Actually life isn’t too bad at the moment, although I’m still having a challenge getting traction on most things in my life. One thing comes together and another goes sideways and I’m having a hard time keeping up …… as you can tell, as my post for December is rather late. Not to mention most of my photos have food as a theme, so right away you can tell where the majority of my time has been spent.
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Thankfully, I’m healing up well from my biking accident. My cast is off and although my thumb has very little strength in it, I do feel it improving. Otherwise, my sprained wrist is feeling nearly back to normal in the last few days, my terribly bruised elbow almost has no pain, and although my head still hurts a little where I hit it, it’s improving as well. Another month and hopefully I’ll be 100%.
And with my return to health, I’ve started to do some yoga at home again, and have begun nightly walks to get some much needed exercise. The weather here has been atrocious though ….. we apparently had the wettest November since 1954; not a pleasing statistic. I saw blue sky in a photo today and got so excited, but also realized what a foreign sight it was. Very sad, my reaction, wasn’t it?
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On a sad note, my grandmother is not doing very well and we will honestly be surprised if she makes it until Christmas. She’s 96 which perhaps you think it wouldn’t be such a shock, but nevertheless it is. She has been completely healthy and vibrant up until just 2 months ago. She’s the type of grandmother who went on trips to New York shopping and went white water rafting when she was 84. She was on no medication until last month when her heart began to give her trouble. And while death is part of life, there is a feeling of loss when someone who has been with you for so long, suddenly isn’t anymore.
As you have probably noticed, my book blogging is still lagging behind. I did manage the one post of Adler’s How Different Are Humans?, but I just couldn’t manage more than that. Again, I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time on Journey to the Garden, our food blog. I do finally feel like I’m getting on top of the learning curve in that aspect, so I hope to have more time to read and blog as I get more proficient with my time management there. I hired a photographer come to my home and do a food shoot with me and then give me some tips on using Lightroom. It was such fun! I learned that I do have a natural instinct for taking photos (I would have never guessed), but I need to work on my composition and lighting. Our blog traffic is really humming along with a 83% increase over the month before. It’s rather exciting to watch.
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I’m trying to concentrate on reading Crime and Punishment and am about ⅓ of the way through. I’m finding it much easier than The Brothers Karamazov but still psychologically very interesting. I also ordered the book The Art of Loving on a recommendation from my aunt, and am quite intrigued by it so I will probably start that as well. Otherwise, it will be a “see how much time I have, see what I feel like picking up” reading month. I do feel like I’m getting some more time to devote to it though — I don’t want to get too excited yet, but it would be nice to get a reading/blogging balance back into life again.
I hope you’ve all had a wonderful start to the month and that December turns out to be cheerful, relaxing and merry!
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I am so sorry to hear about your grandmother! I know at 96 we should all be grateful the healthy and ezciting life she has led until recently, but it is never easy! Hang in there! I love your food blog and the photographs….not surprised at all that you are a natural at it!! Crime and Punishment in December? Why??!!Can you not read something easy and joyous for this this month of joy??! Hope you get 100% BAU soon!!
i'm glad to hear you're improving… and sorry to hear about grandmother… the memories she must have! good on the walking… we've been doing that also, as the local city is buried in the worst smog in years, so bike riding is discouraged…
Thanks for your thoughts. She's hanging in there, but probably wishes she would go. You have been my faithful food blog follower and I'm so grateful for your support! I'm actually beginning to ENJOY taking the photos. I have one food sharing site who is SOOOO picky and I've had about 60% of my submissions declined, so my goal is to figure out what they want and get over 60% accepted. The other sites have accepted 100% of my photos though. Yes, I should read something joyous, shouldn't I? I have an Angela Thirkell that I may pull out ….. High Rising. Thanks for the wishes!
Thanks for the condolences. She has great memories and was sharing them just the other day of how girls and boys used to be able to just hang out with each other and have fun without all the underlying garbage that swirls around any male/female interaction nowadays. It was interesting to hear as confirmation that it WAS very different in those days ….. in many way the good ole days! What? Smog? At this time of year? How come? I thought you were in a relatively pristine area …???
we're on the other side of the Columbia, higher up, so we don't get too much of it; but the whole river from Portland on down is under a stagnant inversion warning… our place (19 acres)is nicely forested with trails, but we're surrounded by clearcuts…
Hi, Cleo,
Glad to hear you are healing from your accident. Hurting and healing are humbling experiences, especially because both require our dependance on God and others. But we always emerge a little stronger and wiser.
I know what you mean about your grandma wanting to go (though you don't want to experience that loss). My grandma started begging God to take her in her 70s, and yet He gave her 20 more years to wait. I know she was joyful to leave this world, but for us it was still a time of sadness to think we would not have us with us anymore. She died on December 18.
Yes, God is teaching me a number of things lately, most of which are unpleasant, but I believe necessary for character building.
I can't imagine lasting 20 years after wanting to go. That would be so sad. I want to enjoy every bit of life until then. And it is interesting how deaths often happen around Christmas. I wonder why ….?
I’m sorry to hear about your grandmother—I know how difficult it can be this time of year. Glad to hear you are doing better physically, though, and
i hope other areas of your life are getting better as well.
Thanks for your condolences, Amanda. She passed away on Monday but she wanted to go. It's sad for those who are left, but she was healthy all of her 96 years until two months from the end. That's certainly something to celebrate! I'm being positive and enjoying life, thanks! 🙂