Sumertime Blues

I always look forward to spending time out in the woods and mountains in the middle of "God's country" as my dad would call it. The time spent breathing in the smell of sun-baked pine needles, or the whiff of snow off the glaciers, the sound of the distant river, the quiet and peace -- they all call to me. I need that space and time to connect with the world, with Nature and her Creator . . .to breathe deeply.

However, I don't seem to get to do these things much anymore. Perhaps it's middle age sneaking up on me, but this year I screwed my knee up in early June playing softball. It's now mid-July and I have just set aside the cane, except for longer, very slow (read ~2 miles) walks on flat ground.

Last summer, I screwed up my hip and back doing tai chi which limited my hiking to summer's end and short trips. Then there was the late spring recovery from double pnuemonia a couple years earlier. Or the summer time foot recovering from an infected animal bite (a few weeks with foot elevated above heart level to stop the spread of infection) the summer after the pnuemonia.

Are we getting the picture here? I am tired of this BS.

A wise woman told me to specifically pray for and welcome only healing, wholesome events in my life. Done so, been doing so, will keep doing so -- but at this point I am just plain fed up. I am over 40, slightly overweight, and although I try to stay physically active with lots of things when the body permits, I just seem to be getting older and slower, and dare I say it? Yes, cranky! About this shift in life. C'mon!!! It's ridiculous!!!

I have things to do, adventures to seek, places to visit and stuff to see. Like the picture above. A beautiful day hike to Heart Lake outside of Holden Village at summer's end last year. My body made it (barely) and I was really looking forward to revisiting it and a variety of other hikes this summer. No such luck.

Why does this keep happening? I really am tired of it . . . *sigh* . . .

Okay -- I'll quit whining, and keep doing my PT and re-buidling knee and leg muscle strength like a good girl. Maybe I'll get a personal trainer through the YMCA. Something's gotta give. Yoga, jazzercise, walking, biking (when the body permits) clearly aren't enough . . .

Wish me luck, folks. By this time next year, I am going to be 20 pounds lighter and a helluva lot stronger -- and I am absolutely, positively sure to be out on the hiking trails -- no exceptions permitted!!!