We’re in the throes of winter. The high today will be 30°. The morning is cloudy, dark and cold, another uninviting day. The backyard oaks and pines are stark silhouettes framed by the sky. I have to go out to do some errands, three stops worth of errands. I wish I could just stay home, warm and cozy, but alas….

Henry seems a bit better. He still tilts his head, but he also wags his tail and looks for treats. This morning I managed to give him two of his pills. He spit out the third one even though it was hidden in a piece of sausage, good Italian made in store sausage. I’ll try later.

When I was a kid, I was mostly happy with my lot in life. I had every necessary kid thing, a sled, roller skates, ice skates and a bike. My bike was my favorite. It took me everywhere. It was blue and had been a Christmas present. It had a basket in the front, big tires and back brakes on the pedals. I remember hitting the brakes in sand on purpose to leave an arc. I have so many memories, filled drawers worth of memories, of my travels and adventures on that bike. What I don’t remember is what happened to it. I suspect it had reached the end, done in by use and time. I didn’t get another bike until years later. It is in the cellar waiting for another adventure.

All our sleds were both wooden and metal. They had metal rails and metal across the top which held the wooden steering piece. You could steer the sled right or left. I seldom did. It was a straight away down the hill. We all had the same sled technique. We’d stand behind our sleds at the top of the hill then jump on, stomach to the sled, hands on the steering bar, knees bent and feet straight up in the air. We went fast down the hill, the wind whipping our faces, the sled’s runners slicing through the snow and shooting shards of ice into the air. It was exhilarating.

People are kind. When I have heavy bags of groceries or trash bags in the trunk to dump, people always offer to help. I used to say no thinking I can do it myself. That’s the conundrum. In my head, I am young, the same me I have always been, but my body is older, old. I just can’t lift things anymore. I drag things like dry dog food or push the heavies with my foot or carry things a few at a time into the house. I need a housekeeper.

This entry was posted on January 6, 2025 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.