Let There Be Light

Well, we are still in what feels like a deep freeze down here in Texas. Walking between our car and the church yesterday was very chilly! I couldn’t wait to snuggle down under a warm comforter for an afternoon nap.

We had hoped to Zoom with some of the offspring in the afternoon as usual, but I waited a full hour to no avail. So disappointing. Maybe we’ll see someone next week.

This morning, even though Walter had the day off work, he got up at the usual time so he could take Quicksilver in to have the tire fixed. Then of course the tires had to be rotated and balanced. Meanwhile, I didn’t mind sweating in the sauna because it was a very cold morning, and in fact I was freezing for the rest of the day, even though our thermostat assured me the house was at its usual temperature.

I wanted and needed to do some sewing, since I ran out of time on Saturday, but I’m embarrassed to admit I mostly hunkered down on a chair under a thick blanket. I did watch the inauguration. I also watched a constant stream of birds coming to feast at the stump outside my window. And, of course, those pesky squirrels. By late afternoon the seed was almost all gone, so Walter braved the cold to add some more.

Recently, I mentioned the fact that my floor lamp which functions as a crafting light has been on the fritz. It’s been very frustrating for me. The older I get, the more light I need to see what I’m doing. I hate having to strain my eyes to see my knitting.

Jasper wasn’t able to get it to work any better, and it was too dim to be helpful, so I broke down and ordered a new one, which arrived today. It came with strict instructions not to cast it into a fire (???).

It’s not nearly as classy-looking as the old one, but it sure is a lot more functional. And I can choose to have “warm” or “cool” light at three different brightnesses. It was such a relief being able to see what I was doing this evening! And it will be a great reading light too.

Today has been the first day of my monthly liver cleanse, which made it even less enjoyable than it would have otherwise been. I’m doing it a week early because of my upcoming trip.

I am also test driving a new fitness watch. The one I’ve had for the last several years is very very basic. It mostly functions as a pedometer, which is great. But I thought it might be nice to have one that does a little more. I can’t afford a Fitbit or Apple Watch, but I did find a fitness watch on sale that I’m hoping will give me more feedback. So last night and today I wore two watches—one on my right wrist and one on my left. I wanted to see how their stats compared over the course of a day.

The old watch credited me with about 200 steps more than the new watch over the course of the day. I can live with that. They were pretty close on my heart rate also. I will be interested to see if the new one is any better at analyzing my sleep patterns. The old one is rubbish at that. Still plenty to learn.

Oh, and I received enthusiastic feedback from my professor on my photography homework. More on that tomorrow.