Jan 2, 2019 3 min read

I have been on vacation for the past week, having saved a couple days and combining them with my paid holidays. I was looking forward to the time at home, and to be truthful, I have enjoyed it immensely.

It is also true to say that I now need a vacation from my vacation. You see, there has been a level of physical activity this week that my old body hasn’t seen in quite some time.

I know what you’re thinking. That I’m still young, right? And while my mind agrees with you, my creaky knees, my sore elbow and my stiff ankle tell a different story. I am beginning to need to slow down.

I don’t really know what to blame for my early decline. A couple of knee surgeries as a teenager can account for the issues with that joint, and since the ankle that bothers me is on the opposite side, I suppose it could be all the years it had to compensate for the knee that accounts for its problems. Years spent working as a fry cook gave me difficulties with tendonitis in the elbow. And nearly everyone in my family on both sides has had some “trouble” with one hinge or another, so some of it is likely just genetics.

There were a number of years where I did dumb things, too, I suppose. Lifting more than I should, climbing where I shouldn’t, and so on. I thought I could do it all when I was younger, and I’m paying for my youthful ignorance now.

At any rate, this week was spent trying to tie up some loose ends from the year. For one thing, cleaning up that old maple tree in the back yard. It died about two years ago and became a danger to the garage this summer. It was cut down this fall and split into firewood. The top of the tree exploded into a bajillion pieces when it fell. Because the firewood was the priority and the mowing season was over, the tree tops didn’t get picked up until this week.

Add in the incessant rain we had this year, and we couldn’t use our side-by-side to haul the branches to the burn pile or risk ruining our yard. So, I carried every branch, stick and twig by hand. Several hundred trips from one side of the yard to the other with as many sticks as I could handle. (Why, oh why, my dear dogs, was it your preferential bathroom spot this fall?)

After several hours over two days, they were all picked up and burned. I raked up the smallest pieces, and then spread straw over the muddy places.

Beyond that cleanup, we worked at my mom and dad’s house, as well. Hanging drywall, moving furniture and hauling trash occupied several days. I worked hard. Harder than my job in retail, despite some shelf stocking and customer carry-outs.

Vacation has been well spent, but going back to work this week may be just the vacation from my real life that I need.

Laura Zoeller can be reached at zoeller5@verizon.net.