Monday Morning Musings

Posted on April 30, 2018 under Monday Morning Musings with 4 comments

Cedar Hills Golf Course. Victoria, B.C.

Coming to Victoria is like coming home. I lived here for a time back in the early 70’s. As I have stated many times, it is my favourite city in Canada and this time, Victoria welcomed me with open arms as it would appear that I brought some good weather with me from Arizona. The day I arrived, was the best day of another wise, wet, and cool spring. The temperature soared into the mid 20’s and we had three consecutive days of warm, sunny weather. Allergy sufferers might have been none too pleased as every manner of plant, tree and flower was blooming.

On Saturday, the rain and cooler temperatures returned but this didn’t deter brother Tom, me, and his golden retriever, Oslo from doing a 10K walk to the Oak Bay marina for coffee and scones.

This is a fantastic walking city with dozens and dozens (if not hundreds) of walking trails. I’m generally not a “step” counter but my IPhone tells me that I’m averaging over 20,000 steps a day.

The picture above is the Cedar Hill Golf Club, a course I played many times way back when. There is an undulating walking trail around the perimeter of the course, a wonderful place to go in the evening. The Olympic mountain range in Washington State is in the background.

It is easy to see why Victoria is the retirement capital of Canada.

My quest for pain management continues. Some of you asked for an update.

I know many of you have chronic pain issues so my situation is far from unique. It’s quite normal for most people our age. The hot, dry weather in Phoenix, Arizona helped for sure but I don’t think I was there long enough to say for sure if this is the answer. I have been experimenting with all kinds of medical marijuana products. Yesterday was a first for me. I went to a perfectly legal medical marijuana dispensary. It was a bright, modern store with chilled lemon ice water and flat screen TV’s. The staff were well dressed and very professional looking. They have a registered nurse on staff for free consultations.

I have been reading a lot about CBD oil. After a lengthy conversation, I bought a small number of pills. So far, they don’t seem to have any recognizable benefit. A friend, who lives here, gave me some topical marijuana cream. It seems to give a bit of relief but it doesn’t last long.

At this point, I don’t really think there’s a panacea, which is what I expected in the first place. The last major frontier is diet. I have been reading the book: “Eating Clean. The 21 day Plan to Detox, Fight Inflammation and Reset Your Body.” I have friends who swear that eating clean will likely result in a reduction of inflammation, but this will take some work and discipline. I always enjoy suggestions that you send along. Is turmeric the answer? Stay tuned.

I’m not quite sure how to address this next topic. I’m flying to Toronto on Tuesday and will spend 3 days in Hamilton with some old friends. One of them sent me this message yesterday (paraphrased): “Would you volunteer to help a friend of mine pack up her shop? She’s closing down her business.” My friend is aware of my physical limitations (no heavy lifting). I immediately agreed. My friend went on to say: “It will be a unique experience as my friend owns an adult sex toy store.” I have been trying to wipe the grin off of my face ever since. I haven’t even gotten there and I think I could already write the story that you KNOW I’m going to write when the task is completed. I am going to have to choose my words very carefully so as not to offend any of you. I don’t very often get handed a gift story like this.

Have a great week.

P.S. No. I won’t bring back any discounted items from the store for you!

Advertisement