(Started on July 4, 2024, finished this morning):
Hello friends,
Today is Independence Day in the US – celebrating our break from British rule 248 years ago. Yesterday I was telling my friends that I was planning a long hike today to celebrate the independence being healthy gives me. Never to be taken for granted. Or rather, often taken for granted until I’m reminded of how good I have it right now. I can walk unaided. I’m sure that will not always be the case. I can drive myself to wherever I want to go. Ditto. Right now I’m participating in a step challenge with four college friends. This group was created from a larger group of friends, a few of which declined joining the challenge due to issues with their feet or backs. As I sit here on a bench on a boardwalk in the middle of a marsh, I see younger people run by at speeds that are beyond my capabilities and inclination (I am very aware of knees that complain occasionally) – I know that age and accumulated use has diminished my body, but I am determined to not only keep hold of what I do have at this moment, but strengthen and shore up what I can. I don’t know what is down the pike and around the corner for me, but I will face it from a place of strength.
My mind has also been riffing on the theme of independence as it pertains to how I travel through life. No man is an island – I had to Google who said that (John Donne). I talked the other week about weak social ties. As I go about my days without Chris physically at my side but very much in my heart and in my life, I am so grateful for those interactions. This morning: saying thank you for my coffee, having a 5 minute conversation with a woman on the trail, and scritch-scratching the neck of her Doberman, whose name is Thornapple (also using Google, I found out that Thornapple is a poisonous plant that causes “hallucinations, seizures, coma, and death” – apparently the name is a warning that her dog can fuck you up, lol). Texts and phone calls and video calls are wonderful, but being in the presence of another human being is nourishing in a way all those other interactions aren’t. This is one of the reasons why, even though the office culture at work makes me crazy, I’ll be choosing to work mostly in-office for the foreseeable future. I do enjoy my own company, but at times it can feel like a thin soup.
In just a few days’ time I will be traveling east to be with loved ones – Sam and Pokey and Jenny and Beth and Mom and Paula and Janice. I’m so excited. I am holding some of my recent nature photos back (which is very difficult for me – I’m the person who, as someone is unwrapping a gift from me, blurts out, “It’s a telescope! I hope you like it!” I have a hard time holding back on happy things) to use with my blog posts over the next two weeks, as I am sticking to my commitment to post every week and I’m not sure if I’ll have a chance to take many photos on my trip.
Have a wonderful week, friends. To my loved ones enduring a heat wave, stay cool!
Love,
Michelle xoxo