginner’s mind. Past performance does not equal future returns. Oh…that’s financial advice. Same thing. What caused a problem in the past doesn’t necessarily means that it’s causing the problem now.
Doing the happy dance, currently on one leg but doing it nonetheless. I can be fixed! Ironically, my right hip is in perfect condition. I’ll take that too although I find it confusing, but the x-ray makes it clear that my hips reside in different universes.
Wow, I hate to say I’m happy you’re having hip replacement surgery, but you know what I mean. This is huge. As you said, you can be fixed!! I am so excited for you.
My wonky back is doing well, and I suspect maybe it was never the problem. In addition to the mind-body connection stuff we’ve talked about before, I started reading up on piriformis syndrome, which is often confused with sciatica. The more I stretch the piriformis, the better I feel.
Thank you Donna. I never thought I’d say “gee I wish I could have hip replacement surgery, but now I’m more than happy to say it. It’s been such a bugger to figure out what could help me best, all the while, solutions evading me. I had more fear before today’s appointment that this would be another dead end, than I had in hoping I’d find something that would help me. Tricky business sometimes, our bodies. And even though my pain has been caused by a structural issue, the mind body stuff has helped me significantly in managing my pain. I’m so happy that you turned me on to Curable.
That piriformas muscle seems to tie into a lot of pain situations. I have a yoga piriformas stretch video but by the time I tried to follow it, I had too much pain in my leg to be able to stretch like that. Maybe one day. I have a friend in her 80s who had a hip replacement years ago and she scares me with some of the yoga positions she performs!