Health update

Earlier this summer, I had what I can only describe as a health scare. Shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, mystery pain. The first cardiologist gave me this terrible diagnosis when I failed my first stress test. Diastolic dysfunction - not good. Not happy with that diagnosis, I got a second opinion, and another test - this time a cardiac catheterization. This showed no blockage, and the new cardiologist (Mishra - who John has been seeing for years), posited that it could be a combination of stress, inactivity and unhealthy lifestyle (that is to say fat, out of shape, and stressed out). One of the first things I did was to drop my summer class and "step out" of school, for the time being. My stress level immediately went down. It also freed up time so that I began to be more active at home (I still need to work on my activity level at work, though.) John and I started geocaching, which meant hiking, and the more caches we found, the better I began to feel. Looking back, it's hard to believe I'm the same person I was 3 months ago - I feel that much better!

Adventures in Geocaching

We learned about geocaching when we went to the 2013 Cornell Geospatial In-service. Although many of our classmates geocached in the evenings, we didn't participate due to my health at the time. But when we got home, we tried it out, with the Culvert cache : STGT:CLO12:Medina Culvert, being our first find. Looking back, it is interesting to see that this is a Seaway Trail cache, although we didn't know it, or have the booklet at the time. We'll have to go back to get it punched tomorrow.

Our next caching trip was out to Indiana to drop off the 2 youngest grandsons. Coming home we hit 7 caches in one day, although John practically had to carry me out of the woods at the John White Game Farm. Since that time I've lost a few more pounds, and the more we cache, the better shape I find myself in. 

So, for the adventure part, I guess I should tell the story of looking for a cache on the canal in Albion this week. We were in the woods when we heard a splash and a scream. A little girl, probably around ten years old, had been fishing on the other side of the canal with her father when she fell in. John and I ran out of the woods, and John was ready to jump in and swim across the canal to rescue her when her father jumped in. The only problem was the canal on the south side is concrete walls, and not easy to get out of. I yelled to the father to stay there with the girl, we would come over and pull them out. A fisherman (Pedro) saw that there were cables hanging from the wall, and told the father to grab onto those and the three of us ran over to them. (I should note that a year ago John couldn't have run, and a month ago I couldn't have done it either). John and Pedro got there first, and pulled the little girl (Natasha) out, and I wrapped her in my Colts hoodie. Then John helped told the father to swim to the barge and helped him out there. Perhaps the story would have ended fine without us, but I know the canal to be unforgiving, and I'm glad we were there to help out.

The next day was John's birthday, and we went east to Sodus Point to do some of the Seaway Trail caches including Chimney Bluffs State Park. Wow, that was a tough one. It was about a one mile hike, uphill both ways. Up quite a steep hill! My legs still ache. Our last cache of the day was at Casey Park, and it was another uphill climb. But, we made it, and I can see how going caching has helped me to become healthier and more fit, so I hope we continue this for years to come. And just wait until I tell John that our very first cache was a Seaway Trail one, and we didn't even know it!

4th of July

It was a great 4th of July. Nothing fancy, just time spent with the family. Jess, John and I went to the Rochester Public Market in the morning, even though it turned out not to be open. There were 2 vendors there, so we got the few items that we were looking for, and then we headed for Sam's before stopping at Lowe's and Wegmans and coming home to finish up prep for the picnic at Gail's. At 2 Corey, Jess, Adrienne and family, and Brandon joined Marge, Lynn and Gail for a cookout that included baked ziti (Adrienne), hots, burgers (with TN bbq/bourbon sauce - us), sausage and tuna, salt potatoes, panzanella (me), brownies and glorified rice (Gail). After lunch the kids and John swam for awhile and then we sat in the garage while the boys played Magic. I think we left around 6; Brandon having traded his truck to A & W, who left earlier - brought the boys over to our house to eat more and play some more Magic. It was just wonderful to spend so much relaxing time with my family - this whole visit with Corey and Jess has been just wonderful and relaxing. I feel so much less stressed this summer than I have felt in years!