Let's Check In! May 2023

Mt. Wantastiquet as seen from a kayak on the West River, Memorial Day 2023


Hello dear reader!

This is my first post this year and it's already the end of May. I'm so sorry to leave you hanging if you've been checking here for updates. (And if you have, thank you!! I love you!!) I am still here and doing fine, but I'm finding that blogging is falling low on my list of things to do each week. Here are some things I've been doing and thinking about.

Roller Skating

An encouraging friend got me out on the ice rink quite a bit this past winter, and as ice skating season ended, she suggested we switch to roller skates instead of just hanging up our gear completely. The local parks & recreation has roller skating at the thawed ice rink in the spring and fall, so I've been going and even taking lessons! I have learned to skate forward, stop, fall correctly, skate backward, and am currently working on a turn that takes me from forward to backward in one terrifying maneuver. Roller skating is an amazing feeling, kind of like flying, and especially great if there is good music playing.

Korean Food

I am still obsessed with Korean food and have fallen into a pretty solid pattern of Korean lunches. I am slowly putting together some photos and notes about this and maybe in future I'll write a post about my tteokbokki, bibim guksu, mul nangmyeon, kimchi fried rice, ramyun and fish cake soup experiments.


 

Running

After spraining my ankle in 2020, I got back to my former schedule of weekly short and long runs, but then I came up with a case of trochanteric bursitis. The pain didn't seem related to running particularly, but I cut down on my running for a whole year. I still ran 3-times a week or so, but only a mile at a time. When I finally got my bursitis diagnosis, I started doing a bunch of things to counteract it, including taking Turmeric, doing 15+ minutes of daily yoga, using a topical cream with CBD in it, and getting monthly acupuncture and massage. This medley of things didn't necessarily erase my discomfort right away, but it did make me feel more energetic and inspired to run more, which I suddenly started doing in February. I am slowly gaining back strength and endurance and it feels great. Bonus: the bursitis pain has started to fade. Touch wood!


Tarot & Oracle Cards

During the pandemic I decided to teach myself about Tarot (specifically the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition), and from July to September 2020 I researched one card a day (there are 78 cards total). Since then I've been dabbling in one-card draws and some larger readings. It's pretty fascinating both in the symbols and meanings of the cards, and the way that the human brain can form connections and stories when presented with any of these symbols in any order. I've collected several tarot decks since then, and also some decks of Oracle Cards (which can be any system and meanings and don't have to follow tarot rules).

Herbcrafter's Tarot + Good Karma Tarot

Community College

I'm in the midst of a 10-course certification in Community Health with the local community college, which I'm doing as professional development for my job. I'm now on my 4th class, having completed Introduction to Healthcare last summer, Intercultural Communication last fall, and Principles of Public Health this past winter/spring. My current new summer course is Case Management. I've been writing a lot of essays and online discussion posts for the classes, and may even share some of what I've been working on here on the blog.

What about you? Leave a comment with one thing you've been up to in 2023!

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