dis ole body ain't waht it used to be

in a few weeks i'll turn 36. i don't feel like i'm in my mid-30s. i've been told i don't look like someone in his or her mid-30s. but these days i'm sure feeling it.

a few weeks ago i decided i needed to get in shape. i'm not one for exercising or running. but i knew that as the weather was warming up, it was time for me to start jogging, build up my stamina, lungs, muscles.

simple enough, right? i even have an ipod that could be my companion while i made my way through the streets.

how well it went, too. i'd jog for a good 20 to 30 minutes. i know it's not much, but remember, i'm not in shape. i was making strides.

right about now you're wondering why those sentences are written in the past tense. well, as of today (tuesday) it's been a week since i've jogged. last tuesday i went out for my usual jog. it had rained and i thought i'd get out before it rained again.

well, i got caught coming back and i slipped into a narrow porch of a church several blocks from our house. i would have kept going but i didn't want my ipod to get wet (see entry of our tom petty concert for a similar incident). i waited it out for as long as i could, then, with my ipod gripped firmly within my fist, i hauled it to the house, a good three blocks away. i made it, a little wet and exhausted.

well, i knew something was up the following day.

a couple of days before while moving fast up the stairs in our house, i slipped and my right foot lost its grip, twisting my ankle. it wasn't that bad until after that run last tuesday.

then i noticed as the days went by last week that my legs from the knees down were on fire at times. i didn't know why. i thought it was just tiredness. but they kept getting worse.

the tibia bone where it connects to the knee hurt like hell on both legs. there'sa meaty area as the bone dips down. well, that's where it hurts. then my akls got worse. we had to buy a brace for it sunday. that has helped.

but my knees feeling as shitty as they do, i have had trouble walking. i feel like an old man. there's no way i could move like i usually do. while at the store the other day, dawn was miles ahead of me. well, feet ahead and more than usual for me.

i finally resorted to taking 600 to 800 milligrams of pain relief medicine. it worked. it really dulls the pain and i'm able to walk with ease.

i've been told that i could have tendonitis. that's a possibility. the pain in my legs started right after that heavy run.

i guess if there's any saving grace from all of this it's that it's been damned cold and snowy. so i wouldn't have been able to run anyway. my lungs wouldn't have been able to take it these days. but i don't want to stay like this for a long time. i want to get back to the streets again. the jogging felt great. my body and mind were alert. oh yeah, brothers.

let's hope for a speedy recovery. i even bought running tennis. i've worn them only twice. time t break 'em in.

can't find the easter eggs in the snow

i know i'm a newbie up north. this is my fourth easter in michigan, having spent previous ones in south texas.

i think this is the first time that it's snowed and been in the 30s, though. it's startling for me. i became used to the idea of it not being in the 80s or even 90s, which could be common temperatures during easter in south texas, but this is a bit extreme and hard to grasp.

snow started falling mid-week and then in full force friday night. and now it's here for a few more days until it warms up into the 40s. i'd say any plans a family may have had are shot to shit. i guess that's the way it goes.

in my memories easter is warm, a breeze usually blowing and the BBQ pit going and the smells of cooking beef in the air. families get together, at least at the ranch. kids are running around, men and women inside and outside the house. men are standing by the BBQ pit, talking about the weather, cows, the ranch and drinking beers. women are busy inside (some, yes, having beers) and preparing food or sitting around the lving room, catching up on whatever, possibly the previous evening's easter mass. kids are going nuts, anxiously waiting for the hiding of cascarones (easter eggs) later in the afternoon so they can find them and then crack them over people's heads.

it's usually that way that it ends up. so it's easy to be disappointed having snow on the ground and the heat going.

i guess the bright side is you can live up here and not have central air during the summer.