Garden Therapy and Morning Walks

This weekend, instead of biking, I worked in my garden. I can check this off as one of my "activities of daily living" that I now do. I've watered some plants before and pulled a few weeds, but yesterday I spent about three hours whacking back the massive overgrowth of my parking strip. I have a giant rosemary bush that started out about six inches tall. It is now about four feet tall and four feet wide. I have approximately 64 cubic feet of rosemary bush, which is a lot of rosemary. I never used dry rosemary because I have a mountain of fresh rosemary. I whacked back a few smaller branches of the bush that were overlapping the sidewalk (about two cubic feet) and it looks like nothing is gone. I have two cubic feet of rosemary on my porch which I am giving away. If you want some rosemary, let me know. I should put it in little bundles in my car and so when I run into people I can give it away.

Last week, Jack was working at the hospital and he had to leave early for work which meant I was walking the dog in the morning. In summer, Jack would walk the dog or I wrangle one of the kids to do. Now, they have to leave for school and don't have time to walk Fox before the bus arrives. This year the kids start school an hour later, which means the dog gets walked an hour later. The dog doesn't mind, but it means my day doesn't start until I get back from walking Fox at 8:45 or 9:00. I don't mind the walk, except for the hurry between walking the dog and getting to where I need to be during the day.

It has been ten months since I have regularly been walking the dog in the morning. I like the fresh air and quietness and I like the time with my dog. The morning walk is mildly meditative and a good way to start the day. I have noticed one thing that is different: every day, I run into a friend or neighbor who is also out on a walk. I should keep track of who I meet, but I want to say I've run into people 7 of the last 8 times I've taken the dog out. Normally, my odds of running into people are about 50/50. I don't know if this is a fluke, or maybe the weather is nice so everyone is out for a stroll before the drizzle and dampness settles in for the autumn and winter. I usually end up chatting for anywhere from ten minutes to a half an hour, which is fine.

Last week I rode my bike to Fremont and stopped at B. Fuller's, a steampunk themed tea shop. They sell this awesome Wellberry tea with elderberries which is supposed to prevent cold and the flu. The elderberries are supposed to be gooey under a microscope and then they stick like a wad of chewing gum to the spiky flu viruses, rendering them ineffective. I don't know if I buy that, but I did drink lots of the tea last year and I didn't get sick so I will drink the tea again this fall.  (Maybe if I had gotten sick, I might have skipped skiing that fateful day I tore my ACL...)

I've been to this tea shop before, and the proprietor recognized me.

"I haven't seen you here in a while," he said. He sounded a little miffed, suggesting I thought there wasn't something wonderful about his teas.

"No one has seen me in a while. Last time I was here I was on crutches and wearing a leg brace," I said. The steam-punk proprietor seemed relieved. He remembered that the last time I was there I was hobbling.

And so it goes with my neighbors. The first comment of people make when they see me is that they haven't seen me in ages. When I run into people, it makes me realize how isolated I had been. Seeing all of these people makes me realize how wide my social net really is, and that is a good thing. At times during my illness, it was easy to feel forgotten. It is nice to come back from being in the sick bay and realizing everyone is still there.