Rainy day thoughts on adapting

I awoke to rain this morning.  It was nice to have warm temperatures and rain pouring down.  The dogs went for a good run but came into their dog room muddy and shaking the water off their coats.  No worries on that as the room is dog proof, having had many foot prints on the tile floor and much wet shaking over the years.  Their thick double coats are made to shed water which is an amazing adaptation for the work that a retriever does.

I stayed up way too late last night reading.  When my wife is not home, I tend to be the consummate night owl.  I can read as late as I want.  Even though she doesn't complain, I have a feeling that I need to shut the book, turn off the light and hug her.  Since I retired, I have allowed myself to succumb to my natural photoperiod of staying up late and sleeping in until around 7:30 in the morning.  So last night, I read until 2 AM.  When she got home at 7 AM, I got up, had coffee, and we talked.  But we both got a nap later! I am adapting to the natural rhythm of my body after so many years of altering it to suit a schedule.

We talked about how focused old people are on bowel movements.  I remember that my mother became obsessed with it.  Now,  C's mother has become obsessed with it.  I hope that my final years aren't spent worrying about crap like that.  In fact, it is one of the least important things on my mind.  The body does what it will do.  If enough goes in, then something will eventually come out.  I may have to adapt to eating different foods as I get older, but I hope to not obsess about health issues.

Looks like the BBQ was worth the drive!

My home group meeting was cancelled last night due to lack of attendance. A fellow blogger's husband was going to come to the meeting and made the drive up from Hilton Head.  Fortunately, he found a good BBQ place and enjoyed seeing the old church where the meeting is held and the little town.  Hopefully, we will get to catch up at a meeting when he comes back in a few months.  He sent me photos of the "cue", and it looked great.  An adaptation to a change in plans resulted in something good.

I have caught up on quite a few blog posts.  Some people had a good holiday with family, while others were struggling with the drama of alcohol and drug addiction and making the most of Christmas without their loved ones.  All the expectations of Christmas seem to come pouring out no matter how hard I try. This year I managed to hold those expectations in check.  And it turned out to be okay.  I am adapting to the idea that aspects of what used to be are no longer.  But I like to think that every day makes a new start to something that might be better than what was.