No Hiking, No Solid Food!
Today I am blogging about how life can change not only in an instant, but rapidly have the appearance of rolling downhill.
As I may have mentioned before I am 68, well almost 69 in a few weeks, and in one short week life has gone to hell. I was being vigilant about being outside and hiking everyday at least 5 miles. This was a new practice since coming home from Croatia. We had been walking 7-8 miles per day there, and I wanted to continue. Now Croatian walking was an all day affair, and what I was doing at home was 5 miles every morning and then another couple throughout the day. Add to that the fact that I was sometimes wearing old shoes and what you get is a stress fracture in my foot. Oh my, tender to the touch and swollen, so into a boot I go, for at least 3 weeks. Well, that ended my 5 mile hiking and being in the woods for at least 3 weeks.
You’d think that would be enough, but no not for me. I was walking down the steps off my back deck and whomp, missed the bottom step, slid my back along the railing causing a decent scrape and ended only with a goose egg on my shin. But as I was falling the thought in my mind, as a person of a certain age was, “damn now when I’m asked if I’ve fallen in the last 6 months I have to say yes!”
Ok two new bits of damage to this human form. Well that still wasn’t enough! I started having abdominal pain on July 2, generalized lower abdominal pain at first that localized in the left lower part of my belly. Ended up in a walk in on the Fourth then in the ED and finally diagnosed with diverticulitis. Big word meaning a lot of discomfort, and infection in my intestines. I got a big change in diet and clear liquids for 3-4 days, along with antibiotics for 10 days. Yep, major diet overhaul soon to follow.
So what has all this done for me? Actually, since I have been called Polly Anna in the past, which I actually believe is a healthy way to live, I recognized that I really needed to slow down and pay better attention, by being more mindful. That is always something I would like to strive for but damn all these physical things all at once brings it really up close and personal. Watch where your body, including our feet, are in time and space. Pay attention to what you are eating, how much, how fast, and drink lots of liquids. So be mindful.
Another gift of not being able to go hiking has reminded me I have an amazing treasure of birds and wildlife right in my little yard. I have been reading “Natures Best Hope” on how to save the planet by turning each of our yards/properties into a home-grown national park. Sitting here on the deck or front porch I turn on my Merlin app. And record all the birds it picks up just here in urban Tallahassee, Florida. Tufted titmouse, northern cardinal, Carolina wren, blue jay, eastern kingbird, northern mocking bird, brown thrasher, Carolina chickadee, gray catbird, white breasted nuthatch, red tail hawk, that’s all in less than 5-10 minutes. If I had been out for a hike, I would have never known this about my own yard. A gift from the Gods.
So, if life throws you some unexpected twists, what can you be grateful for? What can you look at from a different perspective? How can you be more mindful, and really experience this life, each moment to its fullest? Blessing and Happy July 9, 2023
