Upbeat? in Everyday Ramblings

Wild sweet peas, Queen Anne’s lace, chicory and dried grasses are the hallmarks of the deep dog days of summer here. This is the vacant lot next door, which I am happy is still vacant. They have been threatening to build on it the whole time I have lived here but it has managed to stay wild.

We’ve had a humid warm overcast day with ground level mist all morning. Humidity is not normal for us in summer but we need all the moisture we can get.

Who has normal weather anymore anyway?

I’ve been dipping into modern culture a bit this week and watched Tiny Desk Concerts by the Magnificent Negrito and Lizzo. Both of them are astonishingly talented.

I am still reading The Overstory by Richard Powers and am finding it pretty dark but the stuff about trees is totally engaging.

I found out yesterday that the gnarled smallish trees over on the street side of the track are flowering cherries. These don’t have fruit and are relatively short lived as trees go; about 50 years max. We were trying to figure out when those trees were planted.

There is this weird thing going on with my legs, mostly my left leg. It might be sciatica. I am going to teach that next week so I will be going down that rabbit hole this weekend.

Really, we should not be left alone with a search engine and an Internet connection when we are having (unusual for us) things going on with our bodies. By the end of the day yesterday I was convinced I have Peripheral Artery Disease.

It would be nice if this were just a passing thing. So let’s root for that. I truly do not want to go through another round of tests and that end up in an unclear diagnosis.

I do think it is all connected though and I am taking all the right drugs if that is in fact what it is. So it is more a learning how to manage it thing.

Most Honorable is having a birthday next week and as I was contemplating it I was thinking, oh man, next year on his birthday I will not be working this job! And he’ll be a year closer to retirement himself.

We are going to come up with all sorts of fun and interesting things to do when we are all retired.

There is a plan to go across town tomorrow morning with Mrs. Sherlock to hike around a park neither of us is familiar with. Think of the trees we shall encounter!

The thing with my legs doesn’t seem to be a problem when I am walking, it pretty much only manifests later in the day and not when I am sitting in a chair. Very glad I can enjoy this beloved activity.

My plan to capitalize on the soda savings is in full swing 13 days out. I was listening to a podcast conversation between three male yoga teachers about incredibly geeky stuff that I won’t go into here and I realized I didn’t like the approach of one of the teachers (and realized I have a book by him) and I liked very much the approach of one of the others, who has a book that I don’t have.

I ordered that but it is coming from the U.K. and is not exactly cheap. Big splurge. He is sending it to me himself because I ordered it off his website.

Then I decided to spring for an annual membership for a virtual studio from a young teacher in Canada that I admire a great deal. (She also has a podcast.) The studio is called Mindful Strength and it is about using all sorts of gym and PT tools to build strength but in a foundation of yoga.

There was a problem with the charge in the order and I reached out to her and within a couple of days we had it all settled but better still I had this contact, connection with her.

So now I need to not have any soda for 60 days to make up for the financial outlay. I can do that. I can.

Diego is draped over my left forearm while I type this with one hand. That must mean it is time to wrap this up.

Happy healthy weekend to all.

Last updated August 03, 2019