Sophie's Story

     Evie always told me that getting old was no fun. I always chuckled a little when she said this and responded that the alternative was even less fun. I knew what she meant. Her health got a little worse with each passing year and during Covid things got a lot worse.    I remembered what she said a few weeks ago when my left heel starting hurting when I got out of bed in the morning. The first 30 minutes or so out of bed would find me limping around until the pain subsided a little bit. I tried doing foot stretches before bedtime, it helped a little but did not eliminate the problem. (I'm sure it would have helped more if I was consistent about it.) Eventually the pain in the left foot was constant although it would subside to a dull ache.    When we went to Door County, I noticed that my feet didn't hurt as much. Sometimes they didn't hurt at all. What was different? I thought about it.    Then it occurred to me. Shoes. I was wearing shoe...

      It's been a great week so far here in Door County. The weather has been much warmer than most years. While this is bad news if you are a fan of fall colours, it is good news for outdoor activities. The last two days we have been hiking in the various state parks here on the peninsula.     The first park we visited was Peninsula State Park. We always enjoy a walk in the woods, but there is a new attraction in the park this year. The Eagle Tower, which was torn down five years ago, was rebuilt and is open. The new tower is a nice strong structure that has a ramp so that those who are unable to climb stairs may enjoy the view from the tower. There were many people of all ages walking the ramp or taking the stairs to enjoy the lovely view from the top of the tower.    I climbed the old tower the year I turned 40. I thought it was an adventuresome thing to so as I as have acrophobia (fear of heights). The old tower tended to sway a bit in the win...

     This weekend is the annual Fall Fest in Sister Bay. It draws a lot of people in from all over. There is food, music, craft booths and a beer tent. All the elements necessary for a festival in Wisconsin. This year is special for two reasons. The first is that it was cancelled last year due to Covid. The second is that it is the 75th anniversary of the festival.    C and I were looking forward to attending. Usually the festival is scheduled for the weekend we arrive in Door County. After we got settled in at the B&B yessterday, we drove over to Sister Bay. We walked by the craft booths and explored the food booths. We would have grabbed dinner there except that most of the booths were not open yet. The booth that sold roasted sweet corn had run out of food.     Today we left the B&B early because the parade is always on Saturday. You have to get there early so that you have a place to park and a place to watch the parade. As we approach...

   It's been a long week. This week was the second second week using the new computer software. We also resumed Covid vaccinations this week. I was originally scheduled to work two days, but the my boss asked if I could work a middle shift on Wednesday and Thursday to help out. Of course I said yes. I'm always happy to help out, I could work on my packing and housework before and after my shift.    I didn't expect to be  so mentally drained after those shorter mid shifts. The new software is a little more labor intensive. I was also giving Covid vaccine to people who were upset being vaccinated. Most of them had to get the vaccine due to mandates. I'd come home from work wanting to do nothing more than eat dinner and rest. I couldn't do that, There were dishes to be washed, clothes to put away. I needed to get Scamp's food and treats organized for the new cat sitter. I had to choose what knitting projects and books I'd take with me. I needed to figure out wh...

        Today is my day off. It is the only day off I have this week. Between the system conversion and our upcoming trip to Door County, my schedule is pretty crowded.        There are lots of things that I could have done today. I could have cleaned the house, done laundry, updated the checkbook and other tasks that have been put off. I wanted to go for a bike ride. I wanted to get out into the fresh air and get some heavy duty exercise.    C found a two trails near Stillwater that looked interesting. We decided to explore one of them. After breakfast, C loaded the bikes onto the car. I got our water bottles ready. We drove to Stillwater.     While driving through town we found a house with a lot of Halloween decorations out front. The entire front yard was covered. If it weren't for the fact that we wanted to get going, we would have stopped to take a picture.    We got to the downtown area and found a place t...

     One of the things I like best about the house we live in is that it's shaded by several large trees. This means our house tends to stay cooler in the summer. I also like having trees in the yard. I grew up in a yard with many large trees so it feels more like home.    Over the summer one of the trees started looking sick. It lost the leaves on top and slowly started losing leaves until only a tuft was left. I had hoped that this was just something having to do with the drought we have been suffering in Minnesota. It turns out that the tree has a disease. It will have to be cut down.   I understand this. Nothing lasts forever, even trees. We can't leave it standing because if it does fall down it will hit our house, the nearby power line or both. It also looks really bad to have a big, dead tree in the front yard.    The thing we now need to decide is what we are going to do. We will need to put a tree in to replace it. It's the south side of ...