Friday, October 23, 2020

A Special Fall This Year

 

In the park on a fall day!

Being outside in the crisp fall air is one of my favorite things to do. I love the smell of the leaves as they fall from the trees. It gives me a feeling of being glad I am alive and fills me with hope for my future. My future???? Do I think about my future now at my age? Yes, I do. Even if I was ninety I would still be thinking of my future. That is what humans do. We look forward to tomorrow. Unless you are suffering from depression which I am not. Whenever I am sad or troubled by something or someone, I refuse to let it get the best of me. I wasn't always like that but in my home now, I make sure to keep the environment happy, soothing and colorful.


My apartment building is across the street.

To be honest, I miss the walks in the woods and along the dirt road I used to live on. That was one of the things I considered carefully when I decided to move to a city. My apartment building is downtown in a small city, but has four different parks within walking distance. Using "Jazzy" (my mobility chair) I go to them quite often. I can sit in the sun and think about things. It is a place to be alone and just watch the activity around me. Breathing in the fresh air. Feeling the sunlight on my face. It renews my spirit I think.


The memorial flower bed is dying off now.


This fall has been an active one for me. I had tried having a personal care aide. That is an aide who comes to your home and does things for you such as house cleaning, errands, personal care that you can't do yourself. I was having trouble doing some of my house cleaning chores. One being changing my sheets on my bed and another was vacuuming and mopping the floor. I tried it. I realized when the aide was here that I could still do it better. Like cleaning my bunny's cage, I believe it was good for me to exert myself to do it. Since then, I have cleaned my apartment and found ways around my difficulties. I feel much better for doing it.


Leaves changing colors is the beauty of fall!


I was picking dandelions and plantain leaves for Rabbit in the park. Trying to find out of the way spots. Now I don't dare pick any anywhere due to the rabbit virus that wild rabbits are getting. There is a vaccine for it, but I choose not to do that to him. It would be too stressful and it does not guaranty he wouldn't get it. He is safe in my apartment. I will just avoid the food from outside from now on. I am researching growing some grass and dandelion in pots in my apartment. If I can do that I would not have to worry about it being safe.



Pretty colors of fall!

Another reason having an aide did not work out for me is that I hate scheduling things. There are some days that I can walk better than others. I can do more on those days. Trouble is that I don't know in advance when those days will be. On those days, I just want to be in my recliner and color and not deal with anything else. I will say on most days I feel good and can do a lot more than I thought I could do. Getting older did not hold my father back at all. He had health issues but he didn't let that stop him from doing what he wanted. If it hadn't been for other people in his life, his last years would have been more enjoyable even without my mother. My mother always said I was more like him, even though I looked like her. So I try to live up to that standard the best I can. 




Copyright © 2020 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2020  Kathleen G. Lupole
Updated 2021

1 comment:

Shaun said...

I loved seeing your photos of the Fall colors. I was inspired by your description of feeling happy while outside. It's good to feel peaceful and content.