The Wellness of August

Creaky bones and joints; stiff muscles and a touchy back; too many large portions with cheese this and chocolate flavored that have all done so much damage over time that I have declared August to be my personal wellness month. I dragged myself back to Weight Watchers last week where I happily learned that participants get more points than ever and all fruits and most vegetables are now "free" all the time. What a deal. So as I get hungry (now for instance), I can dig around for some berries and carrots anytime I want to. Not that I think those make the best snacks, but I'm trying to do the re-thinking required here. I thought I would be bothered by the amount of Weight Watching thinking that I have to do, but as my daughter says, "When are you NOT thinking about food anyway?" That's just way too true. So good-by regular cheese and hello to reduced fat Tillamook! So long butter and mayo and greetings to mustard and tomatoes! One month. One month at a time.

Another part of the Wellness of August is the personal trainer. Her name is Angie and she is the big buck item in this project. I had my first hour session today and survived with minimal sweat and still able to breathe comfortably. I'm sure this will change as she gets to know what my body needs to get itself running more smoothly but I really like having a live person to help me understand my aging body. No hiding in the back row of the aerobics class here! She is sensitive to my recent arm injury, gets it about my bad back and doesn't laugh at my work out outfits that aren't really outfits at all. Rather, they are just a practical application of old shorts and a clean everyday t-shirt. No fancy shoes either. I'm in this for the long haul and want to spend my health dollars on nutritious food and sound exercise instruction.

That yonder sky

Unseen Photos

We just returned from beautiful Central Oregon. I took several photos of the piney country in such an artsy manner that the mountains looked like pointy cupcakes frosted in what we used to call 7-minute frosting. The sky above and around them was knock out yonder blue and a few shots had stringy clouds dancing in frayed conga lines just here and there. And the shots of the grandgirls playing in the water captured pixie happy faces through bubbles and swirls of spray. The best shot was one Amy took of the girls with us as we lounged in our gigantic vacation bed one morning.

On the same scan card were pictures of sweatered trees in Seattle, friends sipping coffee in the early morning Elliot Bay air, and some much treasured shots of my favorite Woodland relatives at our recent Aunts Picnic not to mention those rare photos of my old friends in Stayton from a recent visit we took for a walkette in their beautiful Wilderness Park.

Of course, I did. . .I got too smarty pants with my techy camera and somehow deleted all, every single one of those good photos. My life memories are just as easy to lose these days as they are to capture and as simple as technology seems to be, I need to remember not to get too confident with my words and pictures.

(The photo above was taken with my cell phone. Not all was lost.)

Summer Solstice

Today is the first day of summer. An easy way to celebrate is to do what the tourists do in Hawaii. After a fun day Hawaiian-style, island visitors head for the beach at the end of the day. They go specifically to enjoy the sunset. They go early carrying beach chairs and all the beach stuff they might want and need along with snacks and drinks in coolers. They find a good spot, get comfortable or maybe dip into the warm water and then settle in to watch the sun in all its dramatic blaze and glory dip into the sea. The sight is always different and always magnificent.

We can do the same thing here at home. Choose a favorite outdoor spot in the yard or head on down to a nearby river and watch the longest day of the year fade into what we hope will be endless summer days of fun and good weather. If you're with others, ask them to share any of the summer solstices that they might remember. When I was 15, I spent the longest day of the year in the front row at the Outdoor Theater at the Shakespeare Festival watching Romeo and Juliet. It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with the old Bard.

Destination du jour

Croatia. The travel destination that seems to be more and more popular and frequently featured on TV travel programs. Even HGTV has had a program or two following potential home buyers looking in Croatia. And I even have a former student who will be living there soon.

So what's the attraction? I sort of know where it is-east of Italy across a large body of water on the Dalmatian coast. My friend Nancy told me that so I can visualize its location. She was there just last month. And my friend Kristi has cruised along the coast as well. They both say it is beautiful and inviting so I googled it to make sure of the location and to see some photos. The water world of this country is indeed gorgeous. And I read about some terrific things to see and do in Zagreb. But it's a little weird that the number one attraction posted on one site is a cemetery. But reading further, I learned that the cemetery is rich with historic and important art.

I also noticed that I can get a round trip airline ticket for just about a thousand dollars. So air travel for both of us would be about $2000.00. Then we'd have to pay for the trip to the cemetery and all the meals we'd eat in Zagreb and I don't even know what the food is like. I'd certainly want to do at least a one or two day cruise to enjoy the coastline with a couple of nice stops at points of interest. And then maybe we could catch a cruise ship and float around to some other places that I might be a little more familiar with.

Guess what? We're going to take the train to Seattle with friends and we'll goof around there for a few days. After a little rest back home, we'll take off for Central Oregon for some fun in the sun. August will find us at the Coast a time or two for some beach walking and chowder eating. None of this is as exciting or as exotic as Croatia, but we'll have a good time.

An Untimely Death

My computer is dying. It doesn't keep up with my keyboarding. It loads everything very slowly. It won't get where I want it to go without an excess of wheezing and whirring. I can't look at everything on facebook although that may be one of those disguised blessings.

But rescue is near! My e-mail is still able to inform me that a new computer is coming. It's somewhere in Texas right now but will magically appear on my doorstep sometime tomorrow. So everything is already backed up on an external hard drive and all systems will maybe be "go" by the end of the week. We'll see. In the meanwhile, you can view my website at wirthwhilebooks.com. You can still see it at wirthwhilebooks.webs.com but the new address seems a little more techy and up to date.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The Ride Home

Today I drove home from Salem under Biblical-like skies that could easily be imagined in the background painting of the Sistine Chapel. The clouds were black bottomed and rimmed with gold edges around their neon pink tops. The sun was sending shafts of low light that highlighted a gigantic rainbow that followed the bucolic scenes of rustic barns and fields bursting with blooming nursery stock. I could almost imagine God's gigantic hand reaching out to Adam's in the foreground of my mind.
For some reason, this scene made me start thinking about things I wish I didn't know:

• Both Abraham Lincoln and his wife probably suffered from what we know as clinical depression.



• Fake snow is made out of soap flakes and not out of any watery material at all.



• Hamlet wasn't really as young as Shakespeare would have us believe.



• Anthony Geary had an affair with Elizabeth Taylor. (Wait! I think I like knowing this.)



• Tectonic plates and their random movement cause earthquakes. I'd rather that earthquakes were more cosmic in nature.



• "Great you pull pieces" is a phrase I am somewhat embarrassed to admit I understand.



• My 2005 RAV 4 doesn't really get good gas mileage.

And then the sun sank in a Maui-like blaze into the Willamette River as I headed the back way home off the old highway. I had no way of knowing what caused that awesome sight other than to turn a wholly natural and beautiful event into something atmospheric and scientific. I didn't want to know; I just wanted to get one last glimpse of its wonder.