shift

I started walking last winter.  I'd finally gotten my footing after a whirlwind 2023, and walking on the trail near our house seemed like a good way to cope with new stress.  When the weather turned nicer, walking turned into running: slowly and small distances at first.  I had a few strained muscles and melted in the summer morning humidity, but I persisted, adding mileage and pushing myself to run further.  Eventually I stopped feeling each step and saying "just one more" to myself.   Running still feels like childbirth: the night before I dread it, while I'm running I feel like I'm going to die, and afterwards I think, That wasn't so bad.  I'd do that again. I use an app that logs all my times and distances; an unemotional lady tells me my splits at each half mile, which keeps me on pace no matter how emotional I'm feeling.  Running has been a Very Good Thing.

The sun rises too late now for me to continue my rushed before-school runs, though.  And the deer are out early.  There's nothing like being stared down by an eight point buck to throw a person off balance.  I've moved my runs to mid-afternoon, and I've now got the time to increase my daily distances.

Something about turning 45 this summer has nudged me to look after my health a little better.  There's been shift in my forties from youthful energy to creaky bones.  Intentional movement (I refuse to call it exercise) and dietary changes will, I hope, lead to better physical and mental health.  My goal is to get myself sorted out before 50 and then to keep at it.  The second half of that sentence is the challenge!  I’ve added the movement and modified my diet considerably, avoiding foods that I love but that no longer love me.  A mid-afternoon “treat” has been a decaf almond malk cappuccino with a drop or two of stevia, rather than half a chocolate bar. Not at all as satisfying.  Still, the cappuccino looks beautiful and warms my hands as I sit on our porch stairs, listening to the chilly breeze pluck leaves from the treetops.  

There's a shift in the rest of the house, too, now that the two little boys are in school full time and my two oldest are away at college.  The little boys are maturing and acting, well, BIG.  Little M and I revel in our solitary school time.  With one student I've been able to stay on track with our timetable (a first in my fourteen years of homeschooling!), and we've fit in some Very Good Things.  We're still using the CMEC, but I'm more comfortable making substitutions the third time around Form 2B.  M's favorites this year are Heroes of Asgard, The Sciences, and Life and Her Children.  So different from her brothers!  One was totally indifferent to Heroes, but loved all of our citizenship readings, and the other loathed Life.  She is an eager and attentive student, a perfect finale to our homeschool journey.

There's little time for knitting these days, and I don't miss it like I would have done a few years ago.  Different priorities in this season, I suppose.  I'm still plugging away at a sweater I began this summer, as well as a sock using this dyer's sock yarn, stitching a little at a time.  

Be well, friends, as the summer's heat fades and the hushing of autumn begins!