I've turned good. I mean, really good. I totally resisted the very very strong temptation to head out and get croissants for breakfast. I'm doing (at least some of) my neck and knee exercises. I'm using my under-the-table bike. I tested my balance (NYT here) and my flexibility (NYT here). And Ed and I are walking again. Daily.
And it's not even New Year's Day!
I'm not sure where the motivation for all this virtue came from. Perhaps the realization that strength isn't born of couch sitting. More likely though, it's just one of those things. One day you get up and say to yourself -- time to do more, and you start doing more. Life's choices are very difficult to explain.
It's not the best weather right now: hovering just above freezing. So, the snow is melting, but the cold is with us nonetheless. Honestly though, this is a gift compared to what's coming. They're telling us Christmas is going to be very very cold this year. An Arctic cold, sweeping down to completely unnerve those who wish winter was ending this month rather than just beginning.
So, enjoy the near-freezing temps! They wont last.
(Here that, cheepers?)
In the barn, I see that we have caught yet another opossum. That's a third one since Thanksgiving! A family perhaps? Or, we have a population explosion nearby. These animals like woodlands, streams, marshes. And they also like habitation. I would bet many of them live underneath the porches of the new development that sprouted here in the last five years.
Breakfast: instead of baking a cake or muffins, I decide to bake granola. I've done this in the past and never found a recipe that I liked enough to repeat, but the one on Food52 caught my eye this month because it's both easy and healthy and not too sweet. Oats, pistachios, cashews, tahini, maple syrup, flax seeds out of habit, and a dash of vanilla and salt. That's it.
And yes, we like it!
In the early afternoon, we go out for a walk in the Wild Life Area we discovered this fall, just to the east of us. It's a beautiful path, with plenty of woodlands and views to the neighboring farmland.
And when I slip on the mushy snow, I manage to NOT fall on my knee, so that the only damage is to my very wet pants and gloves. All bones working well!
Normally, Sunday evening is family dinner at the farmhouse time, but my daughter's household has been passing around the flu. They are all vaccinated so the virus comes and goes quickly enough and without lingering side effects, nonetheless, they are keeping to themselves this weekend. Here's hoping that it will all be history very soon.
Now excuse while I do some stationary pedaling again.
