Quote of the Day: “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.” Helen Keller Sue O. finds the best quotes.
Exercise Log: Riverwalk 2.35 and 3.00 on elliptical at hotel. (-3.98) So… happy that my feet are still usable.
So if you are just joining my blog, I am trying to do 5.1 miles per day which will mean a little more than 16 marathon distances by the time I complete my last chemo on June 28. Today, I left for the River Walk, after I applied many bandaids on my feet- blisters started yesterday after I wore my flip-flops to walk to the Alamo and to see the bats in Austin. My feet were really hurting last night and during the night. I wasn’t sure I would be able to walk but I got them all secure, put on my running shoes and it was tolerable. They are having a severe drought in Texas (91 days without rain) and so when I started out on my walk, it was a little drizzly but warm. I wasn’t worried. There weren’t very many people out and a policeman commented “Hope you have an umbrella”. I could see some lightening and hear thunder occasionally, still I wasn’t that worried, but after a big clap of thunder, I turned around. Nate would have been proud of me for turning around, see Nate, I’m not that crazy! When I got back to where all the restaurants are, the skies grew so…dark- it was like nighttime and eerie. There was a distinct pressure in the atmosphere. I started thinking, maybe I better head to my hotel. Then the rain started. I saw 2 other people huddled under a bridge. Then I knew I had to start running. I was completely drenched by the time I got to the hotel. When I got up to my room, the whole front of the room is glass, I turned off all the lights and watched the rain come down. I have only seen the rain come down like that once before. It was when Joe and I were on our honeymoon in Boston- September 1979. Hurricane David had moved through downtown Boston while we were seeing the sites. Now, I have seen some pretty mighty storms in the Tetons, but this rain was literally coming down in sheets. All the local news channels covered this storm for about 3 hours. In some areas, there were tennis size hail balls.
Last night, we went to see the bats fly away at dusk in Austin. There is a famous bridge where the bats live and people have worked to keep this bridge a sanctuary for these bats. The bats are an important part of the eco-structure as they feed on all the insects. They save the city of Austin 7.9 million dollars annually in insect control. Then there are the birds who appear as the bats are flying to feed on them. So, we got there before dusk and there were people under the bridge, boats on the water and many on top of the bridge waiting. We felt the temperature make a significant drop, and then the bats started flying over Lady Bird Lake. Some 750,000 to 1.5 million live under the bridge, they are so thick they make a trail that stretches over the water, across the sky and far into the night. And then the smell hits you. I think my sense of smell is magnified because I have a hard time dealing with smells. Oh my goodness, I don’t know what to compare it to , but yes it smelled like a million bats leaving their home and carrying this scent with them.
I was thinking about the big window in my hotel room and how in some ways I feel like I am standing at a glass window looking at the world I used to know. It’s like being part of life but not really being able to participate. I imagine that is how someone feels with a disability. Of course, it’s an amazing learning experience in seeing the world from another’s point of view. But it certainly feels like a barrier between you and the things you want to be part of. I have to consider germs everywhere I go, I can’t participate in activities that will make me too tired and I don’t like to get in a situation where I can’t leave when I feel sick or have a coughing fit. I feel fortunate that I can return to my former life, I hope someday soon, not everyone gets that chance.
Joanie and Mike on bridge in Austin
Bats flying at dusk over Lady Bird Lake
the weather in the South is impressive. Big, loud and violent. When I lived in Athens GA, the local news would occasionally flash a thunderstorm warning. I thought it was silly till I watched a major storm roll through the city. It was shocking in its intensity. I was glad to be hunkered down in my apt and not out driving around in it.