This is not a time of year when we spend a lot of time out in the back yard. In fact, this whole year hasn't been conducive to spending time outdoors. Summer was too hot and dry, except for the cold snap we had in mid-August. Autumn was too wet. Now winter is too cold. I'm spending far too much time inside these days. Part of it is the weather, and part of it is my age. That's our back yard and our garden path in the photo on the right.
Jobs like raking up leaves are too much for me now. Tilling up the vegetable garden plot is too back-breaking. So it goes, I guess, when you're nearly 75 years old. My pollen allergies slow me down, but that's nothing new. Walt and I left California because I couldn't stand the debilitating allergy symptoms I suffered with in springtime. Now the symptoms are less severe but they are more frequent and they come on for short periods all through the year.
I still take my daily walk with the dog, but the walks are not as long as they used to be. The photo on the right is one that I took from out in the vineyard, looking north. There's fog in the Cher river valley, and fog is also enveloping the big grain silo on the other side of the valley. The tower in the background is not old. It's a modern construction and is actually a water tower. There are many water towers like it scattered all around the Loire Valley.
I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen. Ours is the house in the middle of the picture on the left. It's a house that was built in the late 1960s, and it's a detached house surrounded by a bigyard and with a basement downstairs. The basement is not underground in this case. It's at ground level, where we have a garage, a utility room, a cellier where we store groceries and wines, and an entryway where there's a staircase leading up to the main level, where we have a kitchen, a living room with a dining area, a bedroom, a bathroom, a fireplace, and a sort of den or home office — not to mention a covered outdoor terrace.
On the right is a longer view of our house and our hamlet (hameau). There are nine houses in the hamlet, which is outside Saint-Aignan (two miles away). Five of the houses are occupied year-round. The other four are occupied occasionally by people who live elsewhere. One is now an Airbnb rental. We've lived here for 20 years now, and we sometimes talk about selling the place and moving into a house with no staircases, or maybe an apartment in a town where we could walk to shops and restaurants. However, we're happy living here for the time being.
It irritates me that you are always talking about your age in a negative way (I am twenty-five years your senior!). The more you talk about your age in a negative way, the older you get. You should Google la Méthode Coué.
ReplyDeleteLa méthode Coué est une méthode simple d'autosuggestion qui consiste à remplacer les autosuggestions négatives par des autosuggestions positives.
I know you are basically a pessimist but la méthode Coué might help you.
You have been already for twenty years in that lovely house! Time flies!
Someone, years ago in California, told me that my idea to move to France was the biggest mistake I would ever make! If that wasn't a pessimistic pronouncement, I don't know what would be. Is la méthode Coué a form of Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking? Sounds like it is. I don't think I'm pessimistic, actually. I just don't live in a dream world. I see things changing, but mostly for the worse, not the better. Still, as I said, W. and I are still happy here, 20 years later. Imagine if I had decided to buy your Paris apartment as a viager (a lifetime annuity). I'd still be paying you monthly and I'd still be working in California or elsewhere in the U.S. Some things do work out for the best.
DeleteI wish I cooked like you do. I am walking most days- dogs are great for that. Steps are a mixed blessing at our age. I like not having them anymore, but I thhink they are a way to stay fitter (if you don't fall). CHM has some good advice today.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy cooking. We never go to restaurants any more, but I enjoy good food. The last time we went to a restaurant was a couple of months ago and we both were really sick for about 24 hours. As for steps, now that we have a WC up in the loft, they are less problematic. Tasha won't go up or down them any more, so Walt has to carry her up in the evening and back down in the morning. It's dangerous, but if would be even more dangerous for me to try to carry her. The "problem" is that we like living here and are not really motivated to move. I guess that's a good thing.
DeleteWe don't go out to eat much any more....maybe pick up take out on occasion. I prefer to cook at home too. Luckily we live mostly on the ground floor of our 100 yr old house but we have a few bedrooms upstairs that sometimes need cleaning and an airbnb open for 6 mos of the year that needs attention and guests we have to greet. Our cats don't need walking so my exercise consists of zoom yoga & exercise classes. In my mind I'd like to live somewhere where I could walk to restaurants and shops but I know I would miss nature and end up not enjoying living around too many people (guess I've become a regular curmudgeon!)
ReplyDeleteMelinda, I wrote a response to your comment yesterday, but for some reason it just vanished. I think I said that running an Airbnb and must be a lot of work during the season when it's open. Also, I know I would miss nature if we moved to a town. Right now, however, it seems pretty lonely here on the edge of the vineyard. Another thing about living in town would be the dog. Tasha is too "vocal" — she barks a lot — to live in an apartment, or even in a house with neighbors too close by.
DeleteEverything I read talks about looking forward as we age. I think about my goals and what I want to do the next day. I am also in your and Melinda's group about mostly eating at home and avoiding restaurants - 50% of the reason is probably because I am single and I do not enjoy eating out alone. But, I do enjoy preparing my own meals that include natural ingrediemts . Exercise doesn't get easier when one rebels and stays inside. I think those wristbands that keep count of your steps are ridiculous - however, I'm the one who can't even brush my teeth without stepping up and down while I stand in front of the sink! I try to go up and down my 7 steps to the front door frequently during the day whenever I have something that will eventually go up my 19 steps to my garbage can. I do that knowing the more steps I take now will mean the longer I will be able to live independently and with a healthy body. Everything I read tells me that positive thinking about myself does not include giving myself excuses because of whatever age one is. Every body is different and "ageism" is so pronounced in our society in print and airtime that we personally do not need to add to it! I fell last week playing pickleball and after two days realised that my ribs were injured and boy do they hurt when I climb into bed or just try to arrange myself in a comfortable position. If I didn't have a diabetic cat that needs his insulin every morning I might have chosen to just stay in bed a few of those past days. However, there is no choice as he means a lot to me and there is no one else to give him his insulin. By the time I've fed him, changed his litter (ouch!) and given him his insulin I just stay up and go on with my abbreviated day. Please know these words are only written to encourage and not to discourage you.
ReplyDeleteOh - I will turn 76 in two weeks.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all you say. As for restaurants, the ones out here in the French countryside are pretty sad much of the time. I don't know how many times we've gone to restaurants an lunchtime and have been the only customers in the joint. There's a deathly silence. Restaurants in cities, especially Paris, are often crowded and alive with people and good food. Out here, the food is often pretty bland. Walt and I like cooking our own food. Yesterday, we had Chinese steamed pork buns and a stir fry of broccoli, turnip, mushrooms, and onion for lunch with a spicy sweet and sour sauce. When it comes to stairs, we have two staircases. It's about 30 steps from the ground-level entryway up to the loft where we often watch TV in the evening and where we sleep. To reduce the chance of falling on the steep staircase that we climb up and down on many times each day, at strategic points we have put in battery-powered lights that are activated by motion detectors. We've also put sisal non-slip pads on the steps themselves. And we had a half-bath put in up in the loft so that we don't have to come downstairs in the middle of the night. All that is pro-active, I guess. I do like the idea that climbing stairs is good exercise, as is a walk with the dog every day, rain or shine. Thanks for your good comments on the blog, Mary.
DeleteI remember you writing about the stair precautions you and Walt had taken. I don't have those, but there is carpeting on my stairs. Your lunch yesterday is my type of lunch! I can just taste those yummy steamed pork buns and broccoli is one of my favorite vegies - oh! I might buy some pork buns (I mistyped bums - first!) to have tonight with my broccoli and mushrooms and onion like you had yesterday! That should cheer me up as we have had some pretty dark days here as well. Having a cat is not as conducive to exercise like your wonderful Tasha! I will have to wait to play pickleball for a while so I might have to just get in the habit of going for walks. I've read about SAD as here in Oregon it can be a problem for many residents. When my parents first moved here from LA, I can remember my Mother telling others how that first year here was very difficult for her without the sun shining everday. Sunlamps can be a help. In Germany a few of the Germans I became friends with all had sunlamps above their bathroom sinks so that they were getting their vitamin D each time they brushed their teeth and did their personal grooming before and after work. There probably is more information on DIY (Do it yourself) remedies for people who may be susceptible to SAD.
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