INDEPENDENCE DAY OR TOO MUCH INFORMATION

Each day when I finally rise, having had at least 8 hours sleep, I have in mind a bag of tasks to jump into. My coffee ritual is so careful and specific it’s more like a tea ceremony. I have long ago replaced grinding beans with those already ground, but my meticulous pour-through practice makes for the best cup of coffee one could wake up to. With a dollop of heavy cream and a simple cookie or biscotti I am invited to live another day.

As the water boils for coffee, I use the height of the kitchen cabinet to perform a series of balance and weight shifting exercises, calling it my ‘coffee-barre’. This practice wakes up and mobilizes all the joints.

Then it's to the computer to check emails, delivery status on orders (everything I need to live is ordered ahead of time.) Next I read the on-line NYTimes and Guardian, finally finishing my coffee while doing the Daily NYTimes Crosswords. 

I then consider available food for the day and plan for whatever helper is scheduled. I have regular help Mon-Thurs but am on my own Fri-Sun.

My helpers assist in shopping, cooking, retrieving mail and packages, laundry, dishes, cleaning, changing bed linens and constant apartment upkeep. It is hard to imagine functioning without them and I am bereft when one or another is ill or on vacation or working elsewhere for a time. 

The years of surviving on-my-own in relative isolation are clearly over. I'm just hoping I may remain functional enough to age in place a few more years with a bit of grace. Recent deaths of prominent 82 year olds gets my attention - Sly Stone, Brian Wilson for example.

Throughout the day I have alarms set on my phone for a daily dosage of heart meds and a regular infusion of Tylenol, which I use if I am in pain, always relying on it to take the edge off before trying to sleep. I don't take any other medications but do take supplements - Vitamin D3, CoQ10, Turmeric, Probiotic, Vitamin B12. I used to take a lot of Vitamin C and Calcium/Magnesium, but my doctor advises they might put too much stress on my kidneys, which are of concern.

Perhaps once a month I am able to put some writing into a MailChimp newsletter and send it off.

All other creative activity flows into preparing the archives to eventually end up at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. These tasks require the extremely able assistance of Emma Rose Brown, but we get trailed off when she has to accompany me to Dr. appointments. Having cataract surgery July 15th and August 5th with a promise to no longer need glasses. I began wearing them at age 13. However, the first time I was preparing to attend a school dance, my sister, 4 years older, took them off me and said I looked better without them. After that, I have only worn them for focussed tasks like distance, computer and reading. I never used them when I was dancing or performing. 

In the meantime I am in a constant flurry of transformation. Age and infirmity require extreme diligence as far as making sure the living environment is hazard-free and highly accessible. 

End of the day I watch movies and/or series. Have very nearly watched all the recent Academy Award nominees as they became available streaming, and often dive deeply into a compelling series where I fall in love with actors and characters and share their lives for a time. It is my remedy for loneliness. 

So here is my TMI report, just in case the specific details help you in your own struggle to process this strange experience we call life in this cruel and hateful moment in our nation's history.

Thanks for all you do, all you are, and all that's possible.