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March 10, 2019: Light to Light

Daylight Savings Time today. Cut the bottom of the apron off and sew it to the top. Spring ahead and fall behind. Work towards the goal of light 24/7. Such thoughts come to mind each year, on this particular day.

The end of the apron that was cut off – the morning, made no difference to me because it was light when I got up. The end of the apron that was sewn on, made a big difference to me because I then had evening light. It did not get dark until 8 p.m. This was a far cry from two months ago when it was dark at 4 p.m.

This may be my favorite day of the year because the winter solstice is merely a winter tease – you damn well know that it’s going to get dark early for some time to come. And the summer solstice—you damn well know that it’s again going to get dark soon. It’s a no win situation.

I got lucky – the day was memorable meaning next year, when daylight savings time again rolls around, I will remember this one. I will remember it because I spent most of the day outdoors. It was not a bright and sunny day; rather, it was slightly overcast. But it was no longer nose numbing cold.


Pete clears snow off roof so it doesn't drip on the path

Pete and I rode our bicycle over to our friend and teacher Dorothy Adler’s place – we are taking her wilderness responder class. She had scheduled a class from noon until 4 pm. There were five class members present and two of the WEMT students came. We did scenarios for a few hours, some of us being patients and some of us being responders. We’ve been doing these now for some time, so we are learning the finer points of patient evaluation/treatment/care/evacuation. I for example, was a patient and Pete was a responder. I’d had a stroke. He got this fairly quickly – but it was frustrating for me because I didn’t have language skills. For example, I kept looking at my limp right arm and saying “gee, gee, gee,” which means right (haw means left), so that he would see that I was wearing a medic alert bracelet that read “High Blood Pressure.” I had also been told to answer all questions with the word “yes.” This made me realize that we humans are very language dependent.

After class was over, we bicycled home – very fast, then got Team Tyra out. What I realized in working with Tyra is that for now, we have things we need to learn at a walk. It’s way fun to trot, but she isn’t ready. And this summer she’s going to have to do a lot of walking. In addition, she’s going to need to be attuned to her team-mates and stay close, both when ahead and when behind.

I concluded my outdoor day by taking Tinni, Ryder, and Visitor Dog Arkose for a walk around the loop. Visitor dog is old now, and has a decided limp. I think one of her owners will come and get her tomorrow.

Tomorrow there will be even more light; in fact, an additional five or six minutes. Yep. Moving toward light to light.

Next: 69. 3/11/19: The Couch Potato Speaks

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