Walking With Blisters

Every time I sit down and try to compose a blog post, I draw a blank. Try as I may I can think of nothing to say. The words are just not there, the rhythm and the flow that make writing enjoyable. I have decided to put all of that aside and try to trundle on with nothing more for inspiration than my desire to create.

I walked 4 miles on the Kokosing Gap Trail yesterday. It was a perfect day for walking, the sun was shining and the temperature, though cool, was warm enough to keep me outside and moving. I broke no land speed records with my 23 min. miles but I met my goal of 4 miles and I am happy with myself. Given the time, most days I can walk anywhere from 3-5 miles with blisters on my feet being the only hindrance. I have discovered that wool socks minimize the chances of getting blisters and I am hooked them and no longer interested in any other sock. Time to order new socks mine are thread bear and giving me blisters. The only thing I know to do about blisters is to use alcohol to dry them out and tape them over with moleskin to prevent further irritation.

November. I'm not ready for it to be November. In the natural flow of things November is the beginning of the end of the year. My internal clock is still set somewhere in August. No, I am definitely not ready for November.

And there you have it. A post, albeit a little scatterbrained but a post nonetheless. Now I believe I will go douse my blisters with alcohol and then I will call it a night. I want to get in another 4 miles in the morning.

There is always hope.

 

Living the Dream

"Living the dream, each and every day," said a man in the next isle over at the home improvement store. Hmm, I thought; living the dream. A popular phrase right now, everyone wants to live the dream. And why not? We certainly work hard enough for it, sacrifice for it; we will put almost anything on the line for the sake of the dream. Just what is this dream that every wants to live? Could be something we hope for, something ambitious and difficult to attain; perhaps it is nothing more than an idle hope that is unlikely ever to be realized, it could be something beautiful…a place or thing that we desire because it is beautiful. It could also be a person, a special someone that brings joy and hope.

What about my dream, I wondered? Do I have one, am I living my dream? Yes and yes. My dream begins with Don because that is where I begin, there can be no Betty without Don. Now I have the foundation for my dream and I can begin to build upon it. I want to express my feelings with words, I want to write and I do. I want to live in the country far away from the fumes and noise and the scary crime in the city, I do. I want peace and solitude and the luxury of knowing that we own the eight acres that our home sits on, we do. I want a home I can be proud of that is comfortable and safe, I have it. If I put these things all together I have my dream and I am living it, every single day. You can't ask for much more than that.

What about the other dreams? Peace on Earth, a fast economic recovery, jobs for the jobless, affordable healthcare for everyone the list goes on for a very long time. I think about those things daily, our service men and women, the wars we are fighting and every day I say a prayer for all the people I cannot help. I suppose that would be the ultimate dream, being able to fix those problems or at least give support where needed. Only the elected few have that kind of power, the ability to say that they are living that dream.

There is always hope.

The Walk is In The Music

I am determined to get something done today. I say that every day and seldom accomplish more than my walk and cooking dinner. Today I will try a different approach; I will try to do a job before I walk. It will be a job that needs doing (no problem finding those) and one I can finish in a fairly short time period. There is no end to how lazy and pathetic it all sounds but the truth is I am as unmotivated as a person can get. Drat this cabin fever!

It is snowing again, Haley is happy, no school today. The forecast of 6-10" changed to 8-15" of new snow by tomorrow. That means I will be walking on my treadmill for quite a few days. The Park doesn't do a very good job of cleaning the roads these days, they stay icy, and snow covered until mother-nature helps out with thawing what the plows missed.

Enough of that. When I have the luxury of walking outside, I listen to music. My favorite companions lately have been The Great Lake Swimmers (they are fabulous), Glenn Miller, Percy Faith & His Orchestra and Medwyn Goodall. I have learned the hard way that when walking it really is all in the music. The mellow, peaceful music that I enjoy most is not to be tolerated when walking; it slows my pace and time stretches to eternity. In short, relaxing music turns walking into a punishment. I was very disappointed when I discovered this as I seem always to be searching for a clam center and music helps me find it. It has taken a while to wrap my mind around the thought that walking for exercise is not an exercise in meditation. I think I've got it now.

I feel obligated to state that I am so very thankful to God for my very small inconveniences and annoyances. These are troubled times and millions suffer here and abroad. Cabin fever breaks come spring and a healthy walk can be accomplished with a few clicks and changing the music. Snow melts and we really have no where we have to go. I am blessed.

There is always hope.

 

Frustrations of Winter

Cabin fever, that's what I have. The knowledge that hundreds of thousands if not millions of other people are suffering from the affliction does not relieve the distress. I am so tired of being cold, even in the house, and being restricted in where and when I can walk outside that I am near to pulling my hair out. If cabin fever were the biggest problem the world had to face, it would indeed be a wonderful world.

Putting the frustrations of cabin fever aside, this last 12" of snow was beautiful to look at. We are looking at a real marsh mallow world. On the realistic side, the roads when we went out yesterday were not quite as cleared as they should have been. This leads me to wonder what they will be like when we get the next 6-10" tomorrow.

If my frustrations were manifesting as energy I could be spending a very productive winter giving the house a good cleaning. Instead, I feel tired and sleepy most of the time. It is a huge chore to cook and do my walk every day; after that, I have just enough energy to shower and become a lump on the sofa. The house is a dusty mess and laundry is never done. I do vow it's enough to depress a person if one had the energy to be depressed.

As for today, the sun is shining, it is a balmy 22 F and I am thinking about walking outside. Of course, there is always the treadmill. It doesn't matter where I do it as long as I walk for 1 hour every day.

There is always hope.

If I Could Let You See

I have been trying for months to write a post worthy of being published, this evening I gave up the notion that my post has to be worthy of anything. It simply has to express my thoughts and feelings.

If I could open my mind and let you see things as I do, hear as I hear and feel as I feel you might understand why I have not been able to post for such a long time. The beauty is still there to be seen but I do not seem to be able to find the words to describe what I see. The birds still sing and music still plays but the sound is just a little bit flat and that takes away some of the enjoyment for me. I often feel anxious and confused; I will be doing something and have to stop because I forget what comes next. It can be very simple tasks like putting together the ingredients for a sandwich or emptying the dishwasher; I simply cannot remember what I need to do next. Put them all together and jumble them up and there you have my mind these days.

A dear friend of mine is going through some rough patches of his own lately and he is the reason I decided to give posting another go. No matter how jumbled, anxious, and confused I am I do always remember that my problems are small and inconsequential compared to others.

Three weeks ago, I had surgery on my right shoulder. It went well and is healing nicely, I am doing my rehab myself for this shoulder and it seems to be working fine. I am much more comfortable doing the rehab at home.

There is always hope.

At Last

I have finished reading Nothing To Lose by Lee Child; hard to believe it took nearly a year for me to actually begin reading it. I purchased it the first week it hit the book store shelves last year. I haven't been reading anything longer than a prescription bottle label, being out of practice , it took a while to get through the book. Now that I have I can safely say it is my least favorite of the series. Perhaps it's just me but I thought Reacher was acting very un-Reacher like. At any rate the book has been read and I can park it on the shelf reserved strictly for Lee Child and Reacher and move on.

May 19, found me in my local book store so eager to lay my eyes and hands on the newest offering from Lee Child, Gone Tomorrow, that I passed it right up. I felt pretty silly when I realized I had rushed past a display of the book that was taller than me and I had to laugh at myself. So far my excitement has been well founded; this time Reacher is acting very Reacher like and all is well. I have only read to chapter 19 but so far it has my full attention :-)

There isn't much more that is worthy grist for the word mill so I believe I will say farewell for now.

There is always hope.

Spring Needs No Help From Us

There is something to be said for a fine spring day, when the air is rich with the scent of sunshine, green and growing things, the heavy musk of yesterdays rain and today’s freshly mown grass. All of those things combined with the busy chatter of birds, the industrious hum of bees and the scampering play rabbits and chipmunks can only mean that while we humans were bemoaning the late spring, spring got off on its own without any help from us. Such is the natural way of things and my delight when I find myself caught up in meandering reflection, and wondering how a thing as important as spring could sneak up on me. Then of course, I realize it wasn’t sneaking at all, I was simply distracted and did not see what was taking place before my very eyes. Yes, there is something to be said for a fine spring day when the sun warms my winter chilled bones, the word is bliss.

Thank goodness that I noticed that spring has arrived and thank goodness, I can at last breathe freely. I thought I would never be able to draw a free breath of air again. I cannot recall ever having gone that long struggling for every breath. That is behind me now and I am free to begin enjoying my camera.

Don and I are going to work out on the porch today, taking down panels we use to close it in for the winter and cleaning it up. We purchased a couple of rocking chairs for use out there and I can’t wait to start rocking away.

Thanks for taking the time to check in and see how I am doing.

There is always hope.