Cold winter update
Well it has been a real 1950's style winter here in Northern MN. We have had 93" so far this season. Did I mention the cold? A few weeks ago the local airport, which is just a few miles from us measured -61 below 0 wind chill. The actual air temp was -31. I measured -30 the same day. The dogs go out and do what they have to very fast! No sniffing everything like they usually do!
I have never plowed so much snow as I have this year. Seems like that is mostly what I have been doing. A few weeks ago a neighbor called me and asked if I could clear his driveway for him since he was in bed sick with pneumonia. Well as luck would have it, my ATV that I plow with was broken. I told him sure, I would be over in a bit with my snowblower. So I fired it up and guess what, it would not throw snow! So I walked over to his house and used his snowblower.
His wife tried to pay me but I reminded her how her husband cleared our driveway a few weeks after I had just got out of rehab after my stroke seven years ago. I told her what goes around comes around. The good news is that both pieces of equipment are now working again, just in time for the snow we got a few days ago.
Lesley is in New Zealand again so the dogs and I are batching it for six weeks. She had planned her annual trip for the spring, but after listening to mum during their daily talks (thanks skype!), she said to me that she thinks this might be mum's last Christmas. She wondered if she should go now. Mum is 91 and still drives a little and lives alone. I told her to go. If she is right and did not go, she would regret it the rest of her life. If she went now and it turns out to not be mum's last Christmas, no harm done. A win win situation. We did go snowshoeing the day before she left. I gave up cross country skiing after my stroke because of balance issues, but I can still snowshoe and enjoy it.
I have really had a hard time forcing myself to exercise lately. I did lay off last fall as we traveled around the country in our motor home. When we got home the holidays gave me another excuse to not exercise. But then January came, no more excuses. So I am back to doing it on schedule. The good news is that I really did not lose much during the several months layoff. I should have it all back within a month or so. As long as I can carry my canoe, all is well. In fact Lesley asked me just the other day "what will we do when we get too old to do all this stuff?" I told her we will deal with it just like everybody else does when the time comes. Either pay someone to do it for us or move to a less severe climate. I am 68 and she is 63.
My afib has been acting up again, so I am wearing a heart monitor for a month. It tends to go crazy when I exercise, but it does not impede me. I will have a consult with the cardio doc after this month to see what is the next step. It is apparently not unusual for meds to be changed as one ages, and it does not keep me from doing anything at the moment.
We did get a new garage built for the motor home just in time for the winter. Wow, is it nice for it to be covered and safe from all this snow. The building is not heated, but it is tight and totally protects the motor home.
Our travel plans this year are fluid at the moment. We will likely only do short trips in the upper mid west this spring. Summers we spend here because they are so short. In the fall, we are thinking of New England and maybe even the Canadian Maritimes. Mum's situation in New Zealand may change those plans.
Well, the exercise equipment is waiting, and more importantly, my coffee cup is empty......
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