Another day of not accomplishing a whole lot. I had my coffee, read my news, walked my dog, did dishes (where do they keep coming from?), did some housecleaning, fed the squirrels and birds, fed Kat (twice), killed fourteen bugs and did a bit of yardwork. And, it is time to make supper. Where does my time go?
When I worked, I thought that the best thing about retirement would be having time to complete the ‘bigger’ home projects. Now I feel like I am living the sequel to “Groundhog Day”.
Is this what retirement is supposed to be like? I really thought it would be more productive. I used to be productive when I worked. There was always more work than hours in a day, but I always got it done!
I am thinking I should start making a to do list again every morning to get back on track. Or maybe that would be contrary to what retirement is meant to be?
This summer I have done a lot of walking. What began as a means to improve my health and well being, became my favourite part of my day – rain or shine.
Yesterday I came across an article on walking meditation. I found it interesting because I find walking very relaxing and peaceful and because I have never been able to quite capture the essence of meditation.
I have tried meditation several times through my life. I have tried various methods. I just never quite get there. I either get distracted, get frustrated, or my personal favourite – I get so relaxed that I fall asleep.
Walking meditation sounded ideal for me. This morning as I headed out for my walk, I decided I was going to try ‘Walking Meditation’. One step, two step – Kat stopped to smell a post. Start over. One step, two step – some guy on a bike came barreling down the sidewalk and tried to run us down. Start over. One step, two step – busy street, have to focus. Start over. One step, two step – Kat stopped to poop. Give it up already!
Kat💞
Obviously, walking meditation is strictly a solo endeavour meant to be done along a quiet beach – possibly at midnight. 🙄
Since we do not have any beaches in the vicinity and I am sound asleep well before midnight (not to mention Kat has a fit and guilts me out if I leave her behind when I head out for a walk), my quest for a workable meditation technique is still a work in progress.
Dan with his family – Cason, Gabby, Amanda and Lucas💓
My son Dan is celebrating his birthday today. We cannot be with him as he lives hours away, but we are thinking of him and wishing him all the best – today and always.
When people talk about nature versus nurture, I think Dan is the perfect example of nature. He hit the decks running, big hearted, and good-natured. Forty-one years later, after taking everything that life could throw at him – Dan is still ready to go, big hearted, and good natured! (although apparently his good nature was a bit lacking the day Cason locked him out of his truck) 🤣🤣🤣
The only thing better than having a child like Dan, is seeing the man that he became. 👍
It is hard to find a lot of ‘positivity’ in a day that rings in at +5 Celsius and the world is turning a nasty shade of Saskatchewan greige but it is there if you look hard enough.
Kat and I geared up and went for a 3.67 kilometer walk around the neighbourhood. That was hardly a record for us this summer but it is a good 3.67 kilometers further than we used to walk on a daily basis. 😋
I have no idea what this is – the colour leaves something to be desired but I thought those hairy balls were cool. Baby tumbleweeds maybe?I don’t know what these little cuties were either but they were blooming along the path in our neighbourhood park.
Time to get out and start harvesting everything I can from the garden. There is frost in the forecast for tonight so we will have to cover anything that isn’t ready to pick. 🤦
Have a great day! If there is heat and sunshine anywhere, get out and enjoy it! Send pics🙄
I am taking it easy today. I went for a walk with Kat this morning. She’s taking it slow lately due to a bum leg. I take her for a walk around our route, bring her home for a treat, and then go back for a brisker walk by myself.
Kat resting after her nap.
I snapped a few pictures in the garden while I was outside.
Our bell peppers are amazing this year.Our jalapenos and other hot peppers are prolific.Our Roma’s and San Marzanos are finally ripening Kat has Tiny Tim tomatoes ripening faster than she can eat them.A couple of our carrots have gone to seed. I have never seen that before but we have plenty of them and they are huge this year.Out geraniums are still in bloom!
Time to rest and relax for a bit before I start supper.
Since January 1st of this year, I have been committed to focussing on peace. I have written pages and pages of positive affirmations relative to peace. I have walked miles and miles around our neighbourhood and through our local park, focussing on the peaceful ambiance of nature. I try to keep peace a part of my day from morning to night.
Recently, I have felt that my life has become more peaceful. I am getting better at accepting the things I cannot change. I am becoming more patient. I tend to be less anxious and I worry less than I used to. As a bonus, my physical health has been improving, which makes me feel better over-all.
It seems even the people around me are less anxious and stressed than they were in the past. Maybe I was just projecting my stress onto them? Either way, life seems more peaceful.
Until a few nights ago… Suddenly I had a dream about my ex-inlaws. I dreamt that they came to celebrate Christmas with us. I have not had any contact with them for many years. I seldom think of them. Nonetheless, I dreamt they showed up for Christmas. I was so angry, hateful and cruel to them that even in my dream I was shocked at how mean and nasty and terrible I was. I woke up feeling horrid for how I treated them in my dream.
I have no idea what that was all about. I do not know if I was unconsciously releasing all of my pent up unpeaceful thoughts and emotions. I certainly do not know why I would have spewed it all at my ex-inlaws. They have never been my favourite people but I have certainly known people I had more reason to hate on.
Emotions are so strange. Memories, dreams, or even fictional stories about fictional people can overwhelm us with joy or grief, anger, or fear. That is wierd and unsettling in a way. How we feel often guides us to what we say or how we act. But what about when our feelings are not even remotely based on our actual circumstances? Then what are they for? Hmmm….
One of the ubiquitous phrases I have noticed on social media recently relates to ‘finding one’s tribe’. Since I am about as about as outgoing as your basic hermit, I didn’t really think this was a quest that I would ever embark on.
Today I realized that I am less of a hermit and more of a nomad. I have always had a ‘tribe’. As a child, I had my family and my fellow schoolmates. As a young wife and mother, I had my own family and my neighbours. As my children grew up and I became a solid member of the workforce, I had employers, fellow employees, suppliers and customers. When my children became even older, my tribe grew to include a parade of amazing and entertaining grandchildren.
With my retirement, my children and grandchildren getting busy with their own lives, and my siblings some distance away, I truly felt my tribe dwindling down to my husband and my little dog, Kat. Between work and golf for my husband, it was often pretty much me and my dog.
Except that, since I have started blogging, I have met many interesting and wonderful people on WordPress. I look forward to seeing their posts and I enjoy seeing that they have read mine. 🙂 I truly enjoy exchanging the random comments. I have met people I have much in common with, people I have something surprisingly in common with and some whom I find thoroughly fascinating because we seem to have nothing in common. 🤷
I have started meeting our neighbours and found that I once again enjoy the time it takes for a front yard chat. I even had one little neighbour over for a playdate with my grandson recently.
And I have started to meet and greet the regulars that I meet on my morning walks. There is one woman I have spoken to a few times. This morning, we had a lengthy chat. One topic led to another. I swear we have been living in a parellel universe for the past sixty-five years. I look forward to meeting up with her on a regular basis.
Whether I was searching or not, I seem to be finding my new tribe!
As summer winds down and Dan has returned to work, things are coming together.
Kat is grounded for a few days with a sore paw (seems to be a bit of a sprain). As long as she is limping, even a little bit, I think it is better for her to stay home and rest when I take my daily walk.
I miss Kat on my walks but it gives me a bit of freedom to pick up the pace and extend my walks. This morning I went 5.5 kilometers! YAY!
Dominic Danger
I had my five year old grandson Dominic for a few hours yesterday. His father (my son) wanted his middle name to be ‘Danger’ when he was born. There are days when that would have been so appropriate. Yesterday was one of the days! He was full of energy and bad ideas from the minute he arrived. Fortunately, I was able to channel most of that energy into creative and slightly messy activities.
One of many cedars in our yard.
I finally fertilized and soaked all of our cedars. That was a two or three day project but I am glad that it is done.
Grandkids Playhouse
I scrubbed the deck on the kids’ playhouse, wiped down the railing and polished the lites. I usually have that done much earlier in the season but it was one of those things that I just did not get around to. 🙄
I trimmed and mowed our lawn last evening after Dan went to work. I even got the grass clippings bag hauled to the back gate and into the trash bin! I was so proud of myself. 🤗
I also cleaned all the branches and debris off of our neighbours lawn, mowed it, and swept her driveway. Our neighbour lost her husband a few years ago and a couple of years later suffered a serious stroke. She is in a rehabilitation/longterm care centre. They took a lot of pride in their home and took such good care of it. I do not know why there is no one to maintain it or check up on it now. They both had family living around here. 🤷 We take turns with the neighbour on the other side of it doing what we can – making the lawn looked taken care of. We are just trying to make it look somewhat lived in until someone takes it over.
Hope everyone is having a great week! Take care out there💓
Covid-19 has been one of the most all encompassing social situations that we have experienced in decades. This challenge has been particularly onerous for government and health officials who have been tasked with creating a mandate to deal with it. There have been life and death decisions to make and limited time to make them.
When the first cases of Covid-19 began to spread globally, people wholeheartedly supported their government’s efforts to control this potentially deadly threat. Certainly that was the case in Canada.
Our federal and provincial governments stepped up with aggressive plans to prevent an onslaught of cases which had been seen in other countries. To date we have been relatively fortunate – especially in provinces like Saskatchewan where our population density is particularly low.
Since we have been spared the catastrophe that other areas have experienced, people are beginning to question whether our governments and health officials overreacted or used this situation to overreach their authority.
I have to admit that I was shocked and concerned to learn that our government had all but shut down health services in Saskatchewan. Since I was suffering from health issues at the time, this was something that immediately caught my attention and it seemed like a really bad idea. I had no reason to believe that my health issues were potentially life threatening but I was concerned none the less. My concern was moreso for those whose health issues were far more serious than mine. People who had, or who would develop, cancer, heart disease, strokes, kidney failure, and the like. These people would require more than a phone consultation with their family physician or urgent care in an emergency room. As I thought it through, I realized that what health services we had could not be compromised and that maintaining regular health services would be a threat in itself for the spread of Covid 19. The whole situation was mind boggling.
Last week, one local family experienced their worst nightmare. Their nineteen year old son died from massive heart failure. It is possible that his death could have been prevented if he had had a routine scheduled cat scan which may have identified the potential problem before it became fatal. My heart goes out to this young man and his family. No parent can imagine the pain of losing a child. No parent could possibly deny this family has been devastated by not only the loss of their son, but a loss that could potentially have been prevented. One has to wonder how many other lives have been lost under similar circumstances.
It would be easy to blame our government and health officials for such losses but what decisions would we have made under current circumstances? How does one choose when there is so much at stake?
I am grateful that I was not tasked with making any of the decisions to deal with Covid-19. I am grateful for those who were.
My heart goes out to all who paid the price for the decisions that were made to protect us all.
