Putting on the brakes.

Sometimes looking back is good.  It is especially good if it is illuminating in some way.

I realize now that for the worst of the 3+ years I had the monster headache, my brain was a bit more than scrambled.  I remember thinking that I had to move to Maine.  I was a bit obsessed with it for a while. Not that I don't love Maine, I do.  But I wouldn't move there, when my family and friends are here.  I would visit, vacation, but not relocate.
Yet for a time, it seemed the only logical option.
Now I know, I was just trying to find a solution to my pain, a geographical one, to be sure, that would not have really helped one bit.  But when you are in relentless pain, you don't see that.

I also am quite aware, now, that I gave a lot of lip service to slowing down, cutting back, and generally not pushing myself on a daily basis.  I know that it was just lip service, because now I am really doing it, and I know how it feels.
I wasn't doing any of it back when I was talking it up.  I wasn't "there" yet.
I am now.

As we get older, we have to adjust, adapt, and somewhat reinvent ourselves.  Our bodies don't do, nor do they want to do, what we have done in the past.  That's been tough for me, I admit it.
But acceptance of a different stage of life is not that bad, really.  It definitely has its perks.

 Like helping baby Dale climb her first tree.

Or taking Roy for a leisurely walk down a path we've never been on before.

 

Weaving a little M's and O's.

 

Oh, joy!  Getting my E-lift installed on my AVL, at last.

And getting back to weaving on my towel warp.
Hip be damned.

Wondering if I will ever make the move to a computerized loom, or if pegging my dobby bars with a 

glass of wine will be enough for me.

Making a gigundus salad from my Farmer's Market foray.
And eating LOTS of it.

Yes, there are so many perks to slowing down.  I am trying to enjoy them all.