77: Alive and well and watching the sunset

(The pond at sunset this evening.  Click on the photo(s) for larger view.)

I’m alive and well.  Very well, in fact.  I survived yesterday’s fun with medical procedures and it’s true what they say.  The prep is worse than the procedure.  I don’t remember a thing about the colonscopy which is just as well.  The drug they used knocked me out and kept me dazed and uncoordinated for the rest of the day.

(The creek at sunset.)

I saw my primary care physician early this morning for a wellness visit.  Just trying to fit everything in before the new year when our new and unimproved insurance (with new, higher costs and much less coverage!) kicks in.  Plus it didn’t hurt the weigh-in portion of the visit to have just been cleansed for the colonscopy.  There is a method to some of my madness.  (Not really.  I took that birthday appointment because it was the only one I could get prior to January 2011.)

(Sunset in the woods.)

All in all, I am a relatively healthy, happy, 52 year old.  Yay.  I haven’t had a chance to do more than glance at the comments on yesterday’s post.  I’ll get to them soon but just want to say thank you now to everyone who wished me a happy birthday.  You all are very kind.  Thank you!!

(Dried goldenrod at sunset.)

M and I went up to Cleveland after the visit to the doc to do a little Christmas shopping.  I’m not sure we could have picked a worse day in terms of the weather.  The lake-effect snow up that way is incredible.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen such heavy snowfall.  The normally 40 minute ride up there took twice as long.  The roads were terrible.  The snow was coming down too fast for the plows and salt trucks to keep up.  We stopped for lunch and in about 30 minutes or so we had 4 inches of snow covering the car.  Amazing.

(Another sunset view.)

The venture (or adventure) was successful and no one was harmed going to or fro.  We did not see or participate in any car accidents.  People drive pretty well around here in wintry weather.

The Cleveland adventure in snowmanship took up most of the day so I had to fit in my outdoor time around sunset.  That worked out well.  The light was gorgeous.  All of the photos in this post were taken just a little while ago.  I’m not sure I captured the colors and light all that well, but it’s close.

We’ve had a little over a foot of snow here in the past two days and, for now, it’s beautiful out there.  As usual when it comes to snow days, I stayed out longer than planned.  Once I get used to the cold, I don’t want to come in.  Some of my earliest childhood memories involve staying outside in the snow for hours and having to be practically dragged back inside to warm up.  I wasn’t cold and couldn’t see what the fuss was about, but apparently the grown-ups thought it was necessary to come inside every now and then.

I saw deer tracks and followed them back into the woods and to the creek, the only open, running water on the property now that the pond is frozen on top.  I took bird seed around to fill the feeders and was greeted by some chickadees who seemed happy to see me.  I had planned to go out to the once-hayfield but the time got away from me back in the woods while I listened to the trees creaking in the wind, the birds chattering, and the water from the pond rushing through the overflow pipe into the creek.  It’s still emptying from all the rainfall we had prior to winter arriving and sounds a little like a babbling brook as the water passes over the ice that has formed around the pipe.

There is so much beauty out there this evening to admire and soak in.  It feeds the soul and, after all the (unnecessary) worry of the past few days, I needed some soul food and fresh air.  Being outside every day like this somehow completes me.

Life is good.  🙂

So.  That’s my day.  How was yours?

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