Today is Monday, October 2, 2023
On this day in history…
1959- The science-fiction anthology TV series The Twilight Zone debuted and became hugely popular, known for its unexpected plot twists and moral lessons; the show was created by Rod Serling.
Spotlight Photo
Quote of the Week
“If I woke up in the morning and nothing hurt, I would worry I was dead.”
– Unknown
Mira’s Photo of the Week
https://www.everafterphotographypnw.com/
Rachel’s friend, Mira, shares her art each week to help beautify the My Monday Memo.
A Few Good Facts
This section is an add-on from Britannica.com. Each day there is a new fun fact in their All Good Facts section. These are a few that Rachel found interesting.
To avoid civilians being mistaken for military personnel, in Jamaica it is illegal to wear clothing with camouflage print. (9/22)
In 1903, to mark the start and end of the trading day, the New York Stock Exchange began sounding electric brass bells, which are still employed today. Prior to that, the NYSE used a Chinese gong. (9/25)
Having about one million adherents today, Druze is a religious sect of Islam that has not accepted any converts since 1043 CE. (9/26)
Forest Therapy
46.9145° N, 121.6430° W
Kitty Korner
21 weeks old
Banter with Brady & Belichick
- Brady– Is something wrong with the blog? There is no color. We are duotone. Trippy.
- Beli– Totally trippy. I am not sure that I like it.
- Brady– Is our human on mind altering drugs?
- Beli– Maybe. After all, I still step in my poop and we are constantly under her feet. Her balance is impressive. She hasn’t stepped on us yet.
- Brady– True, and I like to jump on her back when she bends over. There is no safe space for her. I keep trying to get into that hot box when she opens the door to get her pizza out but she keeps thwarting my efforts.
- Beli– I would be on drugs if I were her.
- Brady– I figured out how to jump onto that one counter that I couldn’t reach before and found a piece of candy. I tried to eat it but must have swatted it behind the fridge. Turns out it was just a vitamin though. Now she doesn’t leave her vitamins out anymore. No fun.
- Beli– I saw you jump to that new spot. I will try that eventually. Not yet, but one day. I like to copy everything you do.
- Brady– Brat.
- Beli– Turd.
- Brady– I hope she makes us color again next week, even though we are black and look really cool in these duotone photos.
- Beli– I agree. We are totally adorable!
Alec’s Adventures
Coming soon… If all has gone to plan, Alec will land in Taiwan today for a three week trip. He is traveling with friend from college, Josh. Josh will be the best man in a family wedding and invited Alec along. Alec will share photos when he can.
Word of the Day
Will you find it?
As a fun challenge each week, Rachel visits Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day when she sits down to write her weekly story. Whatever the word of that particular day happens to be, she must find a way to fit it into her story. Will you find it?
ECHT
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day on Sunday, October 1, 2023
Meaning
Echt is an adjective used mostly in formal or literary speech and writing as a synonym of authentic, genuine, and true.
Story of the Week
Cirque Park & Pole Dancing
This past weekend didn’t quite go as planned for Rachel. The weather was reported to be sunny and 70 with clear skies and Rachel had planned an end of fall hike in Olympic National Park. When she woke on Saturday, she was plagued with significant physical discomfort. This issue had already affected her week and would alter her weekend plans greatly.
She is now one year into a strengthening routine following her revision spinal fusion in June 2022. It was September 2022 when she began physical therapy and the long road to recovery. She continues to deal with right-sided discrepancies and muscle cramping and pain. She had gotten into a good routine and was getting by without much issue until her routine had an unexpected change. Barre class was cancelled.
Ever since her barre class was cancelled a few months ago, she lost the valuable strengthening routine that helped keep her muscle cramping to a minimum. She admits that with this upset to her routine, she’s gotten a bit lazy. This has resulted in physical discomfort and frustrating pain. Unfortunately, her echt lazy behavior is known to come and go with her mood. In her world, pain equals frustration, which equals withdrawal.
She attended hot yoga classes during the month of September in an effort to work on and relax her muscles. But not as many as intended. She has skipped many group classes simply because she didn’t want to be around other people (she just loves how the crankiness stops her from doing the thing that will help her get rid of the crankiness, vicious cycle). To substitute, she has been taking long walks. This does not help with the targeted strengthening she requires to keep her back/glute issues away but does help with the mental health aspect. Whatever shall she do? The only thing to do is try to snap out of the funk and get back to work.
Saturday was largely spent rolling on her foam roller, using her heating pad, doing stretches, and attempting to find a comfortable position to wallow in. She would allow herself to lean into the sorrow of the day knowing that Sunday would be a new day.
As the sun came up Sunday, she headed for Cirque Park on foot, which is located only one mile from her home. She was still in quite a bit of discomfort and didn’t want to be far from home. This is one of her favorite parks and close enough to walk to whenever she feels like a not so long walk. Cirque Park has it all. Nice bathrooms for one; a great selling point. Aside from the nice bathrooms, this 27-acre site has the new Veteran’s Plaza, of which Rachel covered the ribbon cutting ceremony in another issue. The park has a soccer/football field, baseball fields, a sand volleyball pit, a skate park, playground, and pavilion, not to forget a trail system in the wooded area behind the ballfields. There are always people walking their dogs and playing fetch, which is fun to watch.
In May, thanks to funding from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, the park received some improvements. An ADA-accessible trail was paved around the perimeter of the park’s ballfields (this will sure keep the little rocks out of Rachel’s shoes when taking this walk, phew). Along this paved path, there were also nine fitness stations installed.
Rachel has tried a few out over the months and thought Sunday morning might be a good time to try them all. This plan didn’t quite play out as planned, as she learned that she needed to bring a towel along to use the equipment comfortably. The dew from the cool morning had left its mark on the equipment. She did sit on one piece but had to use her beanie to dry it off. She will revisit this equipment more prepared next time. The walk to the park was a great warm-up. She did have a nice walk and felt that it was the best way to begin her day before settling in for a full day of football.
Don’t let her great form trick you. She was only able to do five push-ups. Eeeek.
Balancing in front of strangers walking by felt a bit odd, especially with cramping in the right buttock making her a bit wobbly. She did get in a few good squats.
Get. Those. Legs. Up. Nope. Maybe next time.
Squat and peddle with your arms? Okay. Felt a bit weird at first until her legs started to burn. She will need to revisit how this one works. The sign says it is an arm workout. Hmmm?
A strong point, leg lifts. Her hat only dried the seat so much. It was still a bit slippery.
Anyone? No signage on this one. Rachel had a few ideas. Maybe a drum set for an arm workout? How about… uh… um.. no clue.
A few other pieces of equipment are pictured below that Rachel didn’t try out due to the wetness factor. She is excited to try out a full circuit on her next visit.
Does this count as pole dancing? Admit it, you have been waiting for the pole dancing in the title to make sense this entire time, right? Just wait for 2024… There will be a pole dancing goal on Rachel’s 24 for 2024 goal list. Until next time, be well.
