Practice

Newcomers to hang gliding practice liftoff.  2013.

Just like those new hang gliders pilots, I practice my liftoffs every day. 

The cold here has played havoc with my crotchety old hip.  I’ve had to think about getting out of bed before I actually do it.  Once or twice I’ve caught myself considering climbing the stairs from garage to kitchen or living room to bedroom level.  Not actually climbing them, mind you….just considering.  And that’s just a hip that’s slowed me down.

What about old friends like Alice.  She lived the last few years of her life with claw like hands so knotted there was little she could do anywhere.  Her husband cooked but didn’t clean which accounted for the cotton wool over everything in the house.  However did she get dressed?  No wonder she liked her cocoon-like, big, old Lincoln.  In it she was comfortable.  I bet her hips and knees were gone too.  Or Kay…I knew why she rolled through life, but I never thought of the long term consequences she might live with later.

Hot water really helps all of us.  Alice never swam, but Kay and I do.  I get in the pool slowly.  Once in I can move freely, and I have photographic proof that Kay can too.  What a joy.  But the hot tub is the best gift of all.  In it I can stretch, pull, push and look like a fool, but I actually can walk out, up the steps, looking just like all those others in swim suits. 

It’s good practice. 

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Keeping those on the east coast in my thoughts.

Himself:  Gym, work, meeting….just like real life.  He likes it.

Herself:  Ran errands yesterday.  Didn’t accept the stitchery as they forgot to put in spacers at the framers.  Counting points and feeling lighter.  Hungry with stomach knotting cramps though.

Friends:  Bee sounds much better and taught her classes yesterday.  Mikey’s docs are recommending continuing maintenance chemo while starting radiation after another CAT scan.  I worry as he still fights the cold and has coughed himself black and blue.

Reading:  ”The American Heritage Cookbook and Illustrated History of American Eating and Drinking, 1964”  Goodness this is juicy reading, and was printed on real paper too so the volume weighs a LOT.  Though the book is badly foxed on the top and the spine is worn, it’s a delight of a reader.

Balance:  Sitting in the living room with a book watching the cold winter light cast blue and violet shadows across the room.