I spent the first nine months of the pandemic doing my best to stay virus-free. I isolated, walked the mountain with regularity, and made sure to mask up when I did have to go to town. My regimen worked well until after wildfire took our legs out from under us, and my headspace went to crap.

The next six months were a blur of single daily meals, supplemented by a night of junk food and alcohol. Needless to say, my health suffered. My blood pressure skyrocketed. As did my weight, my cholesterol, and my blood sugar levels. What a surprise. 🙄

I’ve spent the last ten months working hard to undo the damage. I still eat more junk food than I should, but the junk food has changed. Instead of a bag of chips, I’ll nosh popcorn or carrots. And I use a small bowl to measure out a serving rather than gorging from the bag. After the dog walks me, I started having a bowl of organic oatmeal for breakfast. I toast a mini Naan bread for lunch and fill it with cheese and sliced meat, no condiments, thank you. Dinner consists of a small portion of meat, a little starch, and plenty of vegetables. I’ve never been one to eat non- or low-fat foods. They taste funny, and I have a hard enough time with the way food tastes these days.

Last week, I went to the local Senior Center and got a six-month pass for the city facilities. In fact, I paid for both First Reader and myself. I could have gotten an annual pass but wanted to look into a program for seniors called Silver Sneakers first. The local center works with the program to provide discounts to members. I am not quite eligible but will be in about, oh, six months. 😏

I added a nightly yoga practice to my daily routine. Granted, it isn’t much more than about half an hour of gentle stretching before bedtime, but it’s doing its job. A week ago, it hurt to sit cross-legged on the floor. Now, while my hips still ache, they aren’t screaming at me to STOP! Patient practice will bring some of my flexibility and strength back. 🤞🏼

I’ve also been working on my art projects. Here is a scan of this week’s page. I still have a lot to learn about drawing and such, but I’m having a good time looking at photos and seeing what I can do with them.

Staying away from friends and family because of the risk of disease sucks. But, I feel we are reaching a stage of the pandemic where we will have to learn to live with the risk—much like our forefathers had to do with the Spanish flu. Some of us will continue to get our annual boosters—both covid and flu—others won’t. Some will die of the disease; others won’t. And over time, it will become as endemic as the flu.