Summer Just Started and I'm Done

Great spangled fritillary
on milkweed flowers

A wild storm came through the area over the weekend. While our only casualties were the bloom-heavy milkweeds, bent over by heavy rain and accompanying winds with sporadic thunder, other locales suffered downed trees, road closures, broken power lines and a few sightings of something resembling twisters. Pleasantly, the temperature dropped down to a cool 66F while I navigated bees on a mission. Tomato cages and peony holders helped to support large fragrant flowers. I can smell them from the driveway and it's one of the best things about summer. Because, in general, I hate the heat and the bugs. But I love the way all the flowers smell.

Milkweeds smell lighter and more powdery when compared to the luscious scent of honeysuckles still draped over the driveway hedges. Very distinctive from the lilacs of early spring. And the No monarch butterflies though. A lot of white "cabbage" sulfurs and great spangled fritillaries visit the pale lavender and pink flowers. I stepped out just now and spied 3 fritillaries flitting and sipping between the bees. But they don't lay their eggs on anything except violets. I'm not sure I have any wild violets left because the lawn guy tends to mow and weed wack almost everything, except the thicket of mugwort that I'd like him to whack.

My sleep is fractured because the husband is working nights at JFK airport this week (and still managing a Boston project during the day from home), commuting to and from the Queens NY airport during the wee hours. He got into bed at 4:30 AM but woke up at 8 for a Zoom meeting with clients. (I'm a light sleeper so I wake up for everything.) At least he's been sober for the past few days -- a huge relief. At least until the weekend when he'll boomerang and drink himself into an insufferable frenzy. 

I stayed up too late one night but had an interesting conversation with my kid who explained to me the nuances of his favorite online game, something called Darkest Dungeon. I feel bad that he isn't able to share this interest with any of his friends (they like other games he finds boring). At least he has D&D friends, although, as he pointedly noted, that's a board game. My kid also makes wry observations that surprise and amuse me, likening a friend couple to an angler fish. I'll embed the YouTube video and you can draw your own conclusions. 

Today is unpleasantly hotter than yesterday. Tomorrow will be worse, with the threat of another wicked storm that might bring hail as well. Ugh. There's no protecting the milkweeds from that. There are few cars in the parking lot and I'm surprised because it's also $5 Tuesday at the cinema next door. The gym is empty but this is the last week of school and mostly half day. The kids start trickling in later. 

I'm having a hard time doing cardio, as if 3 days away has negated my adaptation to the beta blocker effects of the newest eye drops. I'm still struggling with pull-ups as well. But the Seated Cable Rows go surprisingly well. No lower back stress or fatigue. Shocking. Wall Sits at the end of the core routine in the Aerobics Room are also okay. I'm sure everything will be better tomorrow even though I'll be absolutely miserable anywhere except in front of the air conditioner.

25 June 2024 11:59-1:40

Hotter Tuesday & disrupted sleep

Precor elliptical #1

Program 1

Time: 30+5 (5566)

Distance: 2.82

Cal: 313

Avg Hr: 152, 188-80

Fitbit: 51-120

HGPU 13+ 2/2s

Seated Cable Rows

50 lbs x 15

60 x 15

70 x 15, 15, 15

20 Hip Bridges

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

DeadBugs 20 x 5

20 Hip Bridges & 20 one-leg ea

Quick Child’s Pose

Cat stretch 12

Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose

Fire Hydrants 20 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2

Push-Ups 25

Air Squats 25

Arm rotations 20

Neck stretch / Eye yoga

Wall Squat 120 sec (1:36-1:39)