So… I post on here often, but only once in a while am I as excited as I am to post today…or as nervous. A year and a half ago on 4th of July I climbed Mount Manadnock. I made it to the top… which was probably not the best decision lol but I was excited and it was important to me. Little did I know, that was what finally did me in as far as my back went. I woke up the next morning and couldn’t walk…eventually leading to an ambulance ride and surgery 6 months later.
Well, my back has been doing really well lately. I can lift 60 lb dumbells at the gym with only minor pain the next day…so I decided to try mountain climbing again this weekend (once again probably not the best decision, but it’s one of my passions so I needed to try)…. I decided to climb Mount Manadnock again… then the reasonable side of myself decided that I definitely should start smaller and work my way up. So I just climbed Mount Wachusett instead. It’s 20 minutes from my house in the opposite direction from Boston, but you can still see the Boston skyline and western Mass from the top. It’s 2,000 something feet at the peak.
It’s about a 45 minute climb to the peak for a normal human being, so I thought it would take me an hour and a half. My back was acting up a bit before I even started, so I was thinking it would take me longer or i’d have to turn around…. it hurt for the entire climb, but it only took me the 45 minutes that it takes everyone else. At the top I couldn’t help but think about Manadnock… how I felt the same way….a little tired but no pain. This time I wasn’t too tired though. I was thinking by the time I get down will I need spine surgery again? But on the way down.. my back actually got better and better and better and better and later in the day I had no pain at all. I still have no pain and if anything it feels much better than before the climb. The nervousness is however… will it be ok tomorrow?
So, today I have a new hobby...Hiking mountains on the ice and packed snow in the winter. If you’ve never done it before, it’s absolutely amazing. It’s like one of those peaceful moments you have out in the snow where everything is silent, but it happens over and over as you find new parts of the woods. It’s very difficult to explain, but you just have to get out there. All you need is “microspikes” and a real pair of winter hiking boots (Mine are by Merrell and all of theirs would work) and you’ll be good to go. Walking on ice is simple with them.
Anyway, after the hike I thought I’d be laid up for the rest of the day… I was going to need to rest and ice and take ibuprofen… but I ended up cleaning the whole house, shopping, putting up half the Christmas lights, carrying wood for the stove, and cooking an awesome dinner. My back feels better right now than it has in 2 years. The only question I have is how will it feel tomorrow, but I think it will be fine.
Also, today I happened to bump into the neighbor Bob… I mentioned how my water was turning things blue and I fixed the problem. He told me he had the same problem and his wife Gloria has been washing her hair with bottled water for years! So I was able to help them with contacting my water purification person. He invited me in to his house and it is amazing! They both seem like very kind, honest, and happy people.
Their house is an old converted barn and it’s soo nice inside. They have one of those 1800’s stoves to cook on and there’s a sitting area on a loft where the hay used to be stored. Anyway, as we got to talking he explained to me that his house used to be the barn that belonged to my house! lol When Samuel Poole built my house in 1740… he built a barn as well. And the barn was converted into my neighbor’s house. He told me how when they converted it, where we were standing was where the cows came in. They did such a nice job with the place.
This has been a busy 24 hours...Friday night before everything I talked about, I went through my clothes and since i’m down a few sizes everything I own is too loose… and I went through my old skinny clothes too, but a lot of them are just old. So, I ended up with 6 trash bags full of clothes for Salvation Army. My bedroom is mostly clean from clutter…finally. Also, I made beef Jerky for the first time and brewed some more kombucha lol.
Here’s some pictures from today and Friday night. I’ll post one of the house that used to be my houses barn tomorrow:
