Week Two

The rush to do everything last week was quickly followed by the rush to do nothing. That is as it should be.

The big news is that I am officially old. The eye doctor prescribed progressive lenses. They aren't here yet but I've noticed I've had difficulty in the last few months. I've been doing a lot of simple knitting- I didn't really notice blurry patterns so much as I felt like reading a pattern was just more trouble than it's worth.

I've got two Zumba classes under my belt and opted for the shoes-

 

My body is heavy enough to move from side to side. I don't need heavy shoes too. These are much lighter than the ones I've been wearing. I've laughed at my uncoordination with several adults that I taught when they were in kindergarten. (Another tally mark in the how can I be this old column) and did my best to keep up.

In other edification news, it seems as though right now I'm in a bit of a "high school summer school" mode. I've been listening to a podcast called Presidential. A weekly episode on each of the presidents- who they were and what they did- leading up to the election in November. Food for thought from this was how contentious the parties were regarding slavery and abolition long before the civil war. Somehow in my mind I think I thought that everyone suddenly got indignant in 1861. Also it is true that everything old is new again when it comes to politics. I think I would like a politician who was a historian and could connect past decisions/successes/failures to future ones

 

I've also been reading the book "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. It's science-y. How and when we came to know what we know about the world and surrounding areas. A startling fact from this read was that in spite of how long ago they were here, we really didn't know dinosaurs existed until the mid 19th century. Also that Yosemite is a giant volcano waiting to explode. I've been seeking clarification on how science fits together with itself.

KnitnightDrJustine explained things like this-

math is the language of physics which is the language of chemistry which is the language of biology...the the more we learn about physics, the more potential we have to learn something new about biology.

This book parses out some of that for me in a way that I don't feel stupid or get a headache. For a few days e=mc2 almost made sense. I know there's a lot I'm missing but I think it's one of those books that will need to be read more than once to get the full effect.

I've also managed to shift my sleep schedule into vampire mode. Noontime naps are just too easy and feel too good.

And finally lest she feel neglected and unloved, I took Aunt out to lunch and shopping at Walmart on Monday. She forgot I was coming to get her but once she asked if we could go to Walmart, she didn't forget that. Here she is trying to remember the word Zinfandel and probably not realizing she doesn't have a corkscrew.