Posts

Showing posts from December, 2017

Having a Wobble

Image
One thing I hadn't anticipated experiencing in the early stages of retirement was the wobbling phenomenon. It's not so much a gait issue as the realisation that when I try to balance, especially on one leg (as you do) I no longer feel steady. Now, all things considered this could be an age-related issue, but after experiencing a marked and rapid decline in my ability to hold a yoga pose or even stand on tip-toes, coupled with increasing pain in my knees and feet when I undertake bouts of sustained exercise I decided it was time to take professional advice.  Amazingly my doctor did not dismiss it as a symptom of ageing or even a vivid imagination. Instead she referred me to a consultant to take another look at the degeneration in the knees which is of course common as we hit middle age and beyond, ably assisted in my case by too many pulls and strains whilst skiing. Reassuring me that I am not even on the cusp of requiring knee surgery whilst prescribing some seriousl

You Just Can't Avoid It

Image
There's no getting away from the fact that Christmas is coming. In the last two weeks I've had a Christmas dinner, decorated two Christmas trees, listened to a multitude of Christmas playlists, bought Christmas presents, been to a Christmas carol service and last night even did Christmas zumba with a set of reindeer antlers on my head. Our local town is decked out in Christmas lights and the first question everyone asks is, "Are you ready for Christmas?" Now don't get me wrong, I'm not necessarily a "bah humbug" person (how can I be with those reindeer antlers) but I have found myself contemplating on how easy it is to get sucked into the whole commercialisation of what is meant to be a Christian celebration. Of course there's nothing wrong with a good party and, after all, the Christians did rather hijack the Roman festival of Saturnalia. However with the word "Christmas" appearing in front of every activity and product, I'