Blue Blazer

 

The next week is going to see record breaking temperatures here.  On Wednesday, I have an appointment with my massage therapist and it is supposed to be 40C.  I'm reluctant to go except I'm not doing well in the back department.

Yesterday we made a temporary adjustment to the Megado that I am hoping will help with the pain in my hip/glutes/lower back.  Last night I felt pretty good but woke up this morning with pain in my hip again.

Then someone posted on Facebook asking what age you are, as opposed to what age you *think* you are.

Well, I am completely aware of my chronological age.  My body is constantly telling me it's been rode hard, put away wet far too many times.  But I also think about the fact that if I hadn't worked ergonomically for my life, I'd be in far worse shape than I am.

Part of the massage treatment has been coming to grips with just how much pain I am in.  Not just from my back and the nerve pain associated from two partially collapsed discs, pinching the spinal nerve, but from all the wear and tear of working at a very physical job for 40 plus years.

I am old enough now that I am no longer expected to work for an income so I work at my own pace as much as I can.  And try to not beat myself up when I can only manage a fraction of what I could when I was, say, 36.  Which is the age I have always felt myself to be, to be honest.

When I was a kid, a day that had a blue sky and really blisteringly high temperature was a 'blue blazer'.  I am grateful beyond words that we have a/c.  During this time of continuing pandemic, when I am still pretty much isolating from others, being able to stay home and stay relatively comfortable is a great privilege.  One I do not take lightly.  

The problem is, we are getting this temperatures in JUNE, not August.  It is very concerning that we are dealing with these temperatures this early in the year and I hope that this is the peak, not just the start of 6 weeks of intolerable heat.

In the meantime, I have yarn.  I have a loom.  And I have power.  Yesterday I put a couple of bottles of water into the freezer, just in case we do lose power.  It won't help much, but it might help keep the freezer cool enough to not lose the meat we have in there.

But climate change is real.  It's happening.  It's been happening for a while.  And it is time to deal with it.  Between the heat extremes and the more severe storms, the next decade is going to become even more difficult.  A 'blue blazer' might become the standard here, not the record breaking exception.