Refugee City

 

And just like that, the U.S. and NATO forces are OUT of Afghanistan

Believe it or not, I've started to write on this topic several times, over the past few days, and erased it all.  It's raw, it's hard to deal with at times, and one feels powerless, watching it unfold.

As I *did* leave in an earlier blog, though, the feelings that it stirs up must be dealt with.  And a lot of my own "dealing with" is done at the keyboard.  I've been trying to check in with my son more frequently, because I know this is hard for him, especially, having served over there.

He was deeply offended by our President saying that the Afghans weren't willing to fight for their country.  That's just not true, says the mythical son.  They *did* fight, they fought hard, and they died.  They died for their country in numbers 25 times as high as NATO forces.  Much as he saw this kind of an end coming, when the suicide bombing happened, and those oh, so young service members died, he longed for some "Obama level oratory" from leadership to "get me through".

For those of you who weren't paying attention, Obama spoke at the memorial service in November, 2009, at Fort Hood.  My son was there at the time, mourning losses very close to him.  His disappointment in Biden's "blaming" the Afghans rose to the level of his calling it "Trumping it up".  That's a pretty severe, because whatever one might believe politically, we all have to admit that Trump was not big on compassion, and was big on blaming others.

All those feelings simmering, I wanted to "do something" positive, so I looked up the local charities that support refugee resettlement.  I found out we would be getting two families of Afghan refugees almost immediately, locally.  I looked up what the charity needed, and yesterday, N-95 mask in hand, I drove down to the Catholic Social Services and gave them some 40 year old, indestructible mixing bowls and baking dishes that I had received as wedding presents.  They have a lot more needs than these, mind you, but this was a need I could supply. I'm no longer in the entertaining phase of life, and do not need them any more, and these folks coming here... have NOTHING.  

When you feel as though you can do nothing, you're wrong.  You can be kind.

Here's hoping that you will have a good Tuesday, August 31, 2021, as the month comes to a close.  After all, it's the only one we'll ever get.  And I hope that in the process of being kind, you'll remember to be kind to yourself... to your body, to your mind, to your soul.  And then you will have the energy to be kind to others, as well.

Let us live, for life is good!  No matter what!  Spark on!  ✨💖💖  We can do it.

Happy Monday morning!

 

Yes, friends, Spark or no Spark, I am still a fan of a Monday.  Mondays are my fresh start for the week!

This morning I was out to walk and had to do another "early morning park entrance" shot to catch the sunlight rising.

One thing about living in the suburbs, there are certain times of day when it's a little less fun to be out walking.  You're good from 6:30 to about 7:15, but then the great migration begins, and there are all the workers starting to head out toward their jobs.  They might not have had their coffee yet, so as a walker, you need to stay alert to stay out of their way.  It gets worse as it gets closer to 8 a.m., because by then they are in a hurry, depending on how far their drive is going to take them, and how many kids they might be transporting to school, distracting them!

Lighting enhanced...
so you can actually see the squirrel.

It wasn't the humans that chattered at me, this morning, though.  It was a cheeky squirrel.  Cheeky squirrels are in their busy season, and they are reminding us that Autumn is closing in on us!  

We are having one of those blessed breaks in what was a week long heat wave.  Most of August here was "above average" temperatures, and we topped the Fahrenheit century mark on the thermometer twice last week, and we had a high of 99 two more days!  So when yesterday was cooler, and so is today?  Being very grateful.  We got some rain yesterday morning, too.

The Pep Talk

Now let's all get out there and live the best we can, this one and only Monday, August 30, 2021 we'll ever get!  Make good decisions that nourish body, mind and soul, recognizing that each day's need may be different, and each person's place on the path, too.

Spark on, for Life is Good.✨💖 And we can do it!

Phone cameras sure have improved

 

Up too early

Sometimes a body just wakes up and decides it is done with sleep.  Sometimes that's not at a socially acceptable wake up time.

This morning, there were rumbles of thunder, and if you went outside, you could see the still damp pavement (or deck, if you went the other side of the house) in the pre-dawn.  I played with the night lighting on the phone's camera... and liked the backlit tree in this little shot.

The cats decided I was boring in the house and went out to perch on the deck in the dark.  Doesn't seem to bother them that the occasional rumble passes by overhead.  The "occasional thunderstorms" are supposed to be ending by 9 a.m., but it's a good deal earlier than that now.  I even have time to go to the grocery store and pack things away before heading out to run.

Groceries

They were passing out gas saver points based on how much you spent today.  I had filled little Dexter (my car)'s tank yesterday as my points from the last time they did this were about to expire.  

I was at the grocery in the 7-8 a.m. hour, and shoppers were sparse.  With the city now back under mask orders, everyone was wearing theirs (although I did notice at least one worn incorrectly, the nose not covered).  I had a number of things to pick up that were not food, and I figured now as a good time, and I scored 50 cents a gallon based on my rather large purchase.  Paper towels, tissues, vitamins and supplements... those add to the total in a hurry!  And I splurged on some Starbucks mocha flavored coffee.

I did pick up small potatoes and whole eggs, with the thought of making one more batch of potato salad for the end of Summer.  I discovered that one can buy those small potatoes in a microwavable bag, so that it becomes very easy to throw that potato salad together.  Makes four meals for me, with four hard boiled eggs to a pound and a half of potatoes, 5.3 oz. of Greek non-fat yogurt, and two tablespoons each of light mayo, yellow mustard, and sweet pickle relish.  Half a cup each of diced onion and celery complete the recipe.  Methinks I'll mix that up for supper tonight, and then there will be leftovers throughout the week.

Run

After I put the groceries away, I headed out my front door.  I abandoned the thought of running around the lake, since it was still in an hour where the forecast said 40% chance of thunder showers.  I cajoled myself into intervals, and pretty much doubled the steps in each jogging interval today.  By the time I got home, any sense of anxiety had disappeared into the endorphins.

See, I take anti-anxiety treatments.  They involve running shoes and take at least 30 minutes!  I am incredibly grateful to my body for tolerating this level of activity.  

I note that my personal trainer and his wife posted on Facebook that they are swapping houses!  Down-sizing!  Makes a person think, doesn't it?  . o O (Best keep the de-stuffing project (Swedish Death cleaning) moving, Barb!)

The Pep talk

Now let's all get out there and live the best we can manage, this one and only Sunday, August 29, 2021 we'll ever get.  Because Life is Good, and we are each of us worth living it for!  Let's have another adventure before dementia!  ✨💖🔥Spark on!  

Saturday and peopling

 

Community Free Market

I may have mentioned in prior blogs (or I may not have) that my son's girlfriend and her parents are involved in several community minded efforts.  For example, they host a "Little Free Library" in their yard.  You've probably seen them around... just a box on a post, but enclosed, so sheltered from the weather... a tiny bookshelf.  You can pick a book, or leave a book, and the whole concept of a neighborhood library has been expanded.  Obviously not as robust as a full public library, but a neighborly thing to do.

They also help host the Community Free Market.  For those of you who don't have the benefit of a Community Free Market in your town, it's like a multi-family garage sale, only the price for everything is zero... it's like donating to the GoodWill, only it's going directly to people who show up to look.  

The third event they work is the Repair Cafe, where anybody can bring in something they have that is broken, and the volunteers who come repair it... for free.  My kid sis took a lamp there once, and came back with a working lamp.  

In fact this was the first event that my son invited me to come to, in order to facilitate meeting this young woman he had started to keep company with.  I didn't make it that time, but two months back I did get there, just to check it out.

Last month I happened to be kayaking on the day they held it, so I was determined that I would take some of my excess things to this month's market.  I started pulling a few things together, and last evening, I packed the car.  A folding table and chair, and two boxes full of "stuff" I was ready to release to new homes.

I was heartened to see that most of the folks there masked, even though it was held outdoors.  The tables were setting up with social distance between.  Almost right away, before I even got a photo snapped of my spot, the little folding lawn chair I'd bought for a great-niece's use was claimed by a grandma!  The unopened rubber gloves went with her friend.

As the morning progressed, several folks accepted lens wipes for their glasses.  A young woman setting up her first apartment was happy to take my old drapes (from the new sliding glass door) off my hands.  A young man exclaimed, "Is that a can crusher?  I've always wanted one of those!"  His girlfriend tucked it into her bag for him.

At some point, the multi-vitamins that didn't have iron in them disappeared.  A book lover took two of the books off my hands.  Having gone with two boxes, I came home with just one.  The door hardware didn't go.  The extra keurig refillable filter (where you grind you own beans to fill it) didn't go.  And several of the books didn't go, either, but I really didn't expect to shed a lot of books.

All in all, I survived, and the great de-stuffing project goes on!  I didn't bring any NEW junk home!  And some of my junk WAS someone else's treasure.

This afternoon, it's Nebraska football in the background, and indoor pacing as it's nasty hot outside.  

Let's now get out and live the rest of the one and only Saturday, August 28, 2021 we'll ever get best we can, taking care of our health, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual!  Because we're worth taking care of, each and every one of us.  Life is good, no matter what.  Keep breathing, and Spark on!✨💖

Get a haircut

Get a haircut

That's what my grandmother used to nag:  "get a haircut".  She even took me to get my haircut without my mother knowing about it.  My hair has been bugging me again, for a couple of weeks now, and I've even put it on my to-do list, then put it off, then put it off again.

This morning, I finally followed through, masking up and heading over to the little shop up the way.  

Here's what it looked like when I got home, before I headed out for a walk in the warm morning.  It was already 83℉ when I went out to walk.  That's 28.3℃ for those of you who speak celcius.  I did not do jogging intervals.  

I made it safely around my park walk (1.67 miles) and home, at which point, I took my own scissors to trim the bangs, because she left them too long and I didn't notice until I was already home, and I did not want to go back.  You can see in the photo that they are challenging the glasses frames, and I guarantee they would have started driving me nuts within less than a week.

There, that's better!  Room to grow for a month or so!

Then we have the news

Whether we mention it or not, the news shadows our thinking.  I messaged my son yesterday afternoon to see how he was holding up.  Back when he was deployed, I attended several Yellow Ribbon events for the families of his Army Reserve unit, which had come under attack in 2009, right here on US Soil.  13 soldiers were killed, and another 32 injured in that incident.  One of the major lessons that came out of those sessions was that we don't have control over when the thoughts and memories and emotions hit us.  We should not try to avoid the thoughts, we need to face them, and deal with them, hopefully in a healthy way.

As the news came out of Kabul yesterday, my mind went back to that day, nearly 12 years ago, and my soul reached out in prayer for the support of hundreds of families who were going through what my fellow parents  and I went through that day.  Waiting for news is bad.  The joy in hearing that YOUR particular loved one is OK is touched by a sense of guilt that not every family got the same kind of news.  

In the process, you possess the knowledge that you are no more worthy than the person sitting next to you to get the joyful response.  Nothing you did merits that relief.  Once you get it, the best you can do from that point forward is to live to honor those who did not come home.

That is when the concept of "for whom the race is run" was born.  And it came to fruition in a blog I wrote leading up to my first Olympic distance triathlon, over four years later:  For Whom The Race is Run.  That's a live link.  I copied it over from Spark to my archive blog.  

Granted, the incident in the news is different from the one I lived through more closely.  For one thing, the current situation is ongoing, the risk is not over, done and dusted.  Prayers continue for the safety of so many as that evacuation mission comes to a conclusion.  Those soldiers, sailors, marines, and diplomats don't have time to stop and grieve, because they have a mission to complete.

Back here, we have much work ahead as evacuees, refugees, arrive here to "start over".  May we all have compassion for them, welcome them, help them as they helped our service members in their country, many at great risk to themselves and their families.

Now to the pep talk

Here's a photo from five years back that popped up in my memories over on Facebook... and I did a double-take.  Yes, that was me, accepting the 2nd prize for my age group.

So let's get out there and take care of ourselves, best we can, this one and only Friday, August 27, 2021 we will ever get!  NOT taking care of ourselves will not help anyone else.  

We can do this, we are worth doing it for.  Life is good!

Spark on.  ✨💖

Spark Mug Orange

 

Spark-mug orange

This morning, before I went to my appointment with the trainer, I posted my status, which was my virtual tea-towel, over on My Fitness Pal.  I called the tea-towel color "Spark mug orange".  Here, where I can post photos, I offer what Spark mug orange looks like to me.  I used to have four mugs of this style.  This is the only one left.  They were all four colors:  one blue, one green, one rose-colored.  One was given away, two broke.  Oh, well.  But I still have my orange Spark-mug!

Working out under the mask order

The trainer is masking again these days.  I am, too.  The local order has "exceptions" for medical conditions and outdoors and "while exercising", so in theory, not everyone as a client has to mask.  But I do mask, myself.

I'm seeing more folks following the newly imposed order, with masks on in the parking lot getting reading to go in for a haircut, a meal, or, in my case, my workout.  Is it harder to work out in a mask than bare-faced?  I can definitely say "yes", but public health trumps my ease and comfort.  To cast this in a "making lemonade" sense, if I work out in a mask, it's kind of like training at altitude... I'm stronger next time I go out for a run outdoors and don't wear a mask.

My kid sis and I masked on our afternoon walk yesterday, too... yes, even in the hot humid August sun.  As I did, I thought of women in various parts of the world, under religious law where they must cover their faces... if they can survive the burka, I can survive a face mask!

The pep talk

Now let's all get out there and live the best we can, this one and only Thursday, August 26, 2021 we'll ever get.  May we do our best, whatever burdens we are bearing on this day, to take nurturing care of ourselves.  For Life is good, even in tough times.  ✨💖  Spark on!

Good Morning, Moon

 

When my son was an infant, he was given a gift of the book Goodnight, Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown, with pictures by Clement Hurd.  When we would read it to him, we always read the author's names and the inscription: "With love to (my son's name) from Dick and Blanche (some church friends).  We hope you enjoy this book as much as our children and grandchildren have.  It's our very favorite bedtime book, and we hope it will be one of yours."

Of course it was.  We read it every night at bedtime until... I'm not sure when!  But reading aloud at bedtime continued up until at least 6th grade.

This morning, when I went out to put the clippings bin back behind the fence, I looked up and had to take this morning moon photo, with the sun lighting up the clouds, following a morning shower.  The phrase "Good Morning, Moon" popped to mind, so here you have it, a morning moon.

As I went on my morning walk, I chased those clouds around the neighborhood, with the sun lighting them up.  

I met a pup named Stella, in the park.  I saw her and her human from a distance, when they stopped, and the human clipped on the leash.  It reminded me of my Diamond, who has been gone for ten years now, as that was how we walked... off leash in open areas, and whenever another human appeared, I would stop, and she would come to me to have her leash re-attached.  What good pups!  Canine fix for the day satisfied.

I also noticed how active the squirrels are becoming... if anything tells me that autumn is on the way, that does.  It sounds like on-coming autumn.  School is back in session.  Summer is on the wane.

Speaking of school being back in session, I may have mentioned that they started out the school year with only the elementary schools requiring masks.  Middle and upper schools were "mask optional" on the honor system.  Students who were not yet vaccinated were strongly encouraged to mask up.  The staff were required to mask if not vaccinated, but it was also on the honor system.

As of today, that has changed.  Yesterday, the risk dial in our county went up a click for the sixth week in a row.  We are now in the mid-orange range, meaning HIGH RISK.  

The public health department has re-instituted the mask mandate effective tomorrow.  Vaccinated or not, masks are to be worn in indoor public spaces and outdoor crowded areas.  Public schools and the University started their own mask mandates today, a day before the city and county.  Some of us have been masking for a while anyway.  But rates have continued to go up.  Our hospitals are full up.  The message is "do better".  

So, sleeves rolled up, resolved to stay strong and supportive!

Now let's all do our very best to LIVE, nourishing ourselves, body, mind, and spirit, this one and only Wednesday, August 25, 2021 we'll ever get!  Because we are worth taking care of, and that means taking care of our neighbors, too! 

✨💖 Spark on!

Living in the jungle

You know I live in an ordinary US Suburban neighborhood, right?  But living in the suburbs or even in urban areas doesn't mean there's no wildlife. 

Does your yard have wildlife?  Mine does.  Starting small, we have the Halloween contingent.  This spider is starting to ramp up for their big holiday.  Every year she (or some ancestor or descendant) festoons my front stoop with a big (and beautiful, I might add) web.  Spiders, as you probably learned in school, do control other insect life so they aren't a bad creature to have around.

Here's another pest control agent, the praying mantis.  This particular one was found hanging out on a garbage can that I use as a weed collection bin.

These dudes are hard to spot when they are "stalking" your broccoli, if you're a gardener, but they, too, feast on other bugs.  They won't munch on your veggies.  But wash the veggies when you harvest them, anyway!

The final one I'll show you is the yellow jackets, building their nest under my deck rail.  They got washed off back when I had the deck re-stained.  That was a few years back.  They have come back.  One nest over the back deck light, another under the deck rail... got lots of these critters.  They do pollinate the flowers, so I haven't destroyed them.

I guess it all goes along with having the most murderous of species allowed in the house.  But the felines do take care of the rodent population.  In a mafioso kind of sense.  Rubia the jungle cat was hanging out by the garden hose when I got back from a run one day.  

That's it for today's photo shoot around the house!  

Meanwhile, in the "jungle" of the wider web outside of Spark People... some of us are still learning to use Blogger.  I had a pleasant phone call from our friend up in Canada, trying to figure out how to reply to comments we leave on her blogs... that was today's lesson.  Often kind advice from others on how to do something on line, confuses a body, if she's not on the same web page / tool where folks assume she is.

In such cases, I have encouraged her to call me, and I feel incredibly privileged that she trusts me to help out.  I ask her what she sees on the screen, then I figure out where that is and how to get her to the starting point of the action she wants to take.  It's all about context and navigation!

From today on, if you have commented on her blog, you can go back to that same blog to see if she's left you a response.  I've been asked this one many times, but unfortunately, I have no idea how to "make" blog spot send you notification when the author responds to your comment.  I know you can use the "Notify" checkbox, but then you don't just get when the author writes back to you, you get every other comment and comment response to that blog, from the point when you checked it onward, too.  That can get VERY busy!

I stopped doing that, and just go back and check every so often.  If anyone else knows how to get this kind of notification from blogger, please let me know!  

Now let's get out there and live in our own little jungles... where the challenges are the foods that call our names, the news channels, our to-do lists, etc., etc., etc.  Let's live the best we can to take care of ourselves and our health, this one and only Tuesday, August 24, 2021 we'll ever get!  Because we're worth it, out here in the post-Spark world, just as we were when we lived in the calm waters of Spark itself.

Life is good!  Let's have a little more adventure before dementia, eh?  Spark on!💖🎇✨

Fast tracking with Cronometer

 

As in tracking your fasts, not tracking quickly!

I'm not saying, mind you, that you have to jump on this band wagon.  

When I first started using Cronometer, I used the free edition and liked it a LOT, just because it was so simple.  Find the food, measure, enter.  It took care of the macronutrient and vitamin mineral tracking for the day, without ANY of these timing bells and whistles.  It did not divide the foods into meals or anything.  I loved it.

Then I got enticed after about a month of that into trying the fancier version, and discovered these nuances, including the "grading" of how well I might be doing with antioxidants, bone health support, immune support, etc.  I made a few tweaks to supplements and have been guided in some menu choices by this information.  But I haven't turned my whole lifestyle upside down or anything.

When I decided to Spring for the "Gold" version of Cronometer, I noticed that they advertise that they can track both your nutrition and your fasting in the same application.

Well, I'd never tracked fasting before, and I figured, "oh, this must be for those who are doing intermittent fasting programs".  And I started playing with it, just to see how it operated.  I entered my first "test fast" on July 22nd.

I discovered that it doesn't stop you from entering anything else, it's truly just a recording tool.  You turn it on in the settings.  Then you see on the front page on the web site that you are currently fasting or not.  If you want to see your history, or start a fast, you have to go to a separate page, under "Settings."  I tried tracking how long I went between meals, say breakfast to lunch.  I found that didn't work well for me.  You see, it asks you to tell it how long you're going to fast, and I'm not that good at that kind of prediction!

I dropped back to simpler after just a day or two.  I now track only the infamous overnight fast.  As in "I'm done with supper, let's go 12 hours to breakfast, OK?"  And then you have this record of how long between your last sip of biocoffee or stick of sugar-free gum in the evening, and your first sip of coffee with almond milk added in the morning.

I know it's hard to read in the screen capture, as the font is pale gray, but it shows that in the past week, I have fasted for anywhere from 11 hours and 31 minutes to 14 hours and 10 minutes as my "overnight" fast.  I aim for 12 hours as as a goal.

What has happened with the rest of eating over the month I've been tracking the fasts, besides of course, paying attention to when I stop and start eating for the day?  Supper has migrated slightly earlier, and breakfast a shade later.  The meals in between have consolidated a bit.  It might be longer between breakfast and lunch some days, shorter between lunch and dinner, and the mid-morning, mid-afternoon snacks tucked in.  

It is convenient to have both sets of data available.  Cronometer Gold edition automatically timestamps as you enter foods, but you can also alter that timestamp, if you want to enter the day's plan ahead, then just stamp the time as you eat your meals.

The pep talk:

Now let's get out, tracking or not, using this tool or another, and live the very best Monday, August 23, 2021 we can manage, wherever we sit on life's path.  Because it's the only one we'll ever get.  And life is good.  

We can do it!  Spark on!✨💖

Kayaking adventure, in which Barb proves to be a wimp

 The title says it all.

This morning, my friend Gerri had a great time, paddling on the white caps out in the main lake.

Me, not so much!  I paddled out to the entry to the main lake, and upon getting through a couple of troughs between the bigger waves, decided I was not up for this.  Not today, anyway.

I turned back and did my paddling in the protected cove.  I would paddle back toward shore, then turn around and paddle back out toward where Gerri had gone out, then turn around and paddle back toward shore.  I kept trying to go a line of waves further with each trip, but in the end, it was pretty much rinse and repeat for about 45 minutes and I was just "done".  

I walked around, ate my snack, talked with Zoey the paddle board / kayak rental mascot dog, used the restroom, and watched the rest of the crew decide to face the whitecaps or not.

Now, mind you, these were NOT hurricane Henri style waves.  They were "wind from the south, let's kick up the water" white caps.  This is not an ocean.  It's a dam-created inland lake.  It looks tame enough in the wider shot.

The paddle boarders came in early, as I had done, and hung out in the protected cove.  It really was a pleasant day, on shore.  I already had my bug spray and sunscreen on, I'd had my 45 minutes of aerobic activity, I was good.

Nearly an hour later, after going back out and truly enjoying the challenge of the waves, my friend was among the last to come back in.

Before she did, though, we had a bit of excitement, as someone got "stuck" out there, and sent someone back to blow the whistle. Another person was wading and pushing their paddle board back (might have been the one blowing the whistle).  The rental folks paddled out to rescue the guy who according to the whistle blower "really needs help".  They hadn't yet returned by the time Gerri and I packed it in and left.  Gerri was in a different corner of the lake, and with the wind, she didn't even hear the whistle.

As for the logistics of the trip, driving in a mask was not a problem.  The N95 allowed me to drive with clear lenses, no leaks.  Gerri wore a cloth mask, and we got to and from with zero issues.  This was my first trip driving masked, other than just in the grocery pick up parking lot, so I am grateful for a smooth, confidence building experience.  Who knows how often over the next year I might need to drive someone who is not "in my bubble" when infection rates are high?

For canine lovers, I'll put Zoey's photo here... what a laid-back companion she is!  She belongs to the owner's dad, who helps out.  It seems like this little kayak / paddle board renting venture is a full-on family affair... we met the owner's cousin today, too.  She brought in a group of 20, including that paddle-board crew.

Now let's get on with the remainder of this Sunday, August 22, 2021... the only one we'll ever get!  Be safe, be sensible, and be kind.  For life is good!  Spark on.

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Isn't the park beautiful this morning?
Doesn't that path just pull you in?

No, I don't live in Oklahoma, but I can sing the tunes from the Musical.

Can you tell I've been jogging?  The endorphins haven't worn off yet.  It was still in the 60's (℉) when I headed out the door.  The morning sky was a stunning clear blue, the grass and trees dressed in their summer green, refreshed by a brief shower yesterday evening.

I had to kind of jolly myself along, out the door and through the first 100 step jog interval, which happens when the Runkeeper app tells me I'm five minutes in.  The body warmed up a bit, and the jogging intervals increased bit by bit until toward the end, I had over 300 steps in the jog interval of the "faux finish line" coming down the hill to my corner lot.

Today's to-do list includes getting ready for tomorrow's kayak adventure.  Don't have to worry about the kayaks, the rental place gets them there.  Do have to worry about finding the launch side, that's a big (as standards around here go) lake.  But they sent us a Google map and it looks like it's not far from the triathlon site I'm so familiar with.  It is my hope to paddle from the launch site around to where they will do the swim on September 12th.  We've got a two hour rental which should be ample for that goal.

Remember to pack the bug spray, the sun block, the plastic bags for the phone and the "Safer Swimmer" float to hold phone and car keys while paddling, so they don't sink in the lake if a mishap should occur.  Towels for the car seats on the way home.  Masks for the drive to and from.  Don't forget to pack a snack, as this is a longish kind of outing.  Guess that about covers the preparations.

Now let's all get out there and live the best we can, this one and only Saturday, August 21st, 2021 we'll ever get.  Because life is good, and we are each and every one of us worth living it for!  Let's go have yet another adventure before dementia!💖✨🎇  Spark on!

Carl resigns himself to human silliness

 What can Carl teach me today?

After some initial resistance, my grand-dog Carl accepted the silly basketball jersey his humans put on him, and just flopped down on their door mat.

Isn't that what a lot of us do with "go along to get along" behaviors?  It might explain why we eat more than we really need, just because our friends are indulging?  Or why we flop on the couch to watch a movie, because we want to spend time with a loved one, and that's the thing you both might enjoy?

It takes a bit of effort to exert ourselves to get our own needs met... Carl eventually got his taken care of in this little story.  Son's GF (the photographer) said after they got the photo, they soon took it off, and even let him out of his collar so he could enjoy his natural "nudist" self for a while.

A lot of living a healthy lifestyle is about balance.  Balance of various needs.  I was pondering about this lately, as I have been in a time of "easy living" with healthy habits.  Why is it that some times are easier than others?

In a couple of blogs this week I explored the effect of the stress of circumstance, and when that stress evokes the determined response in myself.  We really have to pay attention to all kinds of needs!  One of those needs is the need to feel that we are "doing something" about that stress of circumstance.  And many times (more often than we might like) those circumstances are not something we can personally control.

For example:  

• the earthquake in Haiti.  
• The wildfires in places near and far.  
• The exit from Afghanistan of US and allied forces... and the people who are exposed to danger because of it.  

If we are not physically there, we can't go dig in the rubble ourselves, help put out the fire, try to guide or shelter the fleeing people.  If we don't have the skill set or resources to GET there, we cannot directly help.  If we don't have the right skill set for the job, even if we could get there, we might just be in the way of others more equipped to help.

Too much news coverage can just spin up our emotions.  My kid sis described me as an "empath" in a recent conversation.  "These are tough times for empaths" she quipped.  Let me make it clear, I am no Deanna Troi (the Star Trek counsellor, who was half Betazoid, and a true empath, capable of feeling the emotions of others).  But I do tend to project myself into the shoes of others, with a "how would I feel if..." mindset.  In short, I'm a softie.

I have a life-long tendency to "eat" my emotions.  The important lesson for those of us who are emotional eaters to learn is that OUR eating over a situation will not make it better!  Depending on our individual circumstances, we might be able to change our behavior, budget a donation to a cause, etc., but eating because there are starving children in Africa doesn't feed THOSE children!

The same is true of watching news:  is my watching this, and hanging on every word going to help the people being depicted?  If not, and it's raising your hackles, might be time to turn it off!  When you are in the middle of it, you can't turn it off, but if you're NOT in the middle of it, it might be better to do something that prepares to help, or at the very least calms our own emotions!

Various folks I know clean like demons when under emotional turmoil.  I have found this works, if I can get myself started.  So does getting active.  Moving the body gives us the sense that we are "doing something"!  So this morning, I shall be out to do those intervals between the rain showers that seem to be descending on us.

The pep talk:

For today, let's 

• "Eat what's in the bag", 
• "Remember to go to recess", and 
• "Remember to breathe".  

Even without the Spark site, we can keep on sharing our Spark of motivation to nourish ourselves, and take care of our health, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  Let's LIVE, this one and only Friday, August 20, 2021 we'll ever get, best we can do.  And that is enough!

Life is good!  Spark on!  💖✨

The pandemic effect on Weight management

 A couple of blogs ago I mentioned in the blog "Closing the door and moving on" that different levels of stress would result in different kinds of behavior, different levels of success, motivation, and so on, in my own efforts at maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  

This raised questions in my "be honest with yourself" mind... if it is true that higher levels of stress led to higher resolve and holding on to the program for dear life, why was that not true of the entire pandemic?  I mean, what could be more stressful than a disease we knew so little about (it was new) starting to sweep the world, and invading my own corner of it?

The following analysis shows the phases of the pandemic, and how it impacted in my life.  I will present both graphs and narrative of life circumstances and mood.  Feel free to skip this blog as it's very self-centered:  how this affected me and my own efforts.  Your own experience may easily have varied.  Feel free to skip down to the pep talk!

The analysis

First, the overview of the time from the first case of Covid-19 being reported in my state to the day that Spark announced its impending closure.  Notice that there are times when it looks as though I am "working on" becoming healthier and lighter, and times when I am rapidly going in the wrong direction, i.e. discouragement, rebellion.  And times when I seem to pretty much just "hold my own".  

Breaking it up into phases when "doing well", we have Phase 1, from March 4th, 2020, when the first case was reported in my state, to May 5th (around Mother's Day).  I was resolved to do my best to be active, eat healthy, stay away from crowds, including grocery store (I at first had food delivered, then started picking it up at the curbside), and being very, very diligent about hand washing, sanitizing, etc.

Then we have a period of burn-out, why try, don't care... that ran from about Mother's Day through the middle or end of August.  The initial rise in weight was followed by a rocky maintaining at a higher weight.  

The political / news environment surrounding this time period included things beyond my control but that I very much wished could be different.  I was watching too much news.  The Iran missile attack on US forces in Iraq (and of course the US drone strike to which this was a response), leaving us on the edges of our seats, worried about what might come next.

The death of George Floyd, the BLM protests, some bad episodes of police-violence...  I was watching too much social media of friends, whose views varied wide- and wild-ly.  The election was starting to ramp up, and I was starting to shed online friends who stirred me up too much, that tempted me too much to respond, because as a "centrist" I sort of disagreed with both extremes and had a hard time locating "just the facts".  By August, I could tell I needed to "do something" about my mental health, because it was affecting my physical health, too.

What did I decide to do about it?  Why, sign up for a virtual 5K, and start to train up for it.  This shows from the end of the burn out graph to the virtual 5K in mid-October.  

I walk/jogged that 5K in a mask, solo, on a marked route near one of our local YMCA's.

Shortly after that outing, the case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths began rising locally.  We entered the Red Zone in November.  Shasta's visits were canceled.  Sister walks ended.  Family gathers became Zoom meetings.  We were all hanging on for dear life, hoping for the vaccines to be tested and approved.

The election and the controversy surrounding it did not help.  The divisions being cast into attitudes about risk mitigation factors like mask wearing and crowd size limitations did not help.  When it all culminated in a violent mob swarming the US Capitol building, it did not help, either.

But despite all of this turmoil, the vaccine started to ship.  Some of my friends and family who work in health care started to get their first shots.  By the end of March, I had the opportunity to get vaccinated myself.  

Here's the weight graph that covers from that surge ramp up to my second shot.  You can see that all the progress that had been made with training for that 5K was rolled back, and then there comes this rolling rise... all the way up to vaccination.

And two weeks after that second shot, sister hugs!  Son hugs!  And getting back to meeting with a personal trainer.  We thought we had survived and watched the numbers drop.  In late May, the mask orders were allowed to expire.

The "finish line" effect of becoming fully vaccinated resulted in some choppy readings on the scale.  See that rise, attempt to control, roll?  It didn't seem to matter that I was working with a trainer (I was working out masked, until those orders were lifted at the end of May).  Clearly, I wasn't getting the kitchen under control.  I wasn't tracking my food intake consistently.

The last 72 days, you've seen before, the "Transition off of Spark", the rolling up the sleeves to survive!  I started tracking food again.  I continued working out with the trainer, twice a week.  And I started working on the transition, on finding the tools to support myself (and hopefully others) continue the work that we started with the "tiny flame" Chris Downie talked about as his Spark.  

In those seventy some days, is the world news better?  Nope!  More recently, is my life starting to be constrained a bit again by the next surge in cases of the virus?  Yep!  But, having that big project to work on, and the "taking care of myself so I can take care of the project" kicked in.

The pep talk:

Here we are with school back in session, in the second half of August.  Along with most of you, I am hoping to continue this start.  In the ten weeks of transition, I averaged stripping back off a pound a week, I figure.  I am back to jogging intervals in a few walks each week.  I have a new active hobby with the kayaking.  And I am facing the virus dangers with reason and acceptance of levels of risk and mitigation.  We know more now.  There are sensible things we can do.

I am praying for my friends, family, community and world.  Take care out there.  Everyone's local situation is different.  Every country, state, and city has its own "rules".  Be wise for yourself.  Balance your own risks and benefits.  You're important to me (selfish me).  I want to see you thrive.  Because we are a tribe, we Spark refugees, even spread across the various tools to continue our efforts.

We can do this.  Life is good.  Spark on!✨💖💗🎆

Feeling scattered today

Spark is dark.

My thoughts are scattered all over the place.  Some of that is what we call in football country "Broken field running".  That's where plan A doesn't pan out and you go to plan B, plan C, etc.

The first instance of the broken field came yesterday, with an e-mail from the kayak rental place.  The lake my friend and I reserved kayaks for on Saturday is being drained early for some maintenance work.  It was supposed to happen a week later, but it started early and knee-capped our plans.

They offered a pair of "back-up" lakes, but my friend was at work when the e-mail arrived, and I wanted to be sure we were on the same page.  I knew she doesn't check e-mail while at work, so I figured I'd wait until she got home and phone her.  Which I did.  She liked the idea of going to the farther lake, so we e-mailed them back that Saturday at the back up lake would be OK.  

This morning, new e-mail from the paddle place: that particular back up lake was only available on Sunday!  Fortunately, my friend and I had discussed that possibility and pre-agreed that Sunday would be OK as a plan C.  So... onward with plan C, I'll pick her up Sunday morning.

Which of course was discussion number 2:  transport.  It's about a 40 minute drive, and while I know the farther lake fairly well (used to do triathlons out there, and open water swim practice, etc.), she does not.  Meanwhile, the virus is surging among the unvaccinated, and our local risk dial bumped up again yesterday! 

Keep in mind that I have never driven in a mask, beyond from the grocery pick up slot to the exit from the parking lot.  Nor had my friend.  We are both fully vaccinated, and our planned activity is outdoors and distanced, so we were OK with that, but what about that drive?  Masked?  Or take the risk of driving together without?

This is the kind of discussion that is starting to take place among those of us who are fully vaccinated but in a group that's being advised to once again mask up.  In my case, my age alone is enough to put me in this group!

In case it can't be read in the screen snip, it says:

• Wear a mask whenever in indoor settings and crowded outdoor settings to increase your level of protection.
• Avoid close interactions with unvaccinated people.
• Consult with your health care provider about additional protective actions you should take.

I had a similar conversation with my kid sister about this afternoon's planned walk, via messenger yesterday.  We're gonna walk anyway.  We might mask, might not.  We'll see.

As for my friend and the drive?  We shall take the risk of that drive.  I figure we can roll down windows for extra ventilation, if that seems a good thing to do.  Extra risk from her, even vaccinated:  she worked the Garth Brooks concert (she does Memorial Stadium events).  She says she was in a relatively less crowded area outside the stadium seating, but saw very few masks.  By the time we drive to the lake, it will be 7 days since that concert, so if she was going to develop symptoms, she would have had time to do so.

Just so y'all know, yes, I know I am taking some risks here.  But I used to take risks every time I toed a starting line.  I'm not quite willing to hide in my cave as much as I did prior to getting vaccinated!  On some level, we all assess the level of risk, balance the various risks in the week, mitigate, and go ahead and live life.

So, let's get on with it:

• Tea towel up on MFP.
• Healthy breakfast and a.m. snack on board.
• Grocery pick up scheduled (mitigate one risk to allow for another)

Live today the best you can, right where you are... and with or without the SparkPeople website, keep that spark within you alive!  For Life is good!  💖✨🎆 

Day 72: Closing the door and moving on!

 

We all respond differently to stressful times.  I tend to hunker down and get to business, more so, the bigger the stress.  My original weight loss in 1989 was based on my concern for my kindergartner and my ability to keep up should he hurt himself on the playground.

My "big" original Spark loss (after regaining and a number of rollers over the years) was leading up to and during my son's first deployment.  (Yes, that same kindergartner grew up and signed on to the reserves.)

I now present the little weight chart (weight is just ONE measure) of the last 72 days.  Yep, the demise of Spark has been a stressor, too.

What I have observed, over the decades is that minor stress, the nagging unfinished tasks (NUTS, yes, I found that old blog in the review), I would tend to eat over.  But major stressors threw me into self-preservation mode, and I did better at taking care of myself.

We are now back at the dreaded Finish Line Syndrome

This morning, I was up early.  Not knowing what time zone Spark operates on, but suspecting I still had a bit of time, I went over and logged my account out on the phone app, and deleted it from my screen.  I came onto the browser and did the same on the Web site.  I have closed the door.  I did not delete my account, but I am done.

The big question is:  what happens next?  And you know what?  What happens next is we move on.  I posted my tea-towel status over on My Fitness Pal.  Cronometer tracking has been a part of my life that whole 70 days or so, as that graph pretty much shows.  And here I am on Blogger, posting my morning pep talk.

The only piece that I haven't found a satisfactory replacement for is the little Spark Coaching piece on the start page that let me set up tasks for the day, and check them off as done, right within the web page.  I am only just starting to experiment with Google Calendar tasks.  I started a OneNote notebook to-do list, and I looked at the Google sheets version of a to-do list.  So far, nothing has taken hold of me.  I may just fall back on my paper calendar, which I still keep, all over the house (bedroom wall, on the 'fridge, and a big book style one on the kitchen phone counter).  

There is no need to consider this a finish line.  It's just another day.  😎🌞

So, for today:

• Anybody remember:  "Eat what's in the bag"?  I don't pack a bag any more, since retirement, except on special days when I have an outing planned.  But the phrase resonates, and reminds me to eat what my body needs to stay healthy.
• Remember to breathe.  Nothing is so vital it won't wait ten minutes for your exercise break!
• Remember that taking care of yourself is not a selfish act.  You are of more use to others and the world if you take care of YOU!  YOU are a valuable human being, worth taking care of.

Now, let's get out there and LIVE, best we can, under whatever burdens we may personally have today.  After all, it's the only Tuesday, August 17, 2021 we'll ever get.  And Life is Good.

Spark on!  ✨💖🎆

Day 71: Blog review and back up complete!

 

Done!

I have ended my career on Spark with a lot of memories, a lot of history.  I backed up 1,653 blogs in the time since Spark announced its closure.  While most of them were my own blogs, I also archived a few of MOBYCARP's, including the last one he wrote before his death, and his race report on the Good Life Halfsy (he drove halfway across the continent for our "family reunion" run in 2015).  Also his race report on the Wineglass Marathon he ran concurrent to my running the half marathon there in 2018.  That was his personal best 26.2 mile race, and it was a special time for the two of us to reconnect.  

I archived a couple of KALIGIRL's blogs, too, the ones where she showed up and served as my Sherpa at two triathlon outings, my first in 2012, and my last in 2017.  And a selected few from ALICIA363, including her take on that 2015 Good Life Halfsy. 

I put a couple away from WATERMELLEN, and STRONGDAWG, too.  OVERWORKEDJANET beat me to the deleting blogs punch, or I might have grabbed some of hers from our Boston meetings.

At the same time, a lot of my blogs ended up on the cutting room floor, so to speak.  Over the course of 12 years of blogging, a person can get repetitive.  And some of them had no redeeming value, they were good at the time, but... like yesterday's newspaper, if nothing of significance was in it... why keep it?

I know that some folks just walked away, leaving it all behind, and some folks saved everything.  Since I am retired, I pretty much cleared my calendar, rolled up my sleeves, and spent the last two weeks working on this project, full time, as if it were a job.

And now, we face the dreaded finish line syndrome!

Long time followers will recognize "finish line syndrome" as a danger signal.  The cue to celebrate the end of a project or a race can lead to falling "off the wagon".  ✋  This will be a good time to pay extra attention to behaviors and feelings.  Not that one shouldn't celebrate such things, just that such celebrations should be carefully considered for how they impact our healthy lifestyle initiatives!

Today's happenings:

The blog is late getting posted this morning because I had my annual eye-glass prescription check.  As expected, my right eye has deteriorated yet again.  But the cataract, he says, is still not ripe for harvest.  He wrote me a new prescription, and I picked out new frames, and in a couple of weeks you'll get a new selfie with the new lenses.

The lovely young lady there measures those new frames both with and without the mask.  We'll see how they turn out.  The cost!  Now's when you don't want to look!

When I got home, I cooked my healthy breakfast, and then went out for my walk/jog in what was an increasingly warm day.  It was already 79℉, and only proceeded to get warmer.  Still, I hadn't done intervals since my Saturday morning 'round the lake "long and slow", so when the Runkeeper cue said it had been five minutes, I started jogging and counting steps.  I was not cheeky enough to call it a run, but in the end I covered 2.14 miles at 16:56 minutes per mile, on average.  Ahhh... those endorphins!

Back inside now, with dry clothing on, going to put this up there, and remind us all that whatever the disasters in the world, and our responses to them (charities if we can afford to donate, prayers no matter what, for Haiti, for Afghanistan, and in my case for the very special family member who served there), we still have to remember to breathe in and out, nourish our bodies, and that exercise really, really helps with feelings!

I did manage to touch base with my son, to check on how he was dealing.  He said some very wise things:  "I don't know any service member who didn't see it coming and hasn't been coping with this coming reality since the draw down announce tbh, so we did the pre-grieve thing"

I told him that it hit me like a punch in the gut, and I could not imagine what those who served there might be feeling.  His response was:  "I can't really say it feels like a gut punch, more like just being slowly walking to higher altitude and there's just not as much oxygen to do the same stuff"  

What an eloquent way to state it.  I feel so much better for making sure he's OK (or as OK as he can be just now), and also for that walk/jog... hope you all have a way to deal with whatever feelings you're feeling today, too.

Now let's keep on living, this one and only Monday, August 16, 2021 we'll ever get.  One foot in front of another, one breath at a time... making choices that support our health:  physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual... so that we can be of use in dealing with whatever we challenges we face!

Spark on!  ✨💖🎆