Radically Retired

Category: Health

  • Plan B

    Plan B

    When hubs and I entered full retirement life, we agreed on winters somewhere warm to get away from our harsh Canadian winters.

    Having explored a few options while we were still working (vacations to Mexico and Arizona, a Caribbean cruise, and a 10 Day stay on Curaçao), we agreed on trying the RGV in South Texas.

    Our first two winters there were with our motorhome and we completely lucked in to a park and community far beyond our expectations.

    During our second season, we decided to purchase a mobile home in that park.

    We have zero regrets … well, maybe just one.

    Hubs’ health no longer justifies long stretches south of the 49’th parallel, so the mobile home purchase was maybe not such a great idea. The one truly special thing about the large mobile, is that we were able to house and entertain many family visitors after we bought it. Those special memories will last forever.

    When he’s feeling up to it, we’ll make one last trip to the RGV to pack up our sentimental items to bring home, list our mobile for sale, and bid a sad farewell to the dear friends we’ve made there over the past seven years.

    I’ll post updates as things progress – for now, suffice it to say… I’m OK … Sad, but OK.

    There’s always a plan B.

  • Late Greens

    Late Greens

    My Sept 09 post featured a bridge photo framed by foreground shrubs in their autumn colours.

    The scene in that photo is the exception this year, and you’ll notice that beyond the bridge, the trees are still quite green.

    I caught today’s feature photo about 20 minutes before the one of the bridge.

    Today’s photo demonstrates how the late August and early September rains in this area, along with mild temperatures, have largely delayed the turning of the leaves.

    Usually, by this time of year, autumn is in its full show regalia of yellows, golds, reds, and oranges.

    I love the green because it gives the feeling of extended summer and possibly delayed frost.

    An unfortunate thing about the extended summer appearance is that our farmers are struggling to get the crops in and the fields that were swathed but not yet combined are losing quality by the day.

    What looked to be an upcoming bumper crop (our way of saying a huge and high grade yield), in many cases will be lucky if it meets feed grade.

    Agriculture is one of the main drivers of our economy, so if our farmers suffer, so do we all.

    We also have many friends and family members who farm. It’s their livelihood, so we truly feel for them in a year such as this.

  • Little Did We Know

    Little Did We Know

    New York City from the historic Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, 1997. It’s not a clear photo because it’s a picture of a small picture, but it holds significant memories, especially today.

    As I posed for the photo after touring the terminal … the twin towers of the World Trade Center behind me were just more skyscrapers. When I used my vacation tine to ride with hubs in the semi, he and I had visited many big cities, so had seen too many tall buildings to count.

    Little did we know at that time, that the devastation that would happen there just four years later would change life as we knew it in North America forever.

  • Sometimes Nasty

    Sometimes Nasty

    Blue green is one of my favourite colours except when it applies to the type of algae on the river that meanders lazily through our prairie city.

    I still enjoy my early morning power walks on the trails and paths alongside the Souris River.

    I’m just not enjoying the views as much now that the annual algae bloom has set in.

    The Souris (turns into the Mouse River in North Dakota) is very shallow here. As a result, a rainy summer (which washes nutrients from nearby fields into the river) followed by heat in excess of 30°C (86°F) for an extended period, and an unusual zero wind for weeks on end, makes for perfect conditions for an extreme algae bloom.

    And blooming it is! This year, in places, the algae mat is so thick it looks like a wrinkled carpet.

    The next photo shows opposite sides of one of the bridges I walk across on my trails.

    It must get trapped under the bridge for a bit before it moves on

    Blue green algae is toxic to pets and livestock and the usual big flocks of ducks and geese have chosen elsewhere to have their last summer swims before making their way to warmer climes for the winter months.

    Thankfully, our drinking water supply isn’t sourced from the mighty and currently nasty Souris.

  • Friday Freestyling … IP Brekkie

    Friday Freestyling … IP Brekkie

    I learned the word “brekkie” from a Canadian nurse friend who lived and worked in Australia for 10 years.

    In the Instant Pot™️ (not instapot) world, the social media shortcut name for this appliance is IP.

    For some, it was a passing fad, to be purchased because it was popular, and then to be sold or to be stored in a closet, never to see daylight again.

    I bought my first 6 qt IP eight years ago. Since then, I purchased a second 6 qt which I keep in Texas, and a 3 qt that I keep here.

    To this day, I use my favourite appliance three or more times weekly, both here, and in Texas.

    Why do I love it? Let me count the ways … on another day.

    Today, it’s because of the ease of preparation for steel cut oats. It’s basically dump, stir, and cook for the amount of time that makes your oats the chew that you prefer. I like my steel cut oats to be fairly soft, so my recipe for apple cinnamon steel cut oats takes 5 mins cook time. It’s a set it and forget it cooking process – no stirring, no watching for doneness, no stove spatters, and overall easy clean-up. What’s better than that?

    Peel and Chop 2 small apples
    Add 1 cup oats to pot
    Add 1.5 cups water x 2 – once to oats and then again with chopped apples
    1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp alspice
    Add spices to pot
    After cook time is done, release pressure, stir, and add your sweetener of choice

    Feature photo is my IP Brekky prepared the way I like it, with a splash of maple syrup and some almond milk.

  • Read My Sign – Hopefully Never Again

    Read My Sign – Hopefully Never Again

    Camping in the summer of 2020 – It was a sign of the times.

  • Friday Freestyling … Reflection Perfection

    Friday Freestyling … Reflection Perfection

    On recent morning walks, there has been virtually zero wind. This is a rarity in these parts.

    Besides adding to the comfort and the peacefulness of my morning power walks, the reflections on the river have been outstanding.

  • Read My Sign … Little Hands with a Big Message

    Read My Sign … Little Hands with a Big Message

    At one of our city parks that’s adjacent to the newest elementary school here.

  • Happiness Is … A New E-reader

    Happiness Is … A New E-reader

    I’ve had an e-reader ever since the Amazon Kindle was first released in 2007.

    At that time, these amazing little gadgets weren’t offered in Canada, but I was able to get one because hubs was regularly driving to the USA and he could have mail sent to a hotel address where his company had overnight accommodations booked year round for their drivers. These originals even had a keyboard! (The iPad wasn’t released until 2010).

    My next e-reader was the Kindle Fire, released in 2011. I didn’t get mine until 2013. I still had to order to hubs’ USA address. The Fire tablet was in full colour.

    A few years later, I purchased a Kindle Paperwhite. Finally, I could purchase a Kindle in Canada! This e-reader felt good in hand, was close to the same size as most paperback books, and the backlit non glare screen was perfect for both bedtime and sunny outdoor reading. Unfortunately, my current reader was facing end of days and I wanted to be sure I didn’t lose any of my extensive e-library.

    Yesterday, my new Paperwhite arrived. The screen dimensions are a bit bigger (approximately 1/2” overall in each of width and length). Where the frame had a ridge before, it has none now. Overall, it feels and looks great.

    E-reader pros: To me, the biggest pros are space, convenience, and cleanliness. I have a huge library that takes up only a bit of real estate on my bedside table or on the little table by my armchair.

    When we travel, my entire library fits into my purse.

    I can have several books on the go at a time, without having a pile of them around my chair and each book is automatically bookmarked at the last page read. I can also hilight passages and look up the definitions of new-to-me words.

    For many, the tactile sense is the biggest reason for “real” book preference.

    That’s not an issue for me. Real books can be a pain in so many ways: torn pages and broken spines, too bright to read outside on a sunny day, the space they take up, the book mites that make me sneeze, if they accidentally get wet, they swell up or the pages glom together and they’re pretty much hooped, and the list goes on.

    I guess you could say that e-readers are a good fit for my ocd-ish personality.

  • Friday Freestyling … Directionally Challenged

    Friday Freestyling … Directionally Challenged

    On a recent morning walk, I decided to check out a route I hadn’t been on in almost two years.

    I was curious to see if a new walking path had been paved there.

    As you can see from my feature photo, that wasn’t the case.

    I decided to forge on ahead along the grassed and gravelled paths.

    I don’t love walking on gravel because it’s easy to hit a large stone and twist an ankle

    When I was there last, I turned left at the end of the gravel path above.

    This time, the left turn was blocked off, so I carried on ahead. The path had a few twists and turns, and before long, my sense of direction was gone completely.

    When I finally reached pavement again, I looked at a street sign when I reached a corner, and in my mind, it was all wrong.

    My entire life, I’ve been directionally challenged in big buildings, but seldom outdoors.

    I did see some familiar landmarks off in the distance, so I knew I wasn’t completely lost.

    Along my new and unplanned route, I did find our city school bus yard, which I didn’t even know existed.

    All in all, it was a nice long walk with some unplanned new scenery. I wasn’t at all panicked because I knew I’d eventually find my way home. We’re a small city and the people are friendly and helpful … once you find some people, of course.