My hip seized up this evening. I did my body awareness work, then when I went to get up, I realized that I was in for it again. I walked around some, hoping that I’d feel better but did not. I went down to the horse enclosure and, bent in the shape of an L, picked up poop, hoping that I’d feel better but did not.

It’s a good thing that I’m a reader because I can lay low when I am not able to move around at my usual pace. And now I am not moving around at my usual pace. Distances that used to be short are now long.

I eyeball the far side of room and wonder if I really need a cup of tea. The answer now is usually no. This is coming from an individual who in her earlier life ran marathons.

This all begs the question, is this what aging is all about? I now know so many people who have physical issues who are older. The other day I learned that a friend of mine, Toni, last year was teaching exercise classes at the Palmer Senior Center. She was told that she has Parkinsons. She’s 77. And Ron, who teaches and has a black belt in Tae Kwon Doe, has a pelvic imbalance.

Now I have an issue. I do not know how serious this might be. And I don’t know the cause. I’d like to think that this could have happened to me at any age. This might very well be a form of denial.

I will have an MRI. Then I’ll know something. I hope that something is not a hip replacement. Any time I tell anyone about my problem, they immediately tell me about how successful hip replacements are, using friends they know as an example. I do not want to be an example. The latest story, from our friend Sean, is that a friend of his had this surgery and then four hours later walked out of the hospital. This story is so Sean. He lives in a very delightful, but totally imaginary world. He’s always been this way. I would say that Sean should write a book, but he already has. It’s his fictive account about Two Toes, a wolf that remains illusive to hunters. His voice comes through loud and clear.

Tomorrow is the G.O.A.T event. It’s looking like it’s going to be yet another rainy day. So rather than have the event on the lawn next to the Palmer Visitor’s Center, we’ll have it in the former banquet room of the Eagle Hotel. I spent the afternoon getting ready for this. I got the Alaska State Fair books in boxes and ready to put on site, in the newspaper boxes. There is still work to be done, so I have recruited Pat and Pete, who little do they know, will be moving heavy boxes.

I am now eyeballing the far cupboard. Do I want an orange? No, not now. It’s too far, walking 10 steps across the kitchen and another ten across the kitchen addition. Then I have to walk back to my seat.

Next: 216. 8/9/24: At the Day’s End