#7252 87 Degrees!

So glad there was not a lot of humidity.

After chores I had a 10am meeting at the Rec Center regarding Seniors, then I got my hair cut.

Gary met with friends for breakfast and lunch and was ready for a nap this afternoon.

These alliums are growing like crazy...over 4 feet tall now and they are not finished.

The last of the tulips...almost ready to loose their petals.

Late afternoon I went out to add more water to the trough.  On days like this, the horses drink a LOT of water.

I need to make a grooming appointment for Little Wonder so the heat does not bother him.

Dinner was simple.  Cold roasted chicken, peas/carrots and a salad.

Little Wonder had everything but the salad in his bowl.

Time to get the fans out.  Should still be hot tomorrow.

Night all.

PS

Not too long ago, I posted about the Panel Discussion I participated in at the college.  For many semesters I've organized a group of Seniors to meet with a class studying "Aging and Activity."  It has always been an outstanding experience, having the opportunity to connect with these students.  This year, because of Covid, we did it via Zoom.  First we each introduced ourselves (including our ages), broke into groups with the students and ended with questions for all the panelists.  Could not be more rewarding.  Today the Professor (Pam Beach) forwarded this message to us, written by one of her students and it brought me to tears.  It's long, but sure made me feel good.

Hi Everyone!

 

I just wanted to share one of the reflections from the students.  Your words are truly inspiring.  Thank you so much for coming back each year to talk to my students.  It’s a true treat as this student says below 😊

 

At first when I saw that we had a panel of older adults coming in I was not sure if I would actually enjoy this event. It just did not seem like it would be very appealing to me. But as the event went on the more and more interested, I became in it. One thing that I learned from this panel is actually something that Chester talked about and the fact that we should be open to people who want to help us. We all need people to believe in us at times when we do not believe in ourselves. The one thing I struggle with most is letting people get close to me and letting people help me. I do not know why but it has always been a struggle of mine. I feel like in a way it makes me weak and besides, I have never really had many friends. However hearing Chester talk about the unconditional love his grandmother gave him or the fact that people he was grateful for the people who believed in him when he did not believe in himself made me realize that it is in fact okay to get help. We all need people to help support us once in a while as nobody goes through life alone. Nobody should go through life alone as Chester put it when he was talking, we are all better together. Another thing I learned is that physical activity is very important as we age, and all of the panel members seem to live very active lives. Some of the people seemed way younger to me than what their actual age is. We do not just have to exercise in order to be active. Look at Lori for example, her barn chores are probably demanding and that counts as physical activity. Or Rosie, she gardens and does workout. They all were in very good health it seemed thanks to them exercising and just being physically active in their everyday life. I would say the biggest thing that surprised me was that fact that so many of them valued the same things such as health, family, gratitude and kindness. Health and family I kind of assumed that they would all value however things like gratitude and kindness were a bit of a shock to me. Not because I did not think they did not value these things, but I just did not realize how big these things are in their lives. Look at Chester, he makes bread every day, puts it in a wagon and lets people take it for free. This is his way of giving back essentially and giving out kindness. Also, Carol mentioned that value of waking up with a grateful attitude. She said that it does indeed make a big impact on her everyday life. She flat out said if we all wake up with a positive and grateful attitude, we will all live a better life. The big take home message that I got from this is that we should strive everyday to be the best people we can be and to be in the best health we can be. As bad as it seems right now, I am not a very healthy person, but I also am not at my best. I tend to stay in my room all the time, and do not go out much. Talking to this panel made me realize just how important one’s health can impact their life. What I mean by that is that the things we do now can have a big impact on our health later in life. I am defiantly going to try and exercise everyday and try to live a more active lifestyle than what I have now. I am also going to try harder to repair some family relationships that have diminished over time. I also hope that after COVID I can see all of my family members as it has been almost 2 years since I have seen everyone which sucks. I learned from this panel that family is very important, more important than what I thought it was. Honestly, I am very thankful that we got to see this panel and talk to everyone. It definatly opened up my eyes and makes me want to be better at giving back and be come healthier than what I am now. The panel was very fun to talk to as was Lori (the person I got assigned to). I enjoyed listening about Lori’s animals and all of her horses and the lifestyle that she lives. This experience was a positive one for me and I am very thankful that even during COVID times you managed to pull it off and that we still got to talk to them even if we could not see everyone. I am going to work on becoming more healthier as a person, but I am also going to work on my mentality as it is not the best at times. This panel truly made me realize just how important my health is, that includes my mental health. I enjoyed hearing everyone’s stories as they were all so different. I hope that this panel you put together keeps doing this every year. It was a real treat to be able to hear everyone

 

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Peace 😊

 

Pam