Coffee and Baths

The only two things missing on Star Island for me are good coffee and a nice bath.  However, I can last a really long time in Paradise without these two leisure activities.

Returning from Star yesterday, I was really cranky.  Some close to me would argue that this was caused by the lack of good coffee.  Maybe!

It gave me the opportunity to reflect on what I get and what is missing from my Island experience.  Yes, I miss good coffee and the showers, whereas they have been improved, are still not very good for their sole purpose of cleaning the body.  A pitcher of warm water and wash cloth only go so far to clean yourself.

Last summer, while volunteering, I made the coffee early one morning, so I know how the sausage is made of the coffee in this case.  When I get organized I bring my own coffee and filters and conduct a coffee ministry on Island.  This year I was not organized for any of my visits there.

So those two things are missing but what is present on Star is: natural beauty, good friends, spontaneous spirituality, rocking chairs and conversations you don't have in your normal day.

I was there for a Star Island Board meeting, so it was not my normal conference.  But other friends arrived on Island and unexpected greetings happened.  A friend from our July conference brought her new boy friend and we got to meet him and see her so happy.  We talked at dinner one night to a man who has not been back in 50 years, his last year working on the Island as a pelican (college age workers who run the Island).  He had tears in his eyes when he told us this.  You cannot described the experience of touching your foot down on the Pier, and being there again, even after 50 years, or a few weeks.

So I can do without the coffee and bath, for a pretty long time.  I am not sure however, that I can do without regular visits to Star in my life.

My Achilles Heel - tendon

I finally understand at least one reason for the term Achilles heel.  For about a year now I have had an inflamed Achilles tendon.  I probably wore the wrong shoes last summer, and then really injured it in January walking on the beach barefoot.  Honestly for about 2 years it has been bothering me and I worked through it for a long time which is exactly the wrong thing to do.

Finally in January for my annual physical, I mentioned to my new physician that I had this pain.  She prescribed PT which I did for 6 weeks until the woman gave up on me.  She cured the acute pain, and now I only have the chronic pain and boy is it chronic.

I finally saw an Orthopedic surgeon in March, who gave me a soft brace to wear most of the time and a boot to wear at night.  I have read a lot on the internet  and you really have to stop injuring the tendon in order to get over it.  That is why I wear the brace all day and the boot at night.  I can actually feel the little micro tears when I re-injure it.  Stretching it all the time is also very important and building up strength. And ice, ice, ice.

So anyone who knows me knows that patience is not a strong suit of mine and I am being very patient, in my mind anyway.  I wear the brace and boot, I stretch before and after exercise, and when I get up after sitting.  I am now icing it at least once a day.  I am riding the bike instead of walking on the treadmill, although I do walk some of the time for my exercise.

Just when I think it is getting better I slide back and it hurts again.  I sometimes wonder if I will be wearing this damn brace and boot forever.  I also think maybe I can just continue this amount of exercise and it will always have a bit of pain or tightness.  To be honest, at times it really gets me depressed, that I cannot exercise the way I used to.  I cannot go for an hour walk without thinking of the consequences of maybe hurting it again.

I will not stop playing golf however.  Even though it hurts at the end of a round, I still play every Monday with my lady friends.  If I have to be in a wheel chair on the course I am going to play golf.

For now, I stretch, ice, exercise, and wear the support mechanisms and hope that someday this injury will be behind me.  I will probably have another one to nurse along at that point but for now this injury is my Achilles heel.

Retirement time filling

I have been retired for almost 3 years and my better half retires in just over a month. This gives me cause to reflect on filling time in retirement.

What do I currently do with my time? I sleep past 6 am, I sit and read a book for as long as I want, I volunteer, I belong to groups which meet during the day, I run errands, I have coffee and lunch with friends, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Now that we will both be retired, we are planning our big trips. My wild idea was to rent our house out for a year, and just travel, or live in VT in our house there.  I said it was a wild idea, but it would help with the trip budget dilemma.

We are also planning smaller trips to sight see and visit friends and family. We could go during the week to NYC for a quick trip or visit Chicago and do that boat architectural tour that has been recommended.  We can stay a few extra days in the Berkshires, when we are there for a regular Star chairs meeting instead of having to be back to work.

Oh, and we will have a grand daughter to visit.......

Given that we have plans and that they change on a whim, we will be busy but not sure exactly of timing of some of them.

However, how will we continue our current commitments of choir and groups, and volunteer activities?

This is an exciting time as we launch into joint retirement and grand parenting. We will talk about a lot of ideas, and slide into a schedule that works, and we will feel torn by competing communities and activities.

We are always available to be reached by mobile phone and email, so we won't lose touch, but we will be less regular.

We are so fortunate and blessed and excited......Bring it on!

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Ball Game Chants - "Throw it Back"

One fun part of being at a live ball game are the chants. Last night against the Yankees, there were way too many Yankees fans and there was the battle for the loudest of "Let's go Red Sox" versus "Let's go Yankees".

During one of these the Yankees actually sounded louder so the Red Sox resorted to their most civil chant "Yankees Suck"', because they could not outshout the Yankees fans. It was just so humorous. I asked Rod if the Yankees fans have a counter chant of "Red Sox Suck" and we don't think they do.

Last night Arod hit a home run and for 30 minutes sporadically the fans around the person who caught the ball, and sometimes the entire stadium chanted "Throw it back, throw it back". We think that the fans who caught that ball were so perturbed by the chant that they moved their seats.

There was also chants when Arod was batting of "Afraud" and most of the Yankees fans as well as most of the Red Sox fans booed him when he came to bat.

We watched "42" on Saturday night and baseball really has changed since that time. I think some of the chanting is the big stadiums and the sound of that many fans all in unison chanting. You miss this part of the game watching on TV.

Memories of last nights game will be with me for a while and a grin on my face as I remember the silly fans chanting. Yes, I was one of those silly fans chanting.


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Local Tourists - Lexington and Concord

Walden Pond with George and Judy

Having family visiting this weekend allowed us to be tourists in our backyard. My brother and sister-in-law have never been to Walden Pond or to any of the sites along the Minuteman Battle Road National Park between Lexington and Concord. Yes, that battle!

Early Sunday we set out for Walden, and walked around the entire pond with brief stops at the foundation of Thoreau's cottage. We have been to Walden many times with other visitors and also by ourselves to swim or hike. Seen though their eyes, they expected a small pond, and did not expect it to be a destination on a beautiful summer day for swimmers, kayakers and picnickers.

We then visited the Visitors Center and watched a 30 minute show recreating the battle.  Next we traveled to Old North Bridge in Concord to see the diorama and view the site at the bridge of the standoff and retreat of the Redcoats. A nice lunch at the Colonial Inn in Concord completed our morning of being tourists.

Living in Lexington we see the Patriots Day reenactment early every Patriots Day on our town green, so the history is well known to us. Yesterday we saw it again through our family's eyes and hopefully they will join us next year for the 5am reenactment.

In our joint retirement which happens October 1st, I expect we will do more tourist trips like this to destinations, we fly by now, on our way somewhere.

More stopping to smell the roses and learning of local history is in our future.


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Life size Settlers Game

Just now, while trying to find a new facebook profile picture, I happened upon some great pictures of this last past Labor Day at Coniston.  BTW, I did not find a profile picture, because now that I have a new camera I am usually behind the camera, not in front of it.

Brother Mike and sister in law Peg had a wonderful party early in August during which they installed a life size settlers game on their property.  They were kind enough to bring it up to Coniston on Labor Day and we installed it there.  For those of you who are addicted to Settlers of Catan you will totally understand what you are looking at.  For the rest of you wikipedia might be a good resource to understand the game.

Mind you, we spent most of the time setting this game up it was pretty dark by the time we started playing.  Coming from a family of engineers, that did not deter this group, they strung up some lights so we could keep playing.

So this was our robber, and when you move the robber you move the wagon he sits in.  Yes, it did almost tip over once or twice.

Here is an overhead shot, where you can see some of the resources.  The little flags were the roads and the taller flags were settlements or cities.

And as it became darker, some lights

I think everyone is imitating Mr Bear, aka The robber.

Rod fertilized the hexagons, so hopefully next spring the game will still occupy our front lawn up there.  In the meantime, we can dream about warmer days and nights as the temperature this weekend at Coniston is below zero.

Mobile phones and technology - Who else thinks about these things?

Maybe not every body, but I am sure some of you have done the following:

1. Sent a text and then put the phone to your ear to talk expecting a call to have been made
2. Tried to turn the cable box off with your cell phone
3. Looked for your cell phone while you are talking on it

I regularly do the second two things on this list, and just now I did the first one, which was a first for me.

With all the technology we have for someone easily dis tractable, I get confused.  Every time I try to turn off the cable box with my phone, I think that someone should invent this feature.  Actually, someone probably already has invented this, but it has to be a one click feature.  It cannot involve getting into an App.

Now that I think about it, I have another technology desire which I think is being worked on by smart people.  I pay for my coffee right now through the Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts preloaded cards on my iPhone.  Starbucks has had this for a few years and I was an early adopter of that App and DD just released it at the end of last year.

I would like ONE APP, which allows me to pay for everything, everywhere from my phone.  Because of the Starbucks and DD apps, and being able to pay by phone, I have left my house a few times with just my phone and no other means of payment.  Unfortunately for those who live with me, I can only buy coffee if I forget my wallet.  Starbucks and DD have lulled me into being able to leave with just my phone. 

How soon will we be able to pay with just a chip implanted inside our body somewhere.  Maybe I should have asked the wrist surgeon this when she put the plate in my wrist.