If you’re reading this, likely you have read other recent musings. I have been fighting age related maladies and it has hit me like a brick of pure depression. The latest is (was) the arthritis diagnosis in my feet that has no surgical magic “fix” they way the hips did. There was the Rx of custom orthotics but I was leery about their efficacy. The wait for them was over a month and the inability to walk comfortably for anything over 1/4 of a mile in any shoes had me sinking into a deeper and deeper funk.

Well, I picked them up on Monday (that’s 4 days ago at this writing) and while they were not uncomfortable themselves, every shoe I tried them in created its own problem. (Full disclosure: I hate wearing socks except to run). With every shoe, even using “foot glide” they raised my foot up just enough that I was in the “about to blister” part of the program. So, I added socks to the mix, and that helped a bit, but the heel was still slipping in the shoe more than it should (I had settled on my Nike Air Pegasus running shoes at the best). Then it occurred to me that I had seen a way to lace those that helped the heel be more stable, and lo and behold, THAT seems to have taken care of that problem.

The other issue was that now that the inserts were realigning my gait, my muscles, hips, knees and hamstrings were barking at me since they had not been used that way for who knows how long.

Having rehabbed knees and hips I was very cautious to not overdue things so each day has been a bit more effort…The brings me right up to this morning.

Socks, foot glide, better lacing and off I went for what I hoped would be a nice walk in a nice 55 degree morning here in South Carolina….The result 2.27 miles (the longest by a full mile in a very long time) of a delightful stroll with no pain and no blistering….and added hope that things are looking up.

What all of that did was give me pause to think (I once told a very dear friend that I do my best thinking while running or swimming, in this case the return to walking will have to stand in) about how incredibly fortunate I continue to be…

While I’m not really in love with our living community if I ever move again it will NOT be to somewhere with an HOA, I love the weather in SC, We have a beautiful, comfortable home, our costs are between 2/3 and 3/4 lower than they were. While aging is not for the feint of heart, and all the “little things” are annoying…they are (at least up to now) truly little things. Not one single issue I’ve had has been something that is life threatening, or something that was unable to be addressed and for the most part ameliorated quickly. The fine medical folks in SC simply cannot believe the quality of the medical coverage we have and the fact that we don’t have to make health choices based upon finance is another positive. As an example the custom orthotics, out of pocket, would have been $800 per pair (the Orthopedist apologized when he “had” to prescribe them as they are “so expensive”…however, much to the amazement of the doc, my medical plan covers unlimited pairs with only a $10 copay per pair…so once I’m sure that they are right, I will have 4 more pairs made so I don’t have to shift from shoe to shoe…not having to make a choice based on finance….

Given the opportunity to reflect on all this while walking, it hit me that I should just grow the hell up, stop letting the little shit make me annoyed or sad, and to remember that for the most part, it’s ALL little shit…

It continues to be a lovely cruise…..