The Burrow

In our defense, we were really tired after traveling.  This happened the evening we returned home from our Thursday to Thursday trip to Indiana.  ***** We showered and grazed.  With the football game on the television, I tried to keep my eyes open, hoping you would forgive me if I skipped yet another post.   After four hours of airplane air, Tucson was challenging.  My lungs were used to being at sea level, where (for a reason I once knew) the air is thicker.  The thin air at altitude leaves me sleepy.... very sleepy. Having crossed three time zones on Thursday, Little Cuter discussing Daylight Savings Time's effect on circadian rhythms on Sunday described our situation perfectly.  Our bodies were so confused.  Man made distinctions were wreaking havoc on my internal clock. Our homes' relationships to the boundaries of our time zones don't help, either.  She is on the far western edge of hers; we are on the easternmost border of ours....

Goodbye kisses are awfully sweet. I love you, too,  Gramma.  Tight hugs.  Fond eye locks.  And then they're off to get smarter and see friends.  Back to their regular routines, while TBG and I pack up our memories and fly away.  We have a sense of how their days go.  We met their coaches and their friends. Their puppy and TBG renewed their love affair.  The mall emptied itself into our carry bags.  The visit was a success.  It always feels too short. 

We couldn't turn off the tv.  We stayed up until 1am, watching the talking heads become more and more tired and more and more smiley.   My heart is open and happy.  I'm so proud of Americans.  The picture of the US Senate with all those blue seats over on the red side provokes an audible giggle every time it appears on the screen. My Congressman can go to work for one of his well off supporters while his replacement goes to work for his constituents. All the young faces, the colorful faces, the well spoken voices of the winners signalling a generational shift.  Chuck Schumer looks ancient in comparison.   Will the entrenched powers recognize the change?  Will the Democrats spend all their time investigating or will they enact sensible gun safety legislation?  A girl can hope. It's fun to watch the Alaska results.... 45 votes, 62 votes, 75 votes separating the contenders.   FlapJilly's life has been lived under the blight of the...

Little Cuter's family is surrounded by falling leaves  and trees in all their Fall splendor.  Corn fields, not strip malls, line the roads. A silo anchoring a harvested field, planting rows neatly furrowed, and stands of Lodgepole pines are what I expect to see as I drive around.  But yesterday I saw this and this and bladed smooth acres of previously fertile fields of corn.  It's a data center.  The old folks died and the heirs sold the farm for gazillions of dollars.  It's hard to fault them.   But I wonder what effect the heat and the dust will have on the fields across the street.  It's a two lane road.   And I already know what effect the data center's mere existence has had on the residents.  They're sad.  These things have to go somewhere.  I just wish this one wasn't impinging on the pastoral back roads ...

Sorry.  I have been remiss. I had a serious case of travel anxiety, for no real reason at all.   We've flown Allegiant to South Bend dozens of times.  Little Cuter always picks us up.  We  know where we're sleeping, we have clothes in the closet, toiletries in a tote beside them, and 2% milk for TBG in the 'fridge.   There was nothing to be nervous about, but there it was. I sat down to write and I got nervous. I walked around the outside of the house, smelling the creosote soaked air after a torrential downpour.  Usually, that smell sets my senses tingling.  On Wednesday, all I felt was angst. I did some deep breathing.  I did some pushups.  I made a fruit smoothie with ginger and turmeric.   None of it worked. Thursday wasn't any better.  I packed, repacked, stressed about what I'd not packed..... the whole thing was becoming ridiculous.  I refused to take an Ativan for free floating anxiety circling aroun...

After weeks of inactivity, my first attempt did not go well.  Many deep breaths and a cool face wash helped me finish the class, but instead of going to the garden I drove straight home and slept for 3 hours. It's too expensive to keep heating the pool, so swimming isn't an option.   Recently (and for the foreseeable future),  Amster's travel schedule and mine have kept us apart and away from our weight workouts in her home gym.   Today, I tried again.  The mind was willing but the musculature was a lot weaker than I expected.  There are adjustments and modifications to the high level exercises and I took full advantage of them.   I'm reminded that it takes far less time to lose it than to earn it back as I feel everything starting to wake up.  It's a good start.   Too bad it will soon be interrupted by our Halloween visit to the Big Grandkids. This may just end up being the season of getting back in shape... it's the jour...