This beautiful photo is from the Mario Cuomo Bridge website. I can't find the photographer's name, but wish I could. What a keen eye.
When I turned 60 in January 2021, as another pandemic year unfolded, the Tappan Zee/Mario Cuomo Bridge walking path was open. Even in the chills of winter, I wanted to walk it, but also wanted someone in my family to join, and nobody was convinced. So while I was in Connecticut in September, about 35 minutes drive from the Westchester start of the bridge, I set a Sunday to walk it. Dan drove and met me. It was all I hoped it would be, that Hudson River view, the nature, the wide expanse, the big feeling. The connecting with Dan. The guide says it takes 80 minutes each way to walk (3.6 mile span, then back again), so we did maybe 2/3 of the length and turned around. I told myself I would do it weekly.
I think I'm going today, and hope Dan joins after trimming the hedges and also that my friend Anne comes. Otherwise, I'm good on my own, starting on the Nyack side this time.
Intentions for this week:
- Every weekday, I get up about 7:30 a.m. I would like to shower first before doing Wordle, Spelling Bee, reading some news articles and seeing Punch out the door to the school van. Problem is, I like getting a cup of coffee with cream right away, and lingering over it. So do I do that briefly and then go back up to shower? I get sucked into the comfort of it all, the swirl of the internet and social media sometimes, too. (I would like to know what you do, friend.)
- Apply makeup (not much, but enough to look alive and bring my eyes out), earrings, necklace, skirt and shoes. Put socks and sneakers by the door so I'm ready to walk later.
- Get to my desk and get busy on writing assignments, don't work from the living room furniture.
- Take a walk every day. I have been pretty good about this, but not at a set time, and that seems risky.
- Make dinner. But our dishwasher is not working (for weeks), so we have to hand-wash every last tumbler, skillet and spoon. Even pink grapefruit dish soap only goes so far to lighten the task. But it does contain essential oils.
- Go to restorative yoga one night a week.
- Keep up with the 2 support groups I attend. That can be a lot, but also a relief.
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I understand the comfort of the mornings! I don’t have to wrangle a teen out the door, but I get up and the dogs out between 6:30 and 7. I make coffee, get the dogs back in, and settle down for a dog snuggle, then with the iPad and coffee. I check email, your blog and Kim’s, and the NYTimes and WashPost. Some mornings I’m still in my chair with more coffee an hour or more later! (It is, btw, my Morning Chair. It’s in my little room off the kitchen with an east window, and I’m never there at other times).
ReplyDeleteI try to spend about 5 or 10 minutes, still in the chair, with a meditation from my app before standing up and getting dressed and facing the day. It’s then I plan out what’s happening today.
Your walk sounds lovely! And right now we really have the weather for it.
Cheers!
Xoxox, Nan
Hi Nan. Thank you for that feedback. I appreciate it. So you are out walking the dogs between 6:30 and 7 a.m.? What time is their last walk at night? Do you go to bed early? What kind of coffee are you brewing these days? Love Alice
DeletePart of my backyard is fenced, so I can just open the door and let the dogs out to sniff quietly to find out what critters passed through during the night. Sometimes I’ll stand out there with them and my coffee watching it get lighter, but I don’t need to get fully dressed and walk them.
ReplyDeleteMy coffee maker is one of my great indulgences- it has an integrated grinder that grinds fresh for each brew. I buy beans from a local roaster (that sells through CostCo) and those first couple cups are just black. I only recently discovered the joy of a cappuccino- there’s a little cafe I can walk to, and I go there at least once a week to savor.
But lingering over that first cup of coffee, with no noise, is really precious, isn’t it? A moment before starting the business of the day.
Xoxox,
Nan
Ah, yes, the joy of a cappuccino. My Sis and I were saying it is like a dessert, with that creamy, fluffy top. :)
DeleteI have fooled around with making my mornings more "productive," but no go. I need a full 2 hours before I'm up and at 'em. Put hte kettle on for French press coffee. Drink said coffee while doing a million puzzles (you don't want to know... A LOT, but I my defense I'm fast with a lot of them, ad then I noodle the rest on the subway, coffee breaks, etc.). I check my Airbnb messages and peek at the calendars and cleaners. I try to write in my journal, but that does' always happen. I do a quick check on news headlines, other social media platforms ad email. By the time I'm ready for 2nd cup, I make breakfast and eat it in my arm chair (where I've been all along), continuing to do said computer above. Finally at the 1 hour-2hour mark (depending o the urgency of my morning and if I'm on-site or not), I get dressed and get ready for day. When the mornings get darker, I sometimes night candles.
ReplyDelete-Kim
I should say I love a full 2 hours, sometimes I only get 1.5 hours. If it's only 1 hours, I am cranky. I am usually in bed 11-11:30 and up at 7ish. In my mind's eye, I'd like to be in bed by 10 and up at 6, but that is rarely happens.
ReplyDelete-Kim
btw, Alice, I love how you addressed the reader as "friend" singular. I usually do plural like I'm on a goddamn soapbox with crowds listening to me. sheesh.
ReplyDeleteKim, thank you for that feedback. I've been improving this week, but still far from my goals of being dressed and accessorized and early at my desk. LOL, I was working on an article last night and my heart necklace slipped off. The clasp is tricky, and neither Dan and I could get it back on. "But I need it on now," I said. "I'm going to work at my desk." I did get it on, and I did feel more professional. I've been eating breakfast late, like 11 or even noon, because I don't feel hungry when I wake up, just coffee craving. I'm going to aim to change that for tomorrow, but there is also an exercise group I may try to join outdoors at 8 a.m., so then do I want to eat before that? I'm not excited about my breakfasts, either. Not even Acme lox, or good rye toast with butter, or oatmeal with berries. I have to figure this out. Thank you, Kim. Love Alice
DeleteFiguring it out can mean experimentation. My phone alarm goes off 30 min after I wake and says “start exercise” because I too need coffee and reading first thing, and it can turn into too long. And if your first alarms don’t work, just reset them until you find the right mix of aspirational and achievable. Suggest no breakfast until exercise over. Will keep your pace brisk! The story about the necklace is hilarious! The games we play with our minds… whatever works!
ReplyDeleteLiz
Hi Liz. Thank you. Experimentation, yes. I'm glad your Mum is improving. Love Alice
DeleteThat walk sounds so nice, Alice! I'll have to try it some day. Before I ever went to New York City, I remember my dad telling me about the Tappan Zee. We loved the name, and he promised me the views were breathtaking. Of course, he was right!
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry, that was MTM. :)
ReplyDeleteAw, that is a nice memory of your Dad. :) However, last Sunday when I walked alone I felt it--I started on the Nyack side at 6 p.m., which was too late. It was dark when I got back to my car at 7:30, only walking part of the path. I also felt like I was seasick, on a ship in the beginning, IDK why. And I started out walking against the traffic (not with it, from the Westchester side), which felt jarring. Now IDK if I want to do it weekly. I look forward to seeing you, MTM. Love Alice P.S. when driving back home from Cape Cod on the Tap, we made up a song for the girls about a chimpanzee on the Tappan Zee. The name calls out for word play.
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