Blustery day

Don't you just love some words? I love that word "blustery," which means something (or someone) characterized by strong winds. I woke last night to the sound of the wind, gusting right now to somewhere close to 50 mph. I almost didn't go on the usual Saturday morning walk with the Fairhaven walkers group because of it. I'm glad I went anyway, because although the first part of the six-mile loop was into the wind, the last part (pictured above) simply blew us right back to the Woods coffee shop.

That's Linda from the Senior Trailblazers with her dog Riley. Our leader, Cindy, is a former race walker who zips back and forth from the front to the back of the group of somewhere around a dozen of us. The pace is faster than I would be walking alone, somewhere around 15-minute miles, and it helps to complement the other exercise I get. Plus I knew I would be able to eat more food on my diet if I got this walk in. Keeping my metabolism up as I get older is something I work hard at.

I'm not sure when I'll be traveling to Florida to be with my sister during this time. Pete didn't want a funeral, but they will be having a celebration of his life on the 20th, with the possibility of Norma Jean traveling to Texas after that. The majority of our family lives there, and bringing her to them rather than having a huge inundation of family all at once makes more sense. I'm really wanting to do whatever I do for my sister, because I feel I made peace with Pete already. It hurts me to think of her being all alone, but her daughter and son are with her now, so that isn't an issue. It's later than I think I'll be needed. It's always a hard thing to figure out the details.

I just heard a wind gust that sounded very high, and after checking the weather I see we are under a wind advisory until 9:00 pm tonight. It's kind of scary; the winds here can be extreme. I thought I knew high winds in Colorado. As I look out onto the porch, the birds are hanging on the feeders as they swing back and forth. The birds are old hands at this, it seems.

Yesterday I had another ultrasound, this time to take a look at just the thyroid and its nodules. The blood work came back with my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) within the normal range, but definitely on the low end of normal, and now I suspect that the doctor will tell me they will just keep an eye on it. This technician (a woman this time) told me that almost half of all women have these nodules on their thyroid. I wonder why women are more prone to them and what they might mean.

Well, that's the news from my part of the universe. I am now heading downtown to listen to a free concert by the Interfaith Choirs. Our leader Al from the Senior Trailblazers told us about it; half a dozen or so choirs from different churches are giving this, something from each and then hundreds of voices together raised in song. He said he would have a solo but not to let that keep us away. It sounds uplifting, so I'm off to check it out!
:-)