A Week's Worth

Sept. 5, 2014

I have some catching up to do! Gaps in my posts don’t mean I haven’t noticed things I’m grateful for, just that I haven’t gotten around to writing them down. So here are a few from the past week: 

• This summer I have diligently kept my hummingbird feeders filled and clean, which means making nectar at least once a week and emptying/cleaning/refilling the feeders every 2-3 days. I can see the level of the nectar going down in the tube feeder, but I never see any birds sipping from it. Since I see it going down, I keep up the routine, and I was finally rewarded a couple of days ago! While eating lunch, I looked up and a hummer was at the feeder right outside the window. He perched and drank for the longest time, then flitted around to each of the holes. He must have stayed for five minutes. Later in the day while in the pool, I saw hummers, or maybe the same one, at both feeders, again for quite a few minutes. Definitely a smile for the day!

• While shopping at Costco last week, I got in line behind an elderly woman and her daughter, who looked quite a bit older than me (which says how elderly the elder woman was!). Mama had a rebate check to cash, so her daughter went on the “customer” side of the checkout to pay for their order, and Mama went on the “cart” side to cash her check and apply it toward the purchase. She was having a hard time figuring out what to do, then figuring out how to sign the check, then she couldn’t understand that she needed to show her Costco card so they could start ringing up her items. She told the checker she’d really like a cart, and checker said, “But you have a cart right here!” “No, I want one of those carts you can ride on.” Daughter was getting impatient and whispered to the clerk, “No, she doesn’t, she’s fine.” A second clerk looked around and told Mama apologetically that all the riding carts were taken. When they finally got her and Daughter through the line, they started on my order, but Mama hadn’t quite moved beyond checkout stand. I wrapped up my checkout, and Mama was still standing there blocking the road, with a shoe in her hand and was now having trouble getting it back on. The clerk motioned for me to meet my cart on the other side of Mama; I smiled at her and hurriedly made my way for the door. (Tai Chi hasn’t broken my hurrying habit yet, I’m afraid.) Coming toward me was the second clerk at the checkout, riding toward Mama on a cart and calling out to her, “Hey, look what I found for you!” I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time, and to sandwich-hug the clerk, Mama, and Daughter.

• I got myself into playing the organ for church this Sunday, kind of a musical chairs of substituting for someone who substituted for another organist last week. At any rate, I haven't touched the organ since Easter Sunday because playing the organ is stressful for me, and at about that time I elected to remove as much stress as possible to allow all the therapies I'm doing to actually work. Here's the thing with the organ: it is not like playing the piano, which I'm fairly good at. On organ, you don't get a sustain pedal to help you play legato - you have to actually hold each key until the next tone plays, so you have to meticulously plan - and write out - fingering, until you get really good at playing. To make it work, the left hand has to take some of the right-hand notes, which is confusing to a normal brain, but to Freddie, it's pure, intense frustration. Oh, and add feet playing pedals, often in opposing direction to hands, and it's ... stressful. Add in stage fright, and well, I had to leave organ playing behind. So back at the church practicing several times this week I was reminded of what sitting on a hard wooden bench with arms raised to play on two different manuals (higher than a piano keyboard), chin tipped up to see the music does to my body. It helped somewhat to remember the Tai Chi visualization of head pulled up by a string, the rest of the body suspended and relaxed, but even so, my hand muscles were in a cramp last night from using hand muscles that haven't been used in months, I felt the tension in my neck and shoulders, and my ribs are hurting really bad. But here's what I'm grateful for: The swimming pool - again. I came home from each organ session barely able to move, my hips, torso and legs were so stiff and painful. In the weightlessness of the water, I feel no pain; I kick, stretch and move, and the water figuratively and literally washes away tension and pain and refreshes body and spirit. I'm also grateful for Tai Chi, which is giving me actual relaxation tools to use during and after stressful events; and for sacred music that I do love so much (just not playing it in front of other people); and the opportunity of having learned how to play the organ - and not having to do it every week!

• And today's smile: Talking to my BFF from third grade for more than an hour this afternoon. She's one of those few people I absolutely trust, and when either of us just needs to talk to someone, we are the Someone we both think of first. We live thousands of miles apart now, but we meet up for a girls' weekend occasionally, and although we don't talk weekly or even monthly sometimes, when we do talk, we pick up right where we left off. We can say what we honestly feel and we know that neither of us will think less of the other one. She would come this minute if I needed her, and I would do the same for her. How precious is the gift of that kind of friend?!