A Day Outside
How was your weekend? Last week my older sister came out for a visit. It was the first sunny day in a string of many rainy days. My sister is not one for being inside especially on beautiful days. I knew I’d be visiting with her outside somewhere. We took a walk, or in my case a wheel, to the pier by my house.
It was absolutely beautiful. This view is just down my block. I love where I live. We sat there for a while. My sister decided we should get salads from my favorite restaurant. We’ve been eating at this restaurant since we were kids. The restaurant is down the block from where we were. My sister wanted to walk. I tried to explain that the walk is a lot further away than she realizes but she’s a NYC girl, use to walking.
The pier is at the very end of the road they call the nautical mile. The restaurant is close to the beginning of the mile. I was in my chair, she was walking. It was a long ass walk. I think she regretted her decision about 1/2 way down. It wasn’t hot but the road offers little shade. The sun was just beating down that got you hot regardless of the air temperature. We finally worked out to put her bag on the back of my wheelchair for the quest back home. That at least lightened her load. For me, my job wasn’t difficult. I just had to keep my hand on my joystick to advance the chair forward. Not incredibly difficult. It was sitting in the chair for that length of time. That aspect is still killing me. My core strength is better but far from strong. I was pretty exhausted by the time we made it back to the condo. I wasn’t sure if I would have the strength to hold my fork to eat my salad. Thankfully, I did.
I had a wonderful time with my sister. I was relieved to know I had nothing else I didn’t need to do for the day. As I laid in the bed, my legs throbbed or buzzed with the exhaustion they felt. Now my lovely sister thinks I should try to get out a few days a week. I should take my aide and the dogs. The fresh air would do me good. I had a great day with her but I’m really good at home with windows open too. My dogs can go out with the dog walker. They get all tangled on the wheelchair. I’m good with being home. I am not a fan of my wheelchair for extended periods of time. I’m happy seeing the outside world from my windows sometimes. Anyway for my sister, I’d spend an afternoon outside anytime. On my normal day, that’s why they created windows. Have a good week.