Three Years Smoke Free Today!!!

The pond has not frozen over well enough to skate on this year. Yet. There is time left this winter so I hope it does. My pond was a very active community site 30 or so years ago when all the boys of the community kept it clean and it was the village's official hockey rink. Then a rink was built in the community and hockey and skating moved to the new facility. I bought the property 25 years ago and my sister-in-law and I kept it clear for several years, when our kids were young. Since then the current changed and the climate has changed and it doesn't always freeze well enough for skating.

There is nothing like skating on an outdoor pond. Nature is all around. You can see the bird nests in the trees from the previous year, fresh tracks of pond visitors and a sense of being out there in the wild. OK, a car drives by now and then.

It is three years ago today that I quit smoking. I think of smoking now as an unfortunate period in my life that lasted forty years. I beat it finally, after many monstrous attempts, and know I will never smoke again. I beat the addiction. I may sound smug to some but feel very certain and proud of this accomplishment.

I Feel Lucky by Mary Chapin Carpenter says it all. She even talks about lighting up a smoke. Jolie Holland's Old Fashioned Morphine and John Prine's Sam Stone fit the bill too in talking about addiction today.

For anyone struggling with addiction I can say only - persevere! I could give pointers that all that I learned but feel it is an individual battle where you have to learn enough to finally conquer an addiction to anything. It's all in the mind set, attitude and way of being.

Calm and Beauty Between Storms

Tonight we are expecting our third snowstorm since Sunday night. This is shaping up to be a winter like '99/'00 when it snowed and snowed and snowed - almost every day. Today was sunny and beautiful though which was nice for everyone out with their shovels.

Typing with one hand is difficult but when a cat wants to lie on that hand , it's darned near impossible. She's finally given up. I wasn't sure if it would be me or her.

My arm is more painful after yesterday's re-injury. I think I wrenched everything in there in a major way. The bruising from the ripped tendons is extensive which brings us to Jolie Holland who has a couple of songs with suitable titles for the day. Old Fashioned Morphine was up in July this year but has gone. Here it is again and also Black Hand Blues. If it was Black Arm Blues and New Fashioned Ibuprophen would be more appropriate but.....what can you do?

Under the Weather

This is a dog friend of mine who is not feeling very well. The owner has spend several hundred dollars and the vets don't know what is wrong with her. It's very sad as she is losing weight, not at all active and just laying there. She is better this week than last week and everyone is hoping she's on the mend. If we only knew what was wrong and could do something for her.

One of my best friends had a major operation today. Her husband called when it was all over and she's well and doing fine with that big old growth gone from her body. Yeah! Everyone has been pretty worried about her.

We certainly mustn't take out health for granted. We have to pay attention to our bodies and try to keep them in good form in case anything does happen. Then we'll be healthy and able to fight what is wrong. I've taken astragalus root for years to keep a strong immune system. I'll keep it up as some day, I'll be glad just like I am that I've taken vitamin A and D since I was a young child. The new study out last month that states there is a 70% less chance of getting cancer if you do made me very happy. If I could only convince my kids......

Yes, I've got music to match the post. Under the Weather by KT Tunstall is for Ulu and Old Fashioned Morphine by Jolie Holland is something my friend with the surgery will probably appreciate during the next few days.