This and That

 This past week has been a jumble of non-related activities, but I guess that is what retirement is all about. We get to do what we want, when we want.

I just finished reading Keep Sharp: Building a Better Brain at Any Age by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He talks about the fact that if we all start to lead a healthy, active lifestyle and fill our minds and bodies with good things, we actually can avoid or at least delay dementia as we age.  Thankfully, many of the key things he suggests are already a part of our lives.  

The number one best thing we all can do is to exercise, and Rick and I try to do that every day.  Other key ideas are getting at least 7-9 hours of restful sleep each night, handling stress in productive ways, learning new things and trying new activities each day, eating healthy foods, and remaining sociable.  All of those things help us build rather than destroy brain cells.  His book is very interesting and is worth taking the time to read.  I endorse both reading it and following the guidelines he suggests.  

Rick and I exercise daily, and we slowly are changing our diets to build in even more healthy fruits and vegetables. We both have to work on handling stress and getting more restful sleep.  I also need to spend more time seeking new experiences that will expand my knowledge and horizons. And as far as sociability is concerned, well, Covid-19 has really disrupted that idea right now.  Interestingly, Rick and I both realize that we know and interact with many more of our neighbors here in Florida than we do with neighbors and other people in Wisconsin.  That's one thing we will have to work on more, too.

A couple of days ago, I tackled a part of the yard that was more weeds than grass, pulling out half a 30-pound garbage bag full of weeds... and I have the blisters to prove it!  Now we need to get some grass seed into that area before the weeds try to creep back.

One of the ponds in Hammock Park

An anhinga dries its wings after diving for fish.

Three days ago the temperature was rising quickly, so we decided to walk in Hammock Park again.  Walking in the shade is at least 10 degrees cooler than strolling in the hot sun.  As we walked, I noted that the terrain is very reminiscent of what Florida must have looked like when the only people living here were the Seminole and other Native American tribes.  The landscape is wild and lush, and even though we are in the middle of a city, the only sounds one hears are small animals (mostly squirrels) scampering through the leaves and underbrush.  Several varieties of palms, ferns, bushes, and trees fill the landscape.  Drainage ditches and small creeks weave their way through the park, so the birds -- like my old friend the anhinga -- and other wildlife have a perfect habitat. 

I'll use what I can to make doing laundry
a happy experience.

Four wool balls will keep my laundry
fluffy without chemicals.

Yesterday, I received a wonderful "late" birthday gift from Stephanie.  She knows that I am into saving the environment in whatever small ways that I can. I wish all stores would ban the use of plastic bags.  We all need to train ourselves to use washable containers instead of Zip Lock bags, and we all should recycle as much as possible.  To that end, Stephanie sent me two products produced by Beekman 1801, a company that creates environmentally friendly cleaning and soap products made from goat's milk.  

The first product from Beekman's was their Happy Place Laundry Soap.  This natural soap cleans clothing without chemicals, and it does not leave a residue in the washing machine.  While the powder is expensive, it will save wear and tear on my clothes, and I will not have to buy any more Affresh tablets to clean the drum in the washing machine.  That's a win-win in my book.

She also sent me four wool dryer balls.  These naturally fluff and soften the laundry while replacing the need for any fabric softener,  with is another win-win for us and for the planet.

Rick replaces the condenser on the old
garage door opener.

Today Rick changed the condenser on our garage door opener.  It has not been working correctly ever since we got the new door installed.  He adjusted the tension on the door opener once, and that worked for a while, but yesterday it stopped working again.  We really believe that a lightening strike last summer in the neighborhood shortened the life of some of our electronics.  So today he took the new condenser that he had ordered a while ago for $20, climbed up on the ladder, and replaced the condenser.  Now the garage door opens fine, and he saved us over $100 in having a garage door service come to the house.  Way to go, Rick!

He also did his good deed for the week today.  He helped a widowed neighbor replace a towel bar in her bathroom.  She was not strong enough to get the old bar off, but he had the right tool and enough strength to wrestle the old one down.  Thankfully, the new one was easy to put in its place, so Rick finished that job in a half an hour.  As always, helping others also rewards the doer with a good feeling, so this was another win-win situation.

The has been a crazy week but a productive one.  Each day we meet new ideas and challenges and take the next step forward.  And that's life.