Moving On

 Thursday - Rather than drive 58 miles to hike 3 miles, I elected to drive 10 miles over to the Pine Bush Preserve and hike 4 miles. The only downside was doing it solo as no one else was free. The temperature was a balmy 48 so I took my jacket off early on and snapped a few photos. It was a lovely little walk in the woods.

The Pine Bush is an old formation of sand dunes formed about 15,000 years ago. It makes a great place to hike when everywhere else is wet and muddy. The sand dries within minutes of getting wet.

The Pine Bush is a unique ecosystem with pine trees and scrub oak. Prescribed burns keep the vegetation low around the pines. These show burn marks from past fires.

Approaching the highest point in the dunes.

The endangered Karner Blue which calls the Pine Bush home. I'll be back in the spring to see them emerge. They are very pretty, but about the size of my thumb nail.

My family appears to be imploding over my Mom's estate. Lots of stress and sadness; I know this was the last thing she would have wanted. 😢

Friday - Another visit to the Dr. as my eye appeared to be infected earlier this week and I've given it long enough to clear on its own. I called at 8am and was seen by 9:30 and prescribed antibiotics. Luckily there is plenty of Kefir and yogurt in the fridge to keep the microbiome in my gut healthy. I'm struck by how quickly life can change. Two months ago I was medication free, spending time with mom, and planning fun Christmas activities. How very different it all turned out. I don't have, or do, resolutions but I'm adopting a plan to care for myself and my friends to the fullest extent and to be grateful for all I have. 

I went on another 4 mile walk after getting some estate work done. My parents were the most diligent kind of savers their whole lives in order to leave us kids a legacy and they certainly have. I hope to use it to honor them in some way.

I met Patty, AJ, and Sheila for dinner and conversation at six, then on to the No Gravity performance at The Egg at eight. We weren't sure what to expect from the show, but it exceeded expectations. It was mesmerizing. I see why they want no photos or video of the show because our discussions of "how do they do that" added to the wonder of the dance. I did not take these photos, but pulled one off their website and AJ took the other.

📷 : AJ

The musculature on the performers was amazing. Dancers, acrobats, or illusionists?

Saturday - I slept in until 10 am which is a rarity for me. Then met Ann Marie for a walk on the bike trail. While walking 6.5 miles we sketched out ideas for a trip to Italy in the fall. We both have family history there in the same region of Sicily so we'd like to explore our roots. While walking a text thread came through for an opportunity to learn and play pickle ball, so I signed up for that too. 

I really have to start getting things together for my trip to Mexico in - yikes! - less than 2 weeks. I have done no planning other than ordering some pesos from AAA. It should be a fairly casual yoga retreat kind of trip so no particular clothing is required other than what I already own enough of. My usual low expectations are setting me up  to hopefully have a great trip.