Manotica: Back after a little hiatus and snowshoeing.

I am back after having been away from the blog for a while. In November I developed tingling in my right hand, pain in my right wrist and elbow, and figured this is likely due to too much computer use, My setup at work is pretty ergonomically sound, but at home it's another story. Years ago I removed the cheap and clumsy keyboard tray I had installed under my desk, because I kept hitting my legs on it. But the desk is really too high. Add to that the end of gardening season, so less time outside, and therefore a tendency to spend more time behind the computer, and boom, we had a problem.

A paycheck still needs to come in so I needed to continue to use a computer at work. Nothing to do but to drastically cut back the computer use at home, until the symptoms went away. Because the symptoms diminished as soon as I cut back, I knew it would be alright with time. But I am more careful now, if it showed up once, it can reappear.

Today was the first time snowshoeing this season. We had no snow to speak of this year until the 23rd of December, and what did fall, melted. Now there is a decent layer, and it is worth going out. We woke up to a grey day today, and a few flakes were coming down. It did not look inspiring! I ran a few errands and filled up the car, and while I was doing that the sun came out, and my desire to go as I had planned, came back. I had to fly solo, the photographer managed to acquire a case of shin splints and is not up to this activity at the moment.

In late fall the city mowed all the wildflowers in the nearby park down to the ground. They don't touch it all summer, so I assume this is for the benefit of people like me. This is what it looked like on November 14, 2011.

Mid November view of the park - pretty golden late autumn scene.

This is what it looked like today but from another angle.

Cloudless winter sky over the park.

Last year I only managed to get out a few times before other things kept me from going. By the time I was ready to try again we'd had a thaw, and the snow cover wasn't up to a fun experience anymore. Today I was clearly one of the first people this season to use the park. Maybe the -16 windchill kept people away despite the pretty sunshine. There were no cross country ski or snow shoe tracks yet. The low slanted sun made the snow sparkle like ground glass in a way that is impossible to photograph. Yesterday we had a bit of freezing rain, so the top layer of the snow was harder and crunchy.

I am glad that I gave up swimming in September in favour of the elliptical machine. My hair no longer feels like industrial rope and it is a good preparation for this activity, which I had not even thought of. It was much easier going than last year. I made my way around the park three times in about 35 minutes and worked up a good sweat. I tried to not step into my own footsteps, but by the third time around I had worn a kind of trail. By that time I didn't mind that the going was a little easier.