Yesterday was one of the most full and busy days I’ve had in quite a while. We started with lawn mowing. I tackled the portion outside the fence starting at 8:30 so I could hand the rest off to the kids with the instruction to be done by noon. When I came back in, I had a message waiting from Jennifer Tuttle asking if I wanted to go hiking and look for snakes. Hell, yeah! I dug my hiking boots out from under the bed (not an easy task) and took a quick shower because I really needed it. By the time I was ready, the kids were done with the lawn and Jenn was here.
We went out to Eagle Creek Park and started our search. While Jenn looked for snakes, I kept a lookout for bears. You’d think as much as people have been talking about bears in the woods, we’d have seen several. Alas, we both struck out. No snakes and no bears, despite the fact that the trail was loaded with bear bait in the form of babies in backpacks most often carried by random men. Jenn got pictures of young frogs and a couple of adorable little goslings playing in the water. I took pictures of a freakin’ huge mushroom and a tree stump on which someone had decided to test their router. Why someone would take a router to the woods, I don’t know. Bears don’t eat routers.
We stopped by the store on the way home to pick up cat food and a few other things. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then got a message from Kat asking if I wanted to go to the park with her and Tipper. This was a challenge. I’d already been to the park and hadn’t napped yet. Should I risk trying to go out again? I decided that I needed to challenge myself. I could pay for the consequences later.
The thing about going to the park with Kat and Tipper is that you know it will probably not be an overly energetic outing. Kat found a table where she could draw while Tipper and I slowly walked around Lilly Lake. Tipper never walks all that fast. She enjoys going slow and investigating everything she comes across. As we were walking, we found a tree stump surrounded by yellow flowers. A ray of sunshine delightfully lit the stump. I carefully guided Tipper in taking an amazing picture that would impress almost anyone. These are the Daddy/Daughter moments I cherish.
Once again, we stopped by the store on the way home. Kat needed a handful of things for dinner. We got home, though, to discover that one of our refrigerators had gone out. The food was starting to get warm. The food was quickly transferred to the other fridge so we didn’t lose anything, but the loss of the fridge is going to mean trimming back what we keep in stock.
Why do we need two refrigerators? Because there were three different sets of nutritional needs. The kids, so far, can eat anything, and will. Kat’s diet is limited, though, due to chronic ulcerative colitis. That means nothing with a hush or any kind of roughage. She’s mostly limited to proteins and simple starches, with no fiber. I’m diabetic: low sugar, high fiber, moderate protein, all the veggies. Finding meals we can all eat is a challenge. More often than not, the kids eat one thing, and Kat and I eat something else. This means needing to keep a lot of different food on hand, thus, the need for a second fridge.
Kat fixed a wonderful dinner, but by this point, I was having a lot of trouble staying awake. After eating and bundling up leftovers for breakfast this morning, I came back to the room and fell fast asleep. Total walking for the day was over 8,000 steps, just under four miles. That’s the most active I’ve been in a very long time.
The question now is how my body will respond to yesterday’s activity. I can already tell you that everything is sore, but with rain moving in I’m not sure if it’s because of the exercise or arthritis. Something tells me this will be a bed day. With rain forecasted for almost every day this week, yesterday’s exercise may have to do me until next weekend.
Let this be proof, however, that I’m not an invalid. I can get out, hike trails, and do things. I’m just not as fast and may need to stop and rest more often. If anyone wants to go for a walk/hike, hit me up!
