Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Neglect

Neglect seems to be a theme in my life lately and this blog is no exception - time to dust out the corners, vacuum up the spider webs and get back to spinning my life story.

Though I haven't been writing much lately, I have been doing a lot of thinking and cogitating.  The tour is one of those watershed moments where "before" and "after" are rather sharply demarcated.  So re-evaluating and readjusting my life were very much on my mind and it has been a quagmire of sorts, trying to figure out what I need to do, what I want to do and how much of it is under my control.

Some parts of my life were rather neglected in the intensity of my preparations for the bike tour - I almost forgot how to knit a sock, the spinning wheels and spindles have collected dust, and while Kim the Magnificent has kept my house in spit and polish order, the outside of the house and the yard were really deteriorating fast.

So.  The demolished carport was replaced by a shiny new one, a deck has been added to make going in and out of the back door easier and safer (standing on icy concrete steps while trying to open the door, hang on to grocery sacks and maneuver around the dog was a scary proposition).  The trim and soffits have been repaired and replaced with vinyl and aluminum without losing any of the details or charm of the original wood trim - I was holding my breath, but my contractor did a great job.  The yard has been cleaned up - bushes trimmed, stumps removed, pruning done.  Looks like someone who cares lives here now.

My fiber pursuits have been asserting themselves again, with two baby blankets and three pairs of socks off the needles recently and two sweaters waiting in line.  I haven't fully integrated spinning back into the rotation yet, but it's coming.  And sometime in the next couple of weeks, Kim and I are going to tackle the attic and finallyfinallyfinally get it organized so I can move around and work efficiently.  Once the looms are set up, my friend Jane has promised to come help me relearn how to weave - anyone want a dish towel?

The last thing I need to do is take myself in hand and take care of my health.  Weeks of heat, followed by weeks of rain have slowed down my biking to almost nothing. I need/want to get back to the kinds of miles I was doing before the tour, whether I have riding companions or not, whether this is my preferred kind of riding or not.  Just DO it.  I've also gotten caught up on all those not fun, but necessary screenings and treatments that make sure I don't die of something preventable or treatable.   Flu shot, shingles vaccine, blood pressure maintenance and screening tests are all done now.  I am in good health but I could be in excellent health if I worked at it a bit, so that is what I plan to do.

And just to get things kicked off in the right direction, tomorrow morning I will be sending in  my registration to WomanTours for the Atlantic Coast tour in spring of 2015.



Fall in Missouri, Maple trees on fire.
New Trim - bird proof/wasp proof

New deck, to be painted when the wood cures.