Reflective thoughts and poems

"A Parable of Immortality" by Henry Van Dyke.

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, "There she goes!"
Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, "There she goes! There are other eyes watching her coming and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
 
bowmore said:
"A Parable of Immortality" by Henry Van Dyke.

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, "There she goes!"
Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, "There she goes! There are other eyes watching her coming and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
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Thank you, @bowmore! Great poem! "Gone from my sight" is a powerful phrase followed by another one, "Here she comes!" I call them multiple realities. One person's reality is different from another person's reality, depending on where they are situated in the path of the ship, yet the ship remains the same.
 
It's supposed to rain later today, so I took the garbage can out early (so I wouldn't have to take it out in the rain), put on some gloves, and went about the front and back yards, weeding, cutting, and trying to groom the garden, like a barber grooming a head of hair. An hour later, I was sweating and tired, but it was an exhilarating feeling. I hadn't done this type of exercise in months, and my knees were behaving, which is a small miracle.

A few months ago, I couldn't walk because of the pain in the knees. Now, I am walking almost 100% normal.

How did I do it?

After my appendectomy in November, the doctor prescribed Cipro as a precautionary antibiotic. A few weeks later, around Christmas time, I woke up with ankle pain and both knees in pain. I had difficulty walking and driving the car. It wasn't as if I had done a marathon or something extreme. I had been sedentary, following directions after the surgery.

Researching the topic, I found out it was due to tendonitis, and Cipro had a history of causing tendonitis. The doctor denied it was the cause, and even looked at my fingers, looking for signs of arthritis. Of course, I did not have arthritis!

But the nurse at my insurance company confirmed that the Cipro did cause tendonitis. Hopefully, it would go away. I visited the orthopedic doctor, and he did not find anything wrong with the knees except minor osteoarthritis in one knee. He said I was walking wrong and to do physical therapy. Walking wrong? Is there such a thing?

So what I did these past few weeks, I watched tons of Youtube videos on knees, and walking, and physical therapy. I started walking not using my heels. Then I did exercises on my legs. Then I started walking on the treadmill. At first, it was five minutes a day, then ten, then fifteen, etc. Now I walk 25 minutes for one session and another 15 minutes for another session, totaling 40 minutes of walking per day This is in addition to housework. Today, I also did an hour's worth of yard work, that a few weeks ago I could not do.

Feeling content right now.
 
We are expecting the temperatures to go up to the 90s in the next few days. So this morning, I went outside to the front and watered the annuals (I had kept them in the sunroom during the winter and planted them the other day). I also watered the rose bush nearby. A few days ago, I scattered a packet of wildflower seeds in my raised garden. I don't know if anything will grow, but I am curious to see what comes out of it. I need to water that also.

Up front, I have two bushes that flower in the late summer, but now are bearing small trees that are growing within them like weeds at an alarming pace. Their branches now tower over the bushes. I have to go and cut them down, but might have to cut the branches of the bush first to reach inside. With this heat, I will not be able to do it. I might wait until my son visits in a few weeks to do it for me.
 
It's been raining these past few days which has kept me inside. I have plenty to do. I recently bought these watercolor and acrylic pens that I have been using to paint and touch up on some of my old paintings. They never are finished, no matter if I think they are. There's always something to fix.

On another note, I have been on this diet these past few weeks in an attempt to keep my sugars down, and lose a few pounds. For breakfast, I eat a 3-4 egg omelette each with some bits of cheddar cheese folded inside it, and drink 1/5 of the chocolate/peanut butter premium protein drink in almond milk (I like to heat that up and drink warm like coffee). I'll have a little dark chocolate, too. Sometimes, I'll leave out the cheese and add either 2 bacon or 2 turkey sausage links.

Then I walk after my meal, around 30 minutes on the treadmill. That helps the glucose readings stay down.

I don't eat for 5 hours, then have a nice salad with mixed greens, baby carrots, 1/3 cucumber, 5 strawberries (or bunch of blueberries), 5-6 olives, feta cheese, handful of walnuts and pumpkin seeds, vinegar and 1 tsp olive oil. I top that with sautéed chicken strips. If I don't eat until 6 hours later, then I'm feeling too weak, so I try and stay on my schedule.

After my lunch, I'll walk another 15 minutes on the treadmill.

In the evening, around four hours after my meal, I'll have a cup of tea (with a tiny bit of butter) and some almonds and peanuts. It has worked so far. I have lost a few pounds, and kept my sugars down. I have been using a continuous glucose monitor which has helped me adjust my diet accordingly and experiment with foods.
 
However, I will be going to a wedding in a few days, and I'm nervous about eating out. So far, I've eaten at home, which makes it easy to control what I eat and the portion size. At the wedding, there will be many temptations, but I will do my best to stay in my range and not over do it. I am sensitive to bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and starches. If I eat any of those, I know the glucose readings will rise; one day of high readings isn't going to hurt in the long run. I'll just forgo eating the snack later that day.
 
palides2021 said:
However, I will be going to a wedding in a few days, and I'm nervous about eating out. So far, I've eaten at home, which makes it easy to control what I eat and the portion size. At the wedding, there will be many temptations, but I will do my best to stay in my range and not over do it. I am sensitive to bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and starches. If I eat any of those, I know the glucose readings will rise; one day of high readings isn't going to hurt in the long run. I'll just forgo eating the snack later that day.
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Eat before you go so you won't be so hungry. You can always fill up at the wedding on the protein and low carb veggies. Or just say...........I will eat what I eat and go back on it tomorrow. Whatever you do............have fun and enjoy yourself!
 
Well, the wedding was fantastic! It took place in a church in D.C. So I took the Uber down there. A white limousine and a white car were in front of the church. Inside, classical music from a cellist and violinist was providing a warm ambience (Bach, Vivaldi, etc.). The church was actually a cathedral so its ceiling was very high. White flowers and ribbons decorated the sides of the pews. Up front, there were also white flowers (mostly white roses) on each side of the altar.

The ceremony went well. The bride and groom were beautiful and young, and it was a memorable event. However, I felt that the church was a little dark (outside, it was cloudy), and a little more lighting would have helped. Maybe it was my eyesight.

The reception was at a classy, elegant hotel a few blocks away. I won't say the name, but it was quite an experience!
 
They served cocktails and appetizers before the reception - and it was held on the first floor. Waiters went around serving chicken shish kebabs, shrimp, crab cakes, scallops, lamb. I accepted everything except the lamb and crab cakes. I realized I was in protein heaven. I ate just enough to feel full (thanks @katlupe for the tip about eating before). I sat at a small table with some people I knew from the past.

Around 6:30, we were told to go to the dinner, which was held at a high floor of the hotel. So we took the elevator up to that floor. The area was a large square room with the elevator and restroom in the center, and it was lined with windows, so you could see the city wherever you walked. It felt spacious. The tables were decorated nicely with white linen and large centerpieces with white flowers, mostly roses. If you were allergic to flowers, you would have been in trouble.

The food was definitely made by a high-class chef who probably had studied at those posh culinary institutions. You know, large plates with tiny servings that were decorated nicely like a piece of art. You almost didn't want to disturb the design. The salad was about five inches wide, with a few green leaves on top, a couple of cubes of beets, a sweet cream cheese sauce as the foundation, sliced cucumbers that looked like wings of a butterfly, and sweetened walnuts. I was fine with that.

Then there was a serving of crab (someone in the wedding party liked crab!). It was delicious. I had chosen chicken for my meal, but didn't finish it because I was feeling full. The mushrooms had been squashed. At first, I thought they were pieces of thin rye bread, but when I chewed on it, I sensed some soy sauce.

Anyway, I didn't eat anything else, including dessert. I decided to leave after dancing a little, and it was getting dark.
 
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A woman at my table, whom I had known for years, offered to take me part way and I could pick up the Uber from her home (to save money), and at first I agreed. But as the evening wore on, and it became dark, she was chatting away with people and looked as if she wasn't budging to leave. So I excused myself, and she apologized. I was fine with that so I went downstairs to the lobby and ordered the Uber from my cell phone (I asked for a woman driver). The place was filled with people in uniforms opening doors and making sure I was comfortable as I sat down to wait for my ride.

Then I stood outside for a bit. D.C. at night was bustling, with lots of people walking around, taking the bus, etc. When my Uber lady said she arrived, I looked for her car and didn't find her. I told her that. She said the directions sent her to the history museum and that she would be 10 more minutes. I was fine with that. It was a nice, comfortable temperature outside and I didn't feel like going back upstairs to the music and dancing of the wedding party.

As I waited outside, something caught my attention. At first, I thought it was a squirrel darting from under the car to the bush in the corner. Then I realized it did not have a long tail, and made the connection that it was probably a rat. Its back was a little higher than the front. Then it moved from that bush to another bush a few feet away.

An older man from the wedding party who sat at my table had come outside (I presumed he was outside to smoke) and I warned him about the rats. He wasn't fazed. He asked what happened to my ride. I told him Uber went to the wrong place. He politely stayed outside until my ride came, which was very nice. He and his wife were staying at a hotel nearby.

Well, the Uber came, and I enjoyed the long visit all the way home (over an hour). This lady driver was educated, and asked good questions, and we talked about everything under the sun. But by the time I arrived home, which was close to 11pm, I was exhausted, but in a good way. The best part was that my glucose readings had behaved!
 
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It sounds like a wonderful day! What an experience you had. Glad you enjoyed it. The food sounds amazing! Going to things like that where the food is prepared by an experienced chef always gives me ideas to try. You can always change them up or what I call ketofy it. I never head of mushrooms being squashed! I might google that because I eat mushrooms quite often.
 
katlupe said:
It sounds like a wonderful day! What an experience you had. Glad you enjoyed it. The food sounds amazing! Going to things like that where the food is prepared by an experienced chef always gives me ideas to try. You can always change them up or what I call ketofy it. I never head of mushrooms being squashed! I might google that because I eat mushrooms quite often.
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Thanks for your comments! Yes, that kind of food is inspiring! I liked what you said about "ketofy" it! The mushrooms looked as if they had been stamped with one of those stamps you used on meat. It had little square designs in it. The color and taste reminded me of soy sauce. The taste was wonderful, but I had to chew it because it was a little rubbery, but that's how mushrooms are. It was thin, like a pancake.
 
Well, I started knitting a large blanket made of blue and white colors. This is the first time I am knitting a blanket this size (55 x 60 inches). I have knitted throws in the past, usually 35 x 60 inches. It will be a wedding gift for my son and his bride. I had to order 20-inch needles from Etsy - they were made in Turkey (I could not find them anywhere else). They are very long, and as the blanket takes shape, the needles seem to get heavier. I have to prop my arms up on small pillows so I don't have to hold all that weight up!

In the past, I have used my throws to place on my armchair or over me when it gets cold in the winter. My son has used them to cuddle up whenever he visits and we watch shows. He had taken one back with him to his dorm. I guess his fiancé liked what she saw and asked me to knit a blanket for their sofa in their new place. So here I am, plugging away.

As I work on my knitting, I like to listen to all kinds of podcasts. My recent favorites are ones that discuss AI. Some of them are doomsday scenarios, while others are more balanced, like the sister and brother team that was interviewed by Oprah (they are from Anthropic). I like their principles, and what they stand for.
 
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