It seems October and November decided to switch places in the seasonal order this year. Did the sun ever come out in October? It seemed like it was consistently dreary and rainy for the whole month. It even snowed a bit. And now on November 17th, I’m looking out my window at an azure sky and the cemetery bathed in beautiful thin late afternoon light. I guess as Minnesotans we take what we can get.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m trying to justify my post Dex existence in every possible way. One way is to be a fitness mentor to my spouse. Not that I can give her any tips on staying fit, having me for a personal trainer would be like having Foster Brooks for an AA sponsor. But we’ve made a pact to make it to the club (can you call the YMCA “the club”) on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and I’ve taken on the duty to be the one who cracks the whip and gets us out of the house. Mondays are easy, she has Mondays off so we can just fit the workout into our day. But the other two days, she comes home from work and the temptation to shift into slug mode is fierce. So my job is to be already in workout gear and tapping my feet to get going, giving her no chance to find excuses to bag the workout. Our success in this new routine has been moderate. Last week I used the fact that I had some dental work done to weasel out of the evening workout, which was pure bull, because I wasn’t feeling any effects of the drilling, but somehow my mind seems to be able to zero in on the faintest hint of an excuse and expand it into a reason. To her credit, one night she went without me.
Tonight however I’m waiting here in my sweats for her to get home so I can do my inspirational duty. This morning it slipped my mind that we were scheduled for a workout  tonight so I went to the club and did my weight machine routine, so I’m already feeling pretty worked out. I’ll just do a short easy stationary bike routine or maybe a treadmill session. One of my goals is to get back into some reasonable kind of shape. I’m nowhere near recovering from spending 6 months off of my feet during the year of the knee. Maybe I shouldn’t be too hard on myself, after all it’s only two years ago that I was celebrating being able to walk far enough up the street that I could no longer see our house. On the other hand, on our trip to Oregon this fall, I was embarrassed by how winded I got on pathetically easy climbs. Also I’ve been noticing lately in photos and my reflection in the full length mirrors at the Y, that my right leg looks down right shriveled. My legs have always been skinny, but this one is now completely shapeless, a straight cylinder from ankle to knee. I’ve got a long way to go but I’m making progress and it feels good.
Peace and health to all.
