I've been wearing my Fitbit for about a year and I like it. I like that it reminds me to get up and start walking.....between Fenway's big eyes begging to go outside and the "guilt band" on my wrist, it's been no problem to get to at least 10,000 steps a day. And it feels like an achievement when I do!
Most days I put in between five and seven miles give or take, so yea me! I have friends who use their wrist band to check lots of other things......how many times they wake up at night etc. but I just want to count steps.
But the last time I updated the app something new popped up.
Now, every night about 9:20 I get a message saying something like "It's time to wind down and get ready for bed." Really? If I could talk to my Fitbit I would tell it that by 9:20 I've probably been in bed for about a half an hour......reading, or watching TV.....but I've already begun to "unwind" and need no reminder.
An electronic thing on my wrist dictating my schedule......no thanks.
Right now it's noon and we've spend much of the morning driving in the RV....but 3,289 steps so far....yea me!
😀
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Those Small Places......
This happens to me every time we get to wander in our little RV. I spend time looking at the paper map when Dave is at the wheel. He listens to the GPS......I ignore "her" and examine the names of the towns and cities on and just off our route. Some of them really make me curious.....I wonder about who founded this place and why they selected the name? Imagination takes over as the miles fly by.
Some seem obvious, Southern Pines, Swansboro, Hickory Grove, Peachland and Lake City. But how would you like to have an address in Black Gnat, Miser Station, Boiling Springs or Pumpkintown? I haven't been to any of these places, and they are on light grey roads on my map so we probably won't venture out to any of them. Maybe they are very nice.
Towns that seem to be named after people are probably because that family posted their claim first and the town grew up around them. Leeville, Taylor, Maryville, Waynesville, Wilson, New Ellenton and Earles. Some towns sound like nice places to be......Love Valley, Fairfield, Cove Creek, Darlington or Sunrise.
Looking at any state map and you see thousands of towns and cities......inch by inch....across the map....across the country. People came, people stayed, towns were born and many died when progress or the highway passed them by. Always makes me wonder.......
A dot on a grey road......Trio, South Carolina. Three brothers?
Some seem obvious, Southern Pines, Swansboro, Hickory Grove, Peachland and Lake City. But how would you like to have an address in Black Gnat, Miser Station, Boiling Springs or Pumpkintown? I haven't been to any of these places, and they are on light grey roads on my map so we probably won't venture out to any of them. Maybe they are very nice.
Towns that seem to be named after people are probably because that family posted their claim first and the town grew up around them. Leeville, Taylor, Maryville, Waynesville, Wilson, New Ellenton and Earles. Some towns sound like nice places to be......Love Valley, Fairfield, Cove Creek, Darlington or Sunrise.
Looking at any state map and you see thousands of towns and cities......inch by inch....across the map....across the country. People came, people stayed, towns were born and many died when progress or the highway passed them by. Always makes me wonder.......
A dot on a grey road......Trio, South Carolina. Three brothers?
Friday, March 10, 2017
Someone Else's Kitchen......
I knew gong back to The Farm would be hard.....and it was. Our first time back since my cousin's funeral. But we wanted to visit with her husband, Rob, and really love the place. So on our way south to hunt for spring we planned to stop.
Driving down the long gravel road and up the hill to the farmhouse the memories flooded back. It was like ripping a bandaid off a wound.....the grief came roaring in. But it wasn't as raw as it was before.....so maybe time did provide a little solace.
Our first evening we enjoyed time with Rob, hugs, smiles, a good soup supper, Claudia-as-farmer's-wife stories, laughter and a few lump-in-the-throat moments. It was good for all three of us....sitting around the kitchen table.
The next day the guys drove into Corydon to do some errands and have lunch. I stayed by myself and puttered around Claudia's kitchen. I cooked some pasta, emptied the dishwasher, hard boiled some eggs. I found a broom and swept the dead sticks, leaves and seeds off the deck and the porch. I watered a few plants and cut off their dead leaves.
I looked at the unfinished watercolor paintings on my cousins painting table in the sunroom, I sat in her chair and read a book.
And I hated every minute. She should be here.....I wanted her smiling face to come through the door and say "Come on, time to take the dogs for their morning walk!" I wanted to see her moving around her kitchen fixing one of her fresh from the farm garden-to-table side dishes. I wanted her to say, with a laugh, "Seriously Cousin Linnea!"
It will always be Claudia's kitchen......her spirit inhabits every inch of that farm.....especially the kitchen.
Driving down the long gravel road and up the hill to the farmhouse the memories flooded back. It was like ripping a bandaid off a wound.....the grief came roaring in. But it wasn't as raw as it was before.....so maybe time did provide a little solace.
Our first evening we enjoyed time with Rob, hugs, smiles, a good soup supper, Claudia-as-farmer's-wife stories, laughter and a few lump-in-the-throat moments. It was good for all three of us....sitting around the kitchen table.
The next day the guys drove into Corydon to do some errands and have lunch. I stayed by myself and puttered around Claudia's kitchen. I cooked some pasta, emptied the dishwasher, hard boiled some eggs. I found a broom and swept the dead sticks, leaves and seeds off the deck and the porch. I watered a few plants and cut off their dead leaves.
I looked at the unfinished watercolor paintings on my cousins painting table in the sunroom, I sat in her chair and read a book.
And I hated every minute. She should be here.....I wanted her smiling face to come through the door and say "Come on, time to take the dogs for their morning walk!" I wanted to see her moving around her kitchen fixing one of her fresh from the farm garden-to-table side dishes. I wanted her to say, with a laugh, "Seriously Cousin Linnea!"
It will always be Claudia's kitchen......her spirit inhabits every inch of that farm.....especially the kitchen.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
One Disturbing Read.....
I just finished a Jodi Picoult novel, The Storyteller. It flashes back from World War II Germany to the present time as an elderly man shares a horrible secret and asks a young woman for an extraordinary favor. It's not an easy read as much of it tells the story of how the Jews were persecuted, rounded up, put in concentration camps and "selected" to be gassed, or worked to death. But it is a book that grabs you and won't let go.
It got me wondering about boundaries.....and lines I would not cross. About moral compass and ethics and love for your fellow man. It got me wondering about a lot of big ticket items.
Early on in the narrative the author explains through the young boy Josef's voice, what happened to his family after WWI. He says...."To understand what I became you must know where I came from. ...My father was a machinst by trade and my mother kept house. My earliest memory is of my father and mother fighting over money. After the first Great War, inflation spiraled out of control. Their savings, which they had diligently put away for years, were suddenly worth nothing.....A cup of coffee was five thousand marks. A loaf of bread two hundred billion.....Most middle class families like mine were ruined."
Joseph and his younger brother joined the Hitler Youth....as did most everyone of their age. He excels because he is phyically strong and wins at competition. The leader of his troop is proud as are his parents because his efforts reflect well on his family.
On page 149 Josef says, "To be honest I do not know if my parents believed in the Nazi philosophy.....And if my parents had their doubts about Hitler's vision for Germany, they appreciated his optimism and the hope that our country could regain its greatness."
And that last sentence stopped me in my tracks. I think I re-read it four or five times....putting it in context. Thinking about all the people who seem to believe that the ends justify the means......not just in historical settings, but now....today....here.
Just change the names......
It got me wondering about boundaries.....and lines I would not cross. About moral compass and ethics and love for your fellow man. It got me wondering about a lot of big ticket items.
Early on in the narrative the author explains through the young boy Josef's voice, what happened to his family after WWI. He says...."To understand what I became you must know where I came from. ...My father was a machinst by trade and my mother kept house. My earliest memory is of my father and mother fighting over money. After the first Great War, inflation spiraled out of control. Their savings, which they had diligently put away for years, were suddenly worth nothing.....A cup of coffee was five thousand marks. A loaf of bread two hundred billion.....Most middle class families like mine were ruined."
Joseph and his younger brother joined the Hitler Youth....as did most everyone of their age. He excels because he is phyically strong and wins at competition. The leader of his troop is proud as are his parents because his efforts reflect well on his family.
On page 149 Josef says, "To be honest I do not know if my parents believed in the Nazi philosophy.....And if my parents had their doubts about Hitler's vision for Germany, they appreciated his optimism and the hope that our country could regain its greatness."
And that last sentence stopped me in my tracks. I think I re-read it four or five times....putting it in context. Thinking about all the people who seem to believe that the ends justify the means......not just in historical settings, but now....today....here.
Just change the names......
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Two Kinds of Beauty......
We were lucky enough to spend last week exploring Puerto Rico with some very good friends. They've been living there during the cold winter months for years, so know the island very well....and happily shared it with us. We left Wisconsin's winter (even though the temperatures were in the 60's!) and fled south with swim suits.
Our two condos overlooked the ocean and beach covered with silky sand stretching for miles. Palm trees, little coquis singing in the trees at night, a swimming pool for water aerobics, and an activity room where we played dominoes with several couples. We had movie night and watched Russell Crow's "Beautiful Mind", took a walk to Loquillo for coffee (delicious) and enjoyed several meals out to explore the local cuisine.
They took us up to the rain forest.....a first for us! And we explored historic Old San Juan with it's narrow streets filled with colorful Caribbean homes as well as Fort Morro. On Saturday they took us across the island to Guavate for a pig roast and salsa music. The best was the ferry trip across to Culebra to snorkel.....beautiful coral and lots of colorful fish.
So.....we enjoyed Puerto Rican beauty....lots of it!
We flew home on Tuesday.....and spent Wednesday enjoying a different kind of Wisconsin beauty.....coating every branch.
Our two condos overlooked the ocean and beach covered with silky sand stretching for miles. Palm trees, little coquis singing in the trees at night, a swimming pool for water aerobics, and an activity room where we played dominoes with several couples. We had movie night and watched Russell Crow's "Beautiful Mind", took a walk to Loquillo for coffee (delicious) and enjoyed several meals out to explore the local cuisine.
They took us up to the rain forest.....a first for us! And we explored historic Old San Juan with it's narrow streets filled with colorful Caribbean homes as well as Fort Morro. On Saturday they took us across the island to Guavate for a pig roast and salsa music. The best was the ferry trip across to Culebra to snorkel.....beautiful coral and lots of colorful fish.
So.....we enjoyed Puerto Rican beauty....lots of it!
We flew home on Tuesday.....and spent Wednesday enjoying a different kind of Wisconsin beauty.....coating every branch.
Monday, February 20, 2017
And She Said "I Think Not".....
We've certainly had a run of warm weather considering it's winter in Wisconsin. The past three days have been in the upper 50's and even 60 degrees! Record breaking temperatures seven days in a row. Any snow we had is long gone. This warm weather is great for getting outside and walking around but it's also more than slightly confusing. You can tell that birds and wildlife think spring is here to stay.....and I hope they aren't surprised next week. It would be sad to see bird eggs covered with snow.
On Saturday we met friends in Cedarburg for dinner and conversation. It happened to be that community's Winter Festival.....complete with parade early in the day and lots of street vendors. The snowball fight, ice skating and other winter activities were all cancelled, but the little town was still full of people roaming in and out of shops when we got there about 5:00.
After a pizza dinner we walked a few blocks to The Stagecoach Inn to continue our evening together.....and passed ice sculptures along the way. Hmmmmm....
I'm not sure what these were supposed to be....and can only imagine the frustration as the contestants tried to create something special.
But it was Mother Nature saying...."Winter Festival in Cedarburg on Saturday, February 18th?? Not this year." And, after all, she is in charge!
On Saturday we met friends in Cedarburg for dinner and conversation. It happened to be that community's Winter Festival.....complete with parade early in the day and lots of street vendors. The snowball fight, ice skating and other winter activities were all cancelled, but the little town was still full of people roaming in and out of shops when we got there about 5:00.
After a pizza dinner we walked a few blocks to The Stagecoach Inn to continue our evening together.....and passed ice sculptures along the way. Hmmmmm....
I'm not sure what these were supposed to be....and can only imagine the frustration as the contestants tried to create something special.
But it was Mother Nature saying...."Winter Festival in Cedarburg on Saturday, February 18th?? Not this year." And, after all, she is in charge!
Friday, February 17, 2017
Well Everyone Makes Mistakes......
I think the groundhog was wrong this year....at least the one who covers our area of Wisconsin with his weather predictions. We are in the midst of an early spring (I know, it may not last)....enjoying a span of sunny, blue sky days with temperatures in the 50's! Good for walking outside....not so good for Winter Festivals scheduled in some nearby towns.
I covered about two miles on my morning walk with Fenway. Well my walk covered that much ground....... he probably managed more than three because he zig zags back and forth at the end of his leash. With so little snow left on the ground new smells are evident and must be examined! And Fenway pee must be added to the mix.
It was a great bird spotting walk too. Several cardinals and lots of chickadees zipping through the brush. A big red-headed woodpecker making his way up and around a tall tree.....I could hear him hammering away and then he'd move on up the trunk of the tree. Since the leaves aren't out yet he was easy to spy. And of course crows scolding from the top of the American Legion building....and geese overhead.
The spring was quietly babbling.....with most of the snow gone it's slowed down a bit, but the soft water music was a nice to hear as we made our way up the path.
And to top it off I spotted my first merganser paddling around in the harbor!
So I really thing someone.....or something....was wrong about the prediction for six more weeks of winter. I vote for an early spring!
I covered about two miles on my morning walk with Fenway. Well my walk covered that much ground....... he probably managed more than three because he zig zags back and forth at the end of his leash. With so little snow left on the ground new smells are evident and must be examined! And Fenway pee must be added to the mix.
It was a great bird spotting walk too. Several cardinals and lots of chickadees zipping through the brush. A big red-headed woodpecker making his way up and around a tall tree.....I could hear him hammering away and then he'd move on up the trunk of the tree. Since the leaves aren't out yet he was easy to spy. And of course crows scolding from the top of the American Legion building....and geese overhead.
The spring was quietly babbling.....with most of the snow gone it's slowed down a bit, but the soft water music was a nice to hear as we made our way up the path.
And to top it off I spotted my first merganser paddling around in the harbor!
So I really thing someone.....or something....was wrong about the prediction for six more weeks of winter. I vote for an early spring!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)