Endings and Beginnings

 Life flows on, sometimes we are starting something new, sometimes we are saying goodbye to a time or people or activity.

I have a friend, Ron F. on Facebook is now unable to bike.  Biking was such a big part of his life (like mine).  He vacationed around biking, he belonged to several bicycle communities.  

Now he is reaching out to me and others that are visiting trails and areas where he and his wife have biked.  He shares his experiences, and in that way hangs onto his identity.  

I don't know why that came to mind when I start thinking about leaving Rhinelander this year.  I depart on Sunday, August 15th.

It feels surreal to be leaving my sister and her husband and the people and activities I have connected with here.  I plan to return a little bit next year.

Flowing on, I am so excited to meet up with friends that I know from Florida!

I will be meeting up with Diane in Marquette, Michigan.  We will bike and camp together.  I was going to meet up with friends Tony and Colleen too further south in Michigan.  But they let me know that with the COVID surge they were canceling and going to stay isolated at home.   I totally understand.

It is what it is, and I will enjoy my alone time between visiting with Diane and meeting up with Regis and Cindy H. and Linda T. in Ohio.

***

We had a few rainy days.  I walked between raindrops on some trails in Almon Preserve.

I came across a small fir tree with messages clipped to it.   Information about the park which was donated by the owner and naturalist.  There was info about different the Pilated Woodpecker, the loon, the otter, and other animals found in the area.

 After my last QiGong class I invited three amazing women to come have coffee with me and see my trailer.  I had asked each one to share a story of when they were very afraid and they did it anyway.  Wow!  What stories!

From left to right: 

Rose - who continues to run an antique business and has traveled extensively and still rides motorcycle.  I feel bad that I don't remember her over-coming fear story.  I think it had to do with fear of heights.  Or it may have been something about Venezuela.  Rose loves to dance and I regret that I didn't get out and dance with her this season.

Dotty - who gently teaches us Q-gong.  She went three years in a row for a six weeks and taught English in three different countries.  Russia and Lithuania and... I don't remember the third.  In Russia she got stuck when her visa wasn't in proper order.  It was very scary.

Susan - who I met shortly after she lost her husband to cancer.  She told us how when she started a new upper-management position for a company they threw her in cold by sending her immediately to represent them at a conference.  "If you can't bombard them with facts, dazzle them with bull shit", or something like that.  She worked at a very big company and she told me, "I wasn't in the mucky-muck but I was in the muck."

My sister Mary got away to visit with a friend and chill.  One day and night away from care-giving isn't enough.  While she was gone I watched over Arky and took Dave to his favorite restaurant three times.

Dave and I spent a few hours sitting on the deck in looping conversations, though a few times it got very deep.

He realized he had dementia on this day and asked me if he was going to die from it.  He wanted to know how it would kill him.  He thanked me for helping take care of him while Mary was away.

Wow! He often doesn't know about his need for help and his growing need for supervision and assistance.  But that day he was very aware of it.

***

The people in the house next to my campsite are so friendly!  Tim and Laura asked if I would like to kayak with them one evening.  They have three kayaks.  They took me out for a paddle around part of Lake George.  It was lovely.  We saw a family of Loon with two babies and spotted an Eagle a couple times.

 Then when they were leaving to go back to work in Wausau, they offered me use of their kayak so I could paddle Lake George in their absence!

It just so happened the next evening the water was lovely and smooth, so I went exploring.  

I passed an area that looked like an eroded cliff, which seemed strange for this lake.  I looked closer.  Remember when we had some wind and storm warnings when I was camped in Mary's yard?  It missed us, but hit the Lake George area.  The cliff isn't a cliff at all, but a row of trees that fell over, their roots pulled  up the earth.

***

 

I moved the bikes into my screen tent to empty out my van so I could load up Mary's Kayak.  I was going to use it for a New Comers Kayak Ride.  

As it was there were only three of us.  But Jane and John had been to Alaska twice and had information to share.  She said she would send me her itinerary.

We enjoyed our exploration of a lake and a creek.  Then it started to pour.  After trying to hug the tree-lined shore for shelter, we gave up.  They headed for the boat launch and I continued exploring in the rain.

 

Back at camp I dined out of the rain in my kitchen/garage screen tent.

***

Yesterday I had my evaluation at Anytime Fitness to find out if the workouts I was doing were doing me any good.

The good news is that I gained muscle in my upper body and improved my performance on a timed test.  The bad news is that I gained some fat in my left leg... oh so that is where all that ice cream went.

Thanks to Sydney my trainer at Anytime.  She made it fun with variety, challenges, community and great cheer leading.  

Sydney gave me three work outs to take with me on my continued journey.    She visited my blog and shared with me her blog (which she hasn't written in for a while.)  I am sharing with you this blog post of her entitled Boobs are Killer.   An interesting read!

After this picture we went back to wearing masks at Anytime.  The staff's masks match the lovely purple floor.  I love that.

Speaking of COVID precautions, I am noticing more masking up around town.  

I have heard that insurance companies are investigating if they can charge more for people who don't get vaccinated for no reason, since these hospitalizations with COVID are costing them so much.  Hmmm, stay tuned on that one.  I like that it would be private companies incentivizing.  

I just remember that when I was a child in order to attend summer camp or public school I needed to get a physical and get my shots up to date.  Vaccine requirements are nothing new.