Ice, the Jock's Best Friend

I think I will start icing my knees every evening even though I am not feeling any pain. I did that when I was in my late 30's when I was doing 1 to 2 hours of Aikido, 5 to 7 days a week. After dinner I got out my ice packs and iced for 20 minutes, whether I felt any pain or not. And it worked, I felt less pain than previously when I was doing less activity but icing only when I felt pain. Of course, it probably didn't help that I was doing things in my late 20's that essentially started the destruction of the cartilage in my knees. That's when I thought I was indestructible; my knees betrayed me! Physical therapy, wearing the right type of footwear, and judicious icing helped me get this far with the original equipment; I need to do the icing again to make them last a lot longer!

I couldn't find my real ice pack so I had to use this one.

I briefly mentioned that yesterday was the 2nd year anniversary of my return to Hawai'i. It took me a long time to figure out where I really wanted to be. When I was at the University of Hawai'i I thought I needed to be somewhere else. So I went to the University of Washington. And I loved it! I started working in various natural sciences and got established; but after about 20 years it still felt like something was missing. And then I realized that it was Hawai'i that was missing. But I was kinda stuck; my field of expertise was only useful in a very small part of the USA. Actually, a very small part of the world; from about Eureka, California, north to lower British Columbia and from the crest of the Cascade Mountains to the westerly shoreline of North America. Not very transferable. But I'm here now. Though something still feels like its missing; I think its being outdoors again. I can see it every day, I can smell it, I can feel it. But due to my current responsibilities, I just can't immerse myself in it like I was able to before I left. There will be time for that later.

Yesterday was also the 2nd anniversary of Momo's disappearance. He apparently slipped out of the house in the morning; I arrived late in the evening. He was nowhere to be found. After visiting the Humane Society every 3 days for a year, I dialed it back to about every week after Dr. Belcher said it was unlikely a 16-year old cat like Momo would be healthy and surviving without his thyroid medication. I am now checking about every month; my hope is that someone has found him and is taking care of him.

Dad didn't want to get out of bed this morning; it was a different CNA, not one of his favorites so he refused to do anything for her. But the RN was Ramona, one of his favorites, doing an extra shift since they were short-handed, so he took all his medications okay.

On my first walk this morning the sky was really hazy, I should have known better than to try doing a power walk with so much vog in the air. About half way up the hill I had a different feeling in my lungs, so I backed off and walked slower. That helped some.

I am still dealing with the time zone difference, 5 hours is a lot! Once again I got up in the early morning when I should have been sleeping. I'm tired again, but not so exhausted like I felt yesterday. Today seems very long, I want to go to sleep! I think walking helps me to fight off the fatigue. You can't fall asleep while you're walking, can you? I should probably check on that. I know that I have been able to fall asleep when I have been sitting up, getting very painful deep tissue triggerpoint work to loosen up tight muscles; I never thought that could happen!

I made a pakalana lei this evening. I had picked 60 flowers on Thursday evening when I returned. I needed 15 more to make it around my hat.
 
Happy Birthday to Winifred & Pete! And Happy 5th Anniversary to Brenda & Melanie!