somepinkflowers

sometimes i forget about it

Even as I sit here now typing this my life is in peril!

Well, maybe not in PERIL but I am certainly At Risk...

Yesterday, in spite of all that is Fine and Good in the world, I stumbled across my nemesis right here in my own back yard.

In my sweet kingdom of tropical palms and moss~drapped oaks one small & benign looking but quite formidable opponent strikes me down every single year.

Sometimes more than once a season if I do not respect Mother Nature, if I do not watch for the warning signs.

Believe me when I say my nemesis  strikes me down for I am put out~of~commission for weeks whilst I find rest in the hands of many expensive ointments and unsightly lotions.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

No matter how my eye counts the leaves before my hand touches, Poison Ivy rears its ugly head and smiles down on me with its contemptuous, poisonous oil.

""One, two, three! Don't touch me!""

I was not a Scout for 8 years for nought. I know IT when I see IT.

Still. Sometime I forget about IT.

Yesterday when the sun shone bright and the first touch of Autumn kissed the air intermittently I played in my gardens carelessly. Front and back yard. I traipse here and there innocently loving my day.

I have no one to blame but the sun and the air and myself.

Seduced by desire to prune & plant I forgot to be Mindful.

Isn't that the way with a nemesis?
One rolls along, strolls along taking Life in.

Weed the butterfly plants, harvest the fennel seeds, plant the new petunias and forget about Evil Personified.

A sudden, gentle thought:
What was that 3~leaf~thingie that whispered softly against my left arm just now?

Sometimes I get so caught up in the game of Life unplanned events occur.

I bet that happens to you, too.

Last night I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed.
Washing away my sin of carelessness.

This morning I waited for the tell-tell tingling-itchy sign, knowing I might not Really Know for days.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I have decided to toss my Poison Ivy concerns into the compost pile along with the morning's spent green tea leaves.

I have a bigger garden to plant today.
Seeds of enjoyment to sow with my mom.

My mom and I play 3 games of cut~throat dominoes on Wednesdays.

There was a time when I could not beat her.
Now we are even~Steven most days.

We go for the best 2 out of 3.

Last week she beat me 2 to 1.

So many things in life can jump up and plum near scare you to death if you let them. When my nemesis spread into my ear 3 years ago I almost went deaf in that scar tissued ear.

I remember thinking, "Thank goodness I have two ears!"
Where does this Pollyanna reside within me? Why, I have no idea.

Over here, down here in my neighborhood, I shoot for the best 2 out of 3 on a daily basis.

Yes. I bet you are the same way.

spiderworts, the gym and me

I do not think of myself as a strong person. I never have.

As a kid I was all knees and elbows, all angles and edges.

When the cousins played Red Rover it was a given that I would not break the link.

"Red rover, red rover, send somepinkflowers right over," was about the first thing you would hear.

And I would run on over, giving it my all, trying to break the hand~held chain. And I never did.

I would just hang there on the linked arms. Bent at the waist. Hanging in the air. Event the youngest, weakest cousins could keep me from breaking through.

I weighed next to nothing. I had no strength to speak of. It was pathetic really.

I wasn't much better at Swing The Statue, either, come to think about it.

I wasn't strong enough to swing anyone else very far even with centrifugal force on my side.

When I was the statute, I just went flying.

Dodge Ball was the worse. I plum hated that game in PE.
BAM!

At least I was a small and quickly moving target.

In high school I was one of the last to be picked for almost any team sport.

Besides being wimpy, part of the problem was I couldn't see.

I couldn't see the pitcher when I was at bat, couldn't see the other side of the pool when I was swimming, couldn't see the other end of the soccer field.

Good grief!

I had glasses but refused to wear them. Contact lens were not like they are now. They were huge and hard and a pain to deal with.

I was nearsighted and I could read and draw and paint and I was happy with that.

You have to admit, it is nice to see clearly close up.

Some where, some how about the time this one taught me my mantra, contact lens changed in size and degree of comfort.

My life changed. I could clearly see on down the road.

I took up jogging which turned into running and then racing. I was even happier still.

Then I could read and draw and paint AND do sportier things.

When I finally joined a gym and started working out with weights I was beside myself with pleasure.

I gained weight and strength and felt I could do anything. I ran road races and was on top of the  world.

Time passed, as it is likely to do.
My thinking was this---> If a little is good, then more is better.

I started running farther, fasted, longer.
I started doing more weight~training and, also, took other aerobic classes

And then...
And then...

Yep. Injuries. One right after another.
I ran from one knee injury to the next. Always thinking I was OK.
Always starting back too soon.

You would think I would learn.

I added more stretching and a bit of this.
Finally I got it balanced out right.

About 2 years ago my gym membership ran out right as my family responsibilities increased.

I meant to start back to the gym. Then one thing lead to another.

I promised myself when I was over here {{eating French cheese like there was no tomorrow}} that I would join the gym as soon as I got home.

I did.

Last week I walked into a new gym and hopped on the treadmill. I cranked up the grade to 8.5 and pushed the button to Way Fast.

After 4 minutes---->Thought I was gonna die.

I jumped on this baby for a 30 minute session to burn off some of the French cheese.

Then, only 3 minutes into it---->Thought I was gonna die.

Well, I have been back to the gym 4 times since the beginning of June and I am improving.

I am not where I was before, almost 2 years ago, with the free~weights but I expect to improve. Slowly. Without injury.

Plus, now I am taking my new best~friend, Reality, with me to the gym. So we will see.

I do not think of myself as a strong person. I never have.

But when my Homeowners Association wanted to cut down these 'weeds' in the island in front of my house, I stood strong.

"Red rover, red rover, send somepinkflowers right over," the spiderworts called me to their aid.

"What weeds?" I asked The Grounds Committee, wearing these and flexing my muscles.

"I don't see any weeds here," I stated strongly. "No weeds at all."