singing into spring....

Thistle in the wind yesterday

Wow, this morning I woke up with music just blaring in my head! I think I’ve touched on that before. I used to think everyone had musical accompaniment to their days but after finally talking about it, I found out that, while some do, it’s a bit unusual. This morning “I’m Coming Out” is playing in my head.  I always wonder what the songs “mean” because sometimes they are my favorite songs and other times, I just can’t stand them! The only way I can get them out of my head is to sing them out loud.  After singing them, the song changes to something else.  I kind of like this one so I’m going to let it play for a while.

These songs frequently determine my mood for the day, as I’m sure you can imagine. It’s sort of like waking up after a good or bad dream. This morning I came downstairs and had a nice little dance in my step because it’s a very upbeat song. My knee is doing great!  Last night I had a little swelling on it from overdoing the walking and exercise and had to take some ibuprofen but I’m totally off the pain meds (days ago) the doc gave me.

I did manage to do my yoga yesterday morning although I’m glad I didn’t have anyone watching or listening. Amazing how stiff you get after just one week of not stretching!  I have been doing yoga for about 30 years now and I’m really limber because of it. I can even touch my palms on the floor without bending my legs, usually.  This was not the case yesterday!  The muscles in my thighs and calves really took a beating with the inactivity and surgery. There was a few times where I actually said some rather nasty things out loud in an attempt to touch my toes.  Thistle was sitting nearby, giving me sympathetic, puzzled expressions. She’s so helpful, when I’m standing there with my head upside down, she thinks that’s the appropriate time to give me a tongue facial. That, in turn, gets me busting out laughing instead of grunting in pain! I do something called the Sun Salutation several times a day.  It’s a series of stretches that works every muscle in your body. If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend it.  It’s very simple, none of that pretzel twist, advanced stuff, really just some very deep stretches that you hold until you feel your muscles release.

I got about halfway through my Yoga Booty Ballet tape before I had to throw in the towel.  Those girls were just a little too much for me just yet, maybe next week. Today I’m going to try something a little less bouncy to do.  I have this great walking tape by Leslie Sansone that accomplishes a brisk 4 mile walk in 45 minutes.  I think that may be more my speed today. I have to get myself up to par, though, as we are coming up on just a month until our big photography vacation to Arizona and I’ll have a lot of desert walking to do down there.

That trip is going to be so much fun!  We are stopping in Monument Valley, UT  first and have reservations at Gould’s Resort that has a view of the red walls right outside the balcony!  After that, we are stopping in Sedona, AZ to see the energy vortex and meet up with some lovely friends I met on Facebook who have a health spa in town.  Wing & Laurie seem to be such nice people, I just can’t wait to meet them in person! Wing is the drummer in a spiritual band called Amitabha.  Laurie and I have been emailing each other for about a year privately and exchanging little gifts through the mail.  She sent me a lovely handmade bracelet that they make to raise money for AIDS babies.  They are the sort of people I knew from the minute I started corresponding with, we’d be friends for life!

After Sedona, we’re stopping in Wickenburg, AZ to see an old friend, Don, who used to run the Arrowhead Motel here in town with my best buddy, Odie.  Odie died in my arms back in 2006 from a brain aneurysm . Gosh, that was a terrible day!  Don had called me because he couldn’t wake her up from a nap and we met at the hospital.  Odie never regained consciousness and I had to help Don make the decision to take her off life support.  I have tears in my eyes now just thinking about that day!  Anyway, Don now lives with a really nice girlfriend down there named Judy and she’s a firecracker, just like Odie.

After that, we’re headed into the Saguaro Desert to take pictures of the desert flowers in bloom. A friend of mine who lives here in summer, Sanna, has been down there with her horses all winter and will still be there when we arrive.  Our other friend, Katrina, who owns Indian Campground here,  is headed down at that time to help her bring her horses and stuff back up to Buffalo, so we’ll have a real fun get-together with them.  Doesn’t it sound like a magical vacation?

It’s what keeping the smile on my face during the weird spring weather, let me tell you!  Yesterday it was actually 67 degrees here! Today, there’s a 50% chance of snow, that’s spring!! The thing I love about spring here is that while we get our major snow during this time, it melts so fast, it’s as if it was never here. You just have to remember to keep all manner of garments in your car so you don’t get caught in the wrong kind of weather without the proper attire. I’ve seen warm, rain, snow, and sunshine all in one day here.  Spring can see temps start out in the 60’s and dive to the 20’s in a matter of hours. Keeps you on your toes, that’s for sure!

Today is Massage Tuesday with Carmen of Spirited Hands Massage.  I see her every other Tuesday these days, otherwise we’d be starting from scratch on my poor muscles all the time.  She’s got her work cut out for her today!  I have a really bunched up group of muscles in my shoulders from running around on crutches for so long that is just killing me.  I wasn’t able to see her two weeks ago so we are a bit behind.  That woman has the strongest hands I know for a little bitty thing. She’s only about 5 feet tall but she’s a powerhouse!  Since I’ve had all my knee problems, we haven’t gotton further than my shoulders.  Hopefully, now that’s all in the past, we’ll get to a full body massage one of these days.  I still have one more big problem that my orthopedist and I are dealing with, a slipped disc with central stenosis, in my neck, which causes a lot of those shoulder problems.  Because the surgery to fix it is rather invasive, we are letting Carmen work her magic for as long as we can before I go under the knife again. They have both given me some great things to do at home to try to help that out. I have one of those inflatable neck braces that stretches my vertebrae out so the bulge can go back in place and Carmen has given me some neck exercises as well.

Well, time to get the old rear in gear and see if I can stretch myself out before seeing Carmen. I hope you have a great day planned and if you don’t, try to see the good in what you are doing and be grateful for what you have, folks.  The little inconveniences we experience really are just that, they aren’t world stopping, really, are they?  If you find yourself aggravated today, just step back and breathe deep and thank the Creator that you are still here, you have eyes to see, feet to walk on, a warm place to return to.  If you start counting your blessings instead of what you DON’T have, you might just find a little gratitude in your life! That’s how I roll.

Yesterday's view of the Bighorns

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." – Epictetus

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures." - Thornton Wilder