All is Well

On a grand day as this is, all is well with me and mine.

Dennis had his pre-op physical this morning at our local clinic.  We got home at noon and we both agreed this would be a good day for making nice with the acre.  I think I could do the push mowing around the house but I won’t hold up in doing the trimming of the acre as well.  Dennis put the Sear’s rider on the second to the highest level.  The front yard looks manicured at that height with no scalps.

I enjoy being outside doing yard work.  I have been doing it since I had babies riding on my lap of a riding lawnmower.  Hmm.  That was in the 60s.  It is surprising how easily they would fall asleep.  We had two Oak trees just far enough apart from each other that the hammock was the perfect dumping off spot to pop them into to finish a nap.  Orlin had even made a small fenced in area that was easy to move from spot to spot to keep the kids out of the sun and far away from the mower.  Sweet times those were on the farm.  I can recall them as if it were yesterday.

Fast forward to last year . . . 2021.  I didn’t accomplish much in our yard let alone contribute to the tending of the acre.  I had tried, but when I lost my balance while being a novice with a cane, I nicely had to stay where I sat until Dennis came to my rescue.  He got me up on my feet and steered me to the closest lawn chair.  He then took my cane away so he knew I would stay where I was planted.

Much has improved over this last year.  I understand my body and what it and I can do together safely.  The together part is the mind plus the physical body.  Maybe I will always be tuckered at the end of the day.  I don’t nap during the day.  Whether I am in the studio or in the yard, I give it all that I have.  I am in the comfort zone of my home.  It is my safety rut.  I also know that I do experience sensory overload when we have a full day outside of our home.  A stroke can and doesn’t effect just the physical body.  However small . . . there is some spillover into the mindset.  That is the best way I can think of explaining that.  

I am here to tell you, I accept who I am and what I am able to do for myself and Dennis.  We are a team that sometimes appears to be tattered from stepping up and taking . . . one more hit.  I am not one to throw in the towel . . . neither is Dennis.  Dennis and I talked about this just this last Saturday once we had the patios tricked out.  Dennis went through so many medical issues with me when I was in my late 50s and early 60s.  I then took time off with the medical world until the stroke and heart surgery in 2021 when I was 76.  It wasn’t until Dennis had turned 82 that he had medical issues and that was the carotid arteries.  Hmm.  We summed it up by reminding each other of the great medical advancements we each have experienced.  Sweet.

What is also sweet is how great the acre looks this afternoon.  What a great spring week.