Overwhelmed? Me? in Everyday Ramblings

Dahlias from our abbreviated walk on Saturday early morning. We went early to avoid the worst of the heat, but we ended up only walking for an hour anyway because Mrs. Sherlock realized she had left her phone on the charger in her car. Eek. We hustled back and luckily; we were parked on a shady residential street, and it was…early. No harm done.

She’s been doing more things like this. We’ve talked about it. One can only hope that managing the changes in her cognition will happen organically and not be a result of a crisis. She’s got a lot to manage right now.

We are smack in the middle of a heat wave. It should resolve on Wednesday, but we need to get through until then. It is not really safe to be out in it for long at all midday. We got all that training during the pandemic of staying in and not getting cabin fever. But still, it puts a crimp in one’s getting out and about agenda.

Hello early mornings.

It also has been making me a bit irritable. Walt had asked me to give him some information on Friday for a project he is working on and is excited about but no timeline so I thought it could wait until today. Apparently not. And then I did get my grumpy act together yesterday afternoon and sent him what he needed only to have him text me this morning as I was on my way back from the grocery asking for it.

Everyone in The League is very professional. We know we are required to respond in 48 hours unless we are on vacation, but it isn’t the same with a group of older artists who basically live in their own world where things happen…with spontaneity. This, I feel, is the effect of the fact that most of these artistic types are men and they have women in their lives organizing things.

I would like to say a word of thanks to all those women. Thank you. Walt has an amazing partner who takes care of him in so many fundamental ways so he can wander around implementing fun ideas and do interesting things and pester irritable board members who want to just chill on the weekend.

Me, honestly, I couldn’t do that. I did it to some extent for Mr. Finch. Actually, I did a lot of it for Mr. Finch. Got it out of my system. Been there, done that. Now onto something different.

Sadly, the new shoes with their fancy arch supports are not going to work for the longer walks I hoped they would be good for. They are fine to go to the store in, and even to the garden, though my foot starts getting a bit uncomfortable on the way home. I might need to get a referral to a podiatrist. For now, though I will make do with what I have. That is one thing about our feet as we get older, they get their uniqueness on.

I do find it frustrating that shoes that are supposed to address the specific problem I have, do not quite. But I guess the prevailing view out there is that 70-year-old women do not walk at least 5 miles a day and spend hours a day barefoot and…

I did say I was in a bit of a mood. This week I am teaching “the nervous system”. How to soothe it and how to help with nerve impingement, which is what I think is going on with my foot. After all these years I have discovered that my students actually respond better when I teach them something that I am interested in.

This morning, I was telling them about TIP, this dialectical behavioral therapy tool to change body chemistry when one is feeling overwhelmed. You can find out about it here.

Plunging one’s face in a bowl of ice water for 30 seconds seems a bit, I don’t know, extreme, but actually kind of tempting right now in the hottest part of the day…

Just as soon as I get used to this mood though, it will change. That I know for sure.

One of very few things I know for sure these days.

Last updated July 09, 2024