With the holidays almost over and my waist line expanded, it is time to get back to a healthy regimen and become a more regular blogger.
The healthy regimen started two days ago with interval training on the treadmill. After having taken a holiday break from exercise, I am now paying for this with the excess lactic acid in my legs. I'll be glad when this burns out so I can stop walking like a duck.
Christmas this year was rather subdued. Visited my folks and celebrated Christmas with them, but noticeable absent were my two daughters; one visiting my son-in-laws family out of state, and the other stayed home as she had to work.
Christmas didn't seem the same without them, and I realized that I am getting of the age where I will face many Christmas's without all of my children being at home. This did however allow me to meditate on what Christmas is really all about. For all that God has blessed me with I am truly thankful. He has given me the best present anyone could.
Not having the girls home for Christmas just capped what was otherwise a mixed year. The good was that I challenged myself by joining IDPA and making several new friends. I also got more involved with my Church. The very good is that my family and I all seem to have our health (despite the fact that my oldest daughter and myself both passed kidney stones this year).
The bad was that several friends and acquaintances passed on. In fact given the rate of change and the poor state of our economy and politics in general I decided to visit the one place on this planet that hasn't changed for as long as I can remember.
That oasis of constant sameness would be the Penny Wise Drug Store in Caldwell, Idaho. I'm not joking. This place has not changed in the last 45 years. The store and the products sold simply have not changed. Everything is in the same place it has always been. The druggist (a neighbor for years) recently retired, but the lady at the checkout counter told me that this would be her 35th year working there. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she used to ring up my magazine purchases when I would ride my bike to the store......when I was 13. Walking back out to the parking lot adjacent to the store I was reminded of the time when I was 4 and had been so excited to go to Penny Wise that I ran out of Dad's car right into the path of a moving car. The car missed me, but Dad's hand generously applied to my butt did not.
Why did I find this all reassuring? I have no idea. It was just nice to know that some things just don't change. Something to hold on to as I face the oncoming fresh new year.
