Knees and the Thanksgiving Doldrums in Everyday Ramblings

A house at the top of some public stairs on my walk in the fog this morning. Someone with lovely taste lives here. And so does history. Those ferns have been in that retaining wall for some time.

The reason I did this walk was because I am teaching knees this week and I wanted to walk up close to the top of the hills behind where I live so I could walk down “The Elevator Steps”. 203 narrow steep wooden steps in a somewhat zig zag pattern. When I walk down them, if I haven’t for a time, my knees hurt.

If a couple days later, I walk down a similar number of stairs my knees adapt and are good for another couple of months. Having slightly sore knees is helpful when teaching because I can tell if the exercises that I am showing are helping target the problematic areas of the knees for most folks.

Thinking about knee health in the medical community is changing. It used to be when I first started yoga that you needed to be very observant of what is considered safe and proper alignment. Always cautioning students about knee placement.

Yesterday I did a knee practice when one of my favorite teachers where one is gently and deliberately moving the knee in ranges that earlier were considered “unsafe”. The point of these drills is to begin to strengthen the muscles around the knee and stiffen the tendons and ligaments that support it. Prehab.

Not to worry, I won’t be teaching these still somewhat controversial movements.

Almost 50% of Americans are going to develop arthritis in their knees. It is so sad because it means so many people are experiencing pain when they move. And movement, consistent moderate movement, (no matter what you weigh) is what makes the pain of regular garden variety arthritis go away.

Cartilage is alive and works like a sponge, it is so nifty. It releases waste materials that it no longer needs and sucks up nutrients as one moves. This is why movement is effective.

About a year before I retired so abruptly, I started thinking and talking about upgrading my phone. But I didn’t. The Apple SE I had was working fine and taking good pictures like the one above. It seemed there were always more important things to do.

The other day, the charged battery went fully wonky on me and dropped to 1% when I was at the grocery. I use it to tell me when the bus is coming and to distract myself on the bus when the mask behavior of fellow passengers starts making me uncomfortable. It did it again this morning. I got a couple of pictures before the bottom dropped out of the battery.

So last week I went ahead and ordered an iPhone 13. Just a regular one. Not the pro with the telephoto lens. I got it all set up yesterday. Piece of cake. Now I am waiting for the case. I didn’t want to take it out without the case. The camera(s) is/are awesome. I will use it to teach with when we go back to having class in person.

Yesterday in my first serious crowd event since the pandemic started, I went to the Portland Audubon’s Wild Arts Festival. You had to wear masks and show proof of vaccination. I was still a bit skittish and only stayed about an hour. Mask hygiene at this event was impeccable as most of the folks were older.

I talked to a photographer that had amazing bird pictures and asked him how long he had been taking pictures. He told me about his first camera almost 60 years ago and how he ended up taking pictures of the case because he had no clue what he was doing. He does now. Boy howdy. He had stunning detail. I learned some things. Steller’s Jays, I will be looking at you…And he was happy to chat.

Oh cool, the iPhone case was just delivered as well as an Advent Calendar with handmade chocolates in it. These things will help me through the Thanksgiving doldrums.

Last updated November 22, 2021