It's over

It’s so quiet outside! No wind at all. And yesterday we had to begin the mucking out of all of the dirt that had come in, blown by the wind past closed windows and doors. The vacuum demanded emptying every ten minutes and then quit altogether when the clogged HEPA filter overheated the motor. That required an hour wait before the vacuum was operational.

Earlier, I was reading the owners manual for the vacuum and trying to figure out why it had quit on Laurae. It mentioned that the HEPA filter would need to be cleaned every 3 years under ‘normal’ use. Jeekers! We haven’t had this vacuum for a year! It was the very fine dirt, the dirt that can only come in past the normal barriers when driven by the wind, which had clogged the filters.

It was also time to clean the pool. Past time. We should have been enjoying the water for the past month, but it wasn’t to be as long as the winds were dropping leaves and litter into the pool almost constantly. The twins are coming down this weekend to begin two weeks of swimming lessons at the community pool here on the Planet Orland, so the pool will be seeing heavy use every day as the kids practice their new found skills.

Speaking of swimming...The doctor I met yesterday at the Chico Pain Clinic, Dr. Lal; told me the usual things about my condition, things that I already knew. Yes, it’s arthritis. Yes, the disks are bulging. These are things that can’t be undone by exercise. I expressed a desire to racewalk again and he told me that would be foolish. But, he’s the ‘pain’ doctor, not a surgeon. He did give me some alternatives though; he said that swimming is a great exercise, and his personal favorite; rock climbing! Hmmm? Could I start on really small rocks?

Well, I’m a great floater, a life saving skill learned in the Navy, but I’m not the most skilled at real swimming. Moving through the water from Point A to Point B. I suppose I can give it a try though. And he did say that I could cycle. Now that’s something I want to do anyway. Maybe a recumbent bike? But…I’m not sure I want to be pedaling while lying down so close to the road and any pursuing dogs. I better stick with the good bike that I already have.