Musings

Upscaling our outdoor walk, we went to the BotGarden. Crews were adding light-strands especially in the woods; we figured they’ll add far more in the coming days as the Member Preview (first night; a bargain $14 and likely to be CROWDed) isn’t until 9 November.

This winter light show is not my favorite addition to the Garden (very tacky and plastic-y and nearly everywhere you look), but I assume that it makes the organization BigBucks. The pricey after-dark tickets start at $15 for members on the cheap nights, and go up to $35 for non-members on Fri/Sat/Sun nights, including hologram glasses and a drink ticket (!!). Should you care to know.

We discovered the fountain basin in front of the Conservatory had been partly drained, and was being refilled with a hose. We found the algae desiccating on the drying stems of the autumn-trimmed papyrus.

It looks rather like a green version of the white, fake cobwebs festooning many houses and shops this day. Because spirits demand cobwebs, doncha know?

My big goal was getting down to see the Goddess. She’s partly stripped to her innards, and not so pretty, but I enjoyed sitting peacefully with the Guru and watching the light and shadow on the water. The jets weren’t activated….

And, yes, I’ve racked up 3K steps this day (on the favorable device)…don’t expect me to get an additional thousand tomorrow to continue the pattern of the last few days…too many appointments, etc.…and likely I’ll need a bit of a rest day…

Posted at 5:33 PM | Comments Off on ABG_adventure

We returned to do our outdoor locale again, this time to make the Full Loop (and not the partial we did the other day). And a bit more. I also wanted to top up my Vitamin D.

Activity Device #1 indicated I did 1500 steps (‼️). Activity Device #2 indicated a super 2K steps. Before the foot thing, I notice #1 gave more than #2. Consistently. What does it mean that now #2 shows more steps?

My gut feeling is that #2 registers my strange crutch-walking gait better than #1. And #1 excels at normal walking (“steps”).

Reveal: #1 is my aging Fitbit One; #2 is my iPhone health app (comes with phone aka “camera”).

BTW: if I have to replace my Fitbit (), I’m leaning toward the Nokia Steel…especially the not-yet-available model, the Steel HR (meaning heart rate). The downside is that it has the watch confirmation…so different than my present clips-on-my-underwear model (which I kinda like). TMI?

Posted at 9:21 PM | 1 Comment »

Makes little sense to me that we’ve been binge*-watching “Suits”…early cabin fever? It is dark late in the mornings….

* I read that “binge” is from a word meaning “to soak a wooden vessel,” which drifted to mean drinking in excess….

Posted at 8:53 PM | Comments Off on Headline? What headline?

Yesterday we thought we’d do another excursion, maybe I’d get another 1K-step day. But, no. Autumn moisture descended. We are happy with the cool, yet wished for clear-overcast, or even partly cloudy conditions.

* This meaning of pine derives from a word meaning pain. [Tweak imaginary mustache, and murmur “interesting.”]

Posted at 8:41 PM | Comments Off on Pining*

We finally got my orthotics yesterday, and today we ventured out to get Vitamin D and enjoy the out-of-doors. A bit.

I was instructed on Day 1 to not be on them over three hours. Have no fear. We were out for maybe forty minutes, much of that sitting in the sun. 😎

Of course, we looked over the side of the bridge, and could see where the last round of storms raised the creek, aligning the water-side grasses to point downstream. Note my leaning crutches giving me an apparent third leg-shadow….

Posted at 4:15 PM | Comments Off on Park time😎

We had our own little seasonal moment last night when the JCB dug in the blanket chest and, tada!, we had our first night under the feather duvet. Back in the MiddleAges (exaggeration) when I was a kid, we had quilts and nary a duvet.

Posted at 6:18 PM | Comments Off on Neither alinea nor pilcrow

We had our coffee, then headed to PT. Successful! I am cleared to one-crutch around the house, yes, in The Boot. I have to keep working with the hallux and the front of the foot to increase flexibility, and to overall continue to gain strength; however, staying in The Boot and being more active will also generally help strengthen the foot.

Basically, I’m counting down the next two weeks when I have my next surgeon appointment, to get the most productive and encouraging jump forward in permission-to-do-more.

Posted at 2:17 PM | Comments Off on Inch-and-a-half inching

We pushed through last night (the Guru did, anyway), and so today was a Bonus Day. Seemed strange to not have to prop up my hip and put my foot on the dash. But, I can adjust!

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Recovery day

Traffic got cloggy on the highway and we took to the city streets to work our way into and through Cincinnati. Somewhere along the way, we passed Noah’s Whiskey Beer. Pretty quiet there now, but perhaps three decades back, it had thick smoke and lots of laughter. I imagine.

Soon, we crossed the Ohio, and entered Kentucky. Most of the miles, I kept my feet elevated…less stress on my hips if both were blocking the…heh…air bag.

We also stretched our legs with frequent stops, including a rest area where the sun was out and the flags flapped in the breeze.

We also took evasive action and skirted Chattanooga, cutting through Dalton, passing by one of many statues of Confederate leaders that still stand in important locations in cities and towns, especially in the Deep South. This one honors General Joseph E. Johnston (1807–1891), and was placed in 1912 during a wave of dedication of similar statues. Reflecting on the current movement to remove such statues, I’d say that editing history is a tricky thing; also, to me, history is not an inherently kind storyteller, so any fair telling will hurt feelings, and reveal meanness and often worse.

Posted at 10:02 PM | Comments Off on Ticking through states

We have been detouring around the Cut River bridge off and on for years. This is a US highway, and the bridge was fine for decades. I don’t know why it has become an expensive problem necessitating a repeated detour—whatever fixing the hwy dept has had done, they haven’t rebuilt it (or it still looks like it did when I was ten, I swear).

After the Big Bridge (it wasn’t as ominous-dark as it looks), we had enough spitty rain that the windshield crud I shot “through” above finally got cleaned off. Then we were out of the raininess, and back into cloudiness.

The sky got lighter and kinda pretty. Farther south, we saw the silver-sliver moon over Jackson. By the Ohio line, it was briefly golden, then disappeared, covered by cloud-cover.

Posted at 9:33 PM | 1 Comment »