Back to the future

In the coffee shop, once again

Our friend R.J. took this pensive picture of John, me sitting there with a solved Wordle on my iPad, and an overcast but rain-free environment outside. That's not what we ran into on Saturday: Melanie, Chris and I headed to Lake Padden as a good place to walk in heavy rain. And that's just what we got, all right: lots and lots of it.

In response to the title of last week's post, I received a lovely postcard from a fellow blogger saying that she is needing to find her own "new normal" and actually to write a few notecards to remind herself that something other than our present digital world still exists. It was lovely to receive some "snail mail." 

We are not actually back to any semblance of the world we inhabited before the pandemic hit. Our governor has said that we can stop wearing masks when outdoors now, and on March 21 (given that we don't have another variant surge), we can drop our indoor masks. Frankly, I don't think I'll stop wearing one, it seems a bit premature to me, and anyway I've grown quite accustomed to having my face covered when indoors. I have also found a fairly comfortable N95 that I wear when I'm in crowded or congested areas. Otherwise, I simply wear my old cloth masks with a filter, easy to pull down under my chin (as in the picture) but you are not going to see me in a hurry to lose my mask. I'm too old to catch such viruses and escape unscathed.

Whatever. I certainly understand that people would like to return to the pre-pandemic environment, but I fear that we must learn to navigate a different world, one where opinions about mitigation efforts are either welcomed or disparaged, putting yet another wedge between communities. How can we begin to see that we are all in this together and it doesn't serve anybody's interest to devolve into hatred? I will try to do my part; it's all I have control over. Just myself and my own actions.

Physically, I'm hanging in there. Yesterday we walked a little over five miles in the rain, with a brief respite now and then, but every time the rain lessened, the wind took over. It was not a fun time to be outdoors, but I was simply amazed that there were so many of us diehards outside braving the weather. At least it wasn't really cold, but I guess that's coming in a day or so, a cold snap is on the way as a last gasp of winter before spring arrives. At least I have plenty of rain gear and warm clothes to make myself moderately comfortable so I can continue to enjoy the beautiful Pacific Northwest outdoor experience.

My lower back is not the same as it was before my last bout of pain, but I've learned that when it begins to seize up on me, with the muscles beginning to tighten, I can stop and stretch it with a few cat-cow movements (leaning forward with my hands above my knees, arching and bowing my back). It's rather astounding that this easy stretch makes so much difference: just a minute of doing this and the pain in my back is greatly alleviated. We do this movement from our hands and knees in yoga class; it's even got its own Sanskrit name, chakravakasana. When I first started doing Iyengar yoga a few years ago, I was clueless about the names of the poses, but now I think I know most of them and look forward to hearing my instructor announce what we will do next. I know I really don't need to continue to attend Zoom yoga classes, because I know all the postures pretty well, but I find I really need the feeling of community I get from a class with others like me. And if I don't attend, I tend to let the day get away from me without any yoga at all. 

I've always enjoyed the movies that the title of this post recalls, Back to the Future. The first in the series was released in 1985. That is a long time ago now, almost forty years, but I will always remember how much I enjoyed seeing that movie the first time (out of perhaps half a dozen). Now, I suppose if I wanted to watch it again, it must be available to stream right onto my laptop, but I probably won't, since somehow or other the days don't feel as long to me any more. These days, the idea of "spending time" reminds me that I don't have as much of it to look forward to as I did in 1985. 

Don't worry. As long as you hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely 88 miles per hour, the instant the lightning strikes the tower... everything will be fine. —Dr. Emmett Brown

 Oh how I wish it were true. Would I go back to 1955 if I could? No, I don't think so. Of course, I would be a teenager without any sense of what the world would bring to me in the future, and thinking back to what it was like when life stretched out into infinity, I would stare into my own eyes and marvel at my naiveté. The trials and tribulations, the incredible joy and sadness of simple living, and the fact that she would become an old woman with a past. How much of a future isn't known, but then again, would I want to know if I could? I don't think so.

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages. —William Shakespeare

The one thing I know for absolutely sure is that I am blessed to have traversed those seven ages and grateful that I have lived long enough to become an elder.  A happy elder, one whose days and nights are filled with as much joy as I can cram into them, looking for the silver lining even in tough times, and sharing my life with those of you who have joined me on this magic carpet called LIFE. Awareness of what's to come isn't necessary, because the only thing we are guaranteed is its cessation, sooner or later. When I was young, that scared me, but now its inevitability gives meaning to every moment, every breath, every shared smile.

It is time to finish this post and perform my morning ablutions before John comes to pick me up and take me to our breakfast. We'll be masked until we sit in the cab of his truck to enjoy a fabulous meal in Fairhaven. Maybe one day soon we'll feel like we can venture into indoor restaurants, but not today. Until we meet again next week, dear friends, I wish you all good things and robust good health.