Monday Musings

Today is a sunny Monday, but with a nippy west wind. Quite "burr-fee", as an old high-school friend of mine used to say.

During milking this morning I dutifully listened to Husband grump and growl about two cows, Delilah and Kirsten, who were causing him trouble. Both had "freshened" (given birth) on Saturday, and were still weak and having trouble standing. Husband blames this on their rather frail body structure. He feels that the breeding companies nowadays are too focused on increased milk production, with not enough emphasis on sturdiness and hardiness. He had to use the skid loader and a hip lift apparatus to raise Kirsten to her feet so she could be milked.

I started a load of laundry and made a trip to our local small town for banking and bill-paying. When I got home I wanted to pick up the piles of leaves and sticks my sons had raked together over the weekend, but the wind was blowing too hard. After lunch, my father-in-law stopped by and I listened to him blather on about news he had heard during his usual morning card game "uptown". It's usually depressing news about illnesses and deaths in the community, with sometimes an impending divorce thrown in. Years ago I learned I must let everything he says go right on by me, and it's not so hard to do that now that he stops by rather infrequently. When our kids were small, however, he would be here to do farmwork nearly every day, and for lunch, too, and he would sit there and drone on and on about all that depressing stuff, and I would almost go insane.

This afternoon I bundled up and took a long walk in the wind. Several years ago when I decided to start walking on a regular basis, I read an article that stated that the length of time you walk is more important than how far you walk. It said that it takes about 45 minutes of walking before the "feel good" endorphins are released in your brain, and I can attest that that is probably true. I've reached the point where I can pretty much tell when my mood lifts during a walk, and it is at about that 45-minute point. The main reason I walk is to maintain a better mental state and have more energy, with the muscle-toning benefits being an added bonus. Plus, I sleep better, and have less stiffness and aches when I maintain a regular regimen of walking. My father-in-law used to make snide remarks about people walking, but after he was diagnosed with diabetes, he, too, had to start walking to help control his blood sugar.

Blessings to everyone on this day. Take a walk!!!