Judy Blume, therapeutic window, and the color purple

Continuing with my stacation week, I have an agenda for today that includes many things, though sitting with reading material, legs elevated, cool drink in hand is not one of them.

Worth mentioning is the fact that our air quality has improved overnight. Yay kind winds that blew it all away (sorry if the smoke went in your direction). The morning walk to the barn was pleasant. I took note of what's blooming out there and seemed to have photographed lots of variations on the color purple.

(lavender!)

(Penstemon!)

(sweet pea, continued)

(another Clematis)

(another Iris)

(and a bunch of pink and whites, continued)

What's ripening out there? Cherries!

It's cool enough for us to eat breakfast inside. A lemon blueberry cake and a black walnut cranberry loaf from market bakers. I like both. And here's our special early summer treat: peaches (not local yet)!

I then have a presentation to go to. While the boys have been driving everyone nuts at home with their week off from school (well, especially one little guy!), Snowdrop has been attending a week-long program for kids at UW. The topic (this week) is broad: history. She has loved everything about it -- her classmates, the UW cafeteria lunches, and, too, the subject itself. They worked on presenting historically important figures of their choice in a clever show of a "Wax Museum," and a reenactment of their character's accomplishments. Today -- the final day of classes, family members were invited to attend the reenactments. At the last minute, the sitter called in sick and Snowdrop's dad had to stay home with the boys, but I got to meet up with my daughter in her office and walk over with her to watch the presentations.

There were many significant moments to all this: first of all, I should remind you that I retired from teaching at the Law School just about ten years ago. I haven't been back since. Why? Mostly because my daughter now teaches there and serves in an administrative capacity and I feel this is now completely her turf. And even though I taught at the Law School for a full 25 years, I have moved on to other projects in life. I hold onto an interest in some aspects of the law, but I don't need to attend Law School events to track legal things that interest me. And so it was very nostalgic for me to reenter that building!

I ran into someone from tech support and this was lovely because that particular staff was absolutely crucial to my happiness then -- they worked through many a computer issue with me. They were my heroes!

And then, in looking for my daughter's office, I got lost.

Now, some of you may do a tsk tsk on me -- gettin' old, are we?? But this is not the issue. The building has a complicated level structure and you may think you are on level 3 even as you are on level 5 and if you go down one on the elevator suddenly you are on level 2. Don't ask.

Eventually, with the help of tech support (the irony!), I found her and we walked the block to where Snowdrop's classes were held, and we watched each of the 12 kids do their show. Snowdrop, like several others, chose a big name author to act out. Judy Blume.  Her mom had helped curl her hair this morning  (Blume has notoriously frizzy hair) and she wore a loose mom cardigan, so fitting for the author.

It was all extremely lovely.

And not long after this, I zipped over for a meeting with my Physical Therapist. As usual, David, my chief PT guy, gave me a few raps on the knuckles and a chunk of praise.

No, you should not put cream on your scar yet. But the skin's dry! Until the very last scab falls off (there's one left), you want to keep it dry and keep those microbes out. Oops.

Are you doing all the exercises? Sure, except for the ones that have me doing those same movements in the course of my garden work. Perhaps that's why your quads aren't getting stronger: you're compensating with other muscle groups. You need to focus on the specific exercise! Yessir.

Am I doing too much? Is three hours straight of yard work and watering too much? My wife does the same thing: three hours of watering. I ask her -- why dont you turn the sprinkler on and let it do the work for you? David is an exceptionally good physical therapist but I can tell you right now -- he is clearly not a gardener. 

I retort -- I cant be doing too much. On the one day I did nothing, I could hardly sleep! What do you think, that doing too much ends the body's recovery that same day? You have to stay within the therapeutic window: do too little and you're doomed. Do to much and your body screams for a long time after. How do I know what the therapeutic window is? You have to figure that one out yourself. Thanks, David.

I am giving myself the two week challenge: strengthen those quads! Leg lifts and knee squeezes, here we come!

In the afternoon I do return to watering. I hose and weed the new sunny bed and the one next to the parked cars. Not too long -- I dont want to jump out of my therapeutic window! Tomorrow I'll do the lily field and the front road field and I will be done! For now. 

In the evening Ed and I go out for a walk. Short and sweet. Not for the exercise, but for that feeling of peace and well being that comes from a ramble just before sunset on a sunny June day.