Sunday, 23 November 2022

We are in San Jose del Cabo, in Baja Mexico, with our friend RD. It is a nice respite from winter in Minnesota, even though winter only arrived in earnest about a week ago.

I am taking these next few weeks as a time to relax, not that regular life is very taxing, and more particularly to re-set my daily routine.

To recap my activities and their status

• Geomorphology. I am effectively done with the course, given that it is face to face and I am now in Baja for the remainder of the course. I found it mildly interesting, but it was oriented towards what students graduating in geology from the U of M will need for working in the region: an understanding of hillside slope dynamics and fluvial erosion and sedimentation. In addition, it is focused on the math and on how to do the fieldwork. The last lecture I attended had 20 minutes on the macro-geomorphology of the upper midwest, which was fantastic; if only the whole course had been like that! But still, the topics were not uninteresting, and it is enlightening to see how analysis and math is used to characterize processes like hillslope creep and stream erosion.
• Havruta. I discovered that the term “Havruta” is an aprt description of what I’ve been doing lately: reading/studying a book with one other person. So I am continuing to read essay collections with CT, continuing to read science books with CS, and now reading a book on fungi with KC. And also there is the neuroscience book on olfaction that I am reading with RB, though that is a bit less regular and at most only every other week.
• Book Club. The book club continues — darn, I forgot to bring the next book along – although we are having such difficulty scheduling meetings that it is feeling like a pretty minor activity.
• Piano. Piano continues on a weekly basis, and I believe I gradually improve, though often it is difficult to detect and even more difficult to get a sense of what I am getting better at generally. Still, I do think there is general improvement, and not just working my way to competence for a series of new pieces.
• Writing. Writing is not going as well as I would like. Well, it is the case that in the last year I’ve done better at writing regularly in the blog, and I feel as though I am closer to a point where I think I could manage a sustained blog that would be of interest to others. Still, I would like to have a more regular/systematic practice for doing essay or fiction writing, and am not there yet. The Loft course I am currently taking is… well, not really that valuable. Mainly, I find that I learn via critiquing, and that the need to produced something to be critiqued is an important driver. It would be good to find or create a writing group, but I’m not sure how to find an existing one, and feel a little hesitant about trying to launch one from scratch. The current class is all women, except myself, and the writing is pretty affect-laden, which in turn leads to very gentle (too-gentle, imo) critiques, which I don’t find very valuable,
• Hiking. Between Iceland and two hiking trips to Yosemite, hiking was a nice thing for the summer. I want to continue it in the winter — I am currently thinking that a visit to Arizona (possibly Tucson where Kim and Steve are wintering) in early 2023 would be one thing to try. I will also enter the lottery for the High Sierra Camps this summer, and given that I will be a preferred entrant due to previously winning and having that trip canceled due to covid, think its likely that that will constitute at least one trip next summer.
• Health and Wellness. I am still working to develop a strength and stretching regime that is part of my life. I had something going prior to Iceland, but did not sustain that afterwards. I’ve now got a new, much shorter, daily regime — in two ~10 minute segements – which I hope I will be able to sustain. I am optimistic that I will be able to maintain my running practice a few times a week. In terms of health, I’ve had teh prostatectomy, entirely recovered from that, and am having effectively 0 PSA readings, so I’m optimistic that I’m past that. I have had peripheral neuropathy develop in two toes on each foot, and while that does not inhibit any activities, the concern is of course that it will grow worse over time. No sign of that as yet, though. But I do need to take the next steps in addressing it, and see if I can learn any more about how that may shape the future.
• Geology. This year I went in on lapidary equipment with CS, and have quite a few rocks — mostly cobbles from the north shore — that I’ve cut and polished, so that that their internal structure is revealed and displayed in contrast with their weathered/altered exteriors. I’m not sure if this has a long term trajectory… It was stimulated and enriched by the “What is this Rock, 3” course that I took in the early fall. That was fantastic.

What’s Next?

What do I want for the future, at least the next year? Life is going along pretty well. I guess my main priorities for development are, in no particular order, (1) make writing a more central part of my activities, (2) make the hikes I’m taking more frequent, and (3) …well, not sure what 3 is. Maybe more with rocks/lapidary/geology? And of course pursue the peripheral neuropathy.

One idea I had, which feels a bit odd but I think is worth pursuing, is to return to the practice of establsihing annual goals and, in particular, to keeping a list of ‘achievements.’ In particular, I’m thinking that such a list might be helpful in getting me to produced (provisionally) complete pieces of writing.

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