Massage

The vibrating massage ball being rubbed on my sore tendon at physical therapy seems to be helping. Or it’s a darn good placebo. Either way, I’m happy and have signed up for 6 more sessions over the next 3 weeks. I am also being sure to sit on a big, soft pillow every time I sit down, working in the yard, dragging it to restaurants, etc. I am actually starting to feel better.

On Sunday, we drove to Weeki Wachee Springs to see Clara perform at Mermaid Camp, a 2-day affair at the state park. Her show was after the regular mermaid revue, this time the story of the Little Mermaid. Why, in this day and age, we have to still be celebrating a 15 year old wanting to change her body for guy is beyond me. I had hoped there would be a modern twist, but no. Well, Weeki Wachee was created in 1947, so I guess there is still a retro vibe, but still, really? In any case, the girls had fun and lots of exercise. Swimming as a mermaid is definitely a core workout. Because the attraction is now a state park, the free-flying bird show we’d seen maybe 30 years ago is gone. It was the best bird show I’ve ever seen, with owls and hawks flying through the amphitheater just barely clearing our heads. Absolutely amazing, but deemed inappropriate because some the birds weren’t native Floridians. I can understand, but it still was amazing.

We’d already made another trip to Fort Lauderdale on Friday to attend the celebration of Kip’s life on Saturday. Lunch with the Zums again, this time at the Flashback Dinner in Davie. Paige, who had flown in from Hawai’i, joined us. At the service, Grant told his story of asking Kip where he shot guns in Miami. “I don’t shoot in Miami,” Kip replied. “The return fire is too great.” Best remembrance of the service and really well told. 

If we’d been able to stay over, we could have attended another celebration of life on Sunday. This one for Pixie, another River of Grass friend, who had fallen a couple of Fridays ago, died the following Thursday. Plus a 40ish young woman, mother of twins and the director of Religious Education after Mary, died unexpectedly in her sleep the previous Saturday. I’d say all this death was because we’ve reached that age, but she was certainly an outlier. 

Thank goodness for all those happy girls having fun at Mermaid Camp. Life goes on, even if some of the stories need to be updated.



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