11-04-2025 — Waddling to T-Day
Howdy all. Someone suggested that my mention that I “waddle” was not self-appreciating. Sorry, but it is true. I waddle, and am proud to say I do so.
Supposedly (I may have been there, but wasn’t “aware” yet), when I was an infant, I was a “scooter”, and did not crawl. I know now that is because my knees have always caused great pain when the touch the ground. This is quite possibly because my mother had Polio as she carried me. Spent most of the last 4-5 months in the hospital. And, I was the recipient of any drugs she received.
Anyway, I was told, that instead of crawling, one day I pulled myself up from the floor, using an end table, and waddled off. And couldn’t be kept down after that. Quite an overactive brat. Gotta love ADHD — even if it was well before they knew such thing existed (1950s).
When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, and I do remember this, the school nurse would try to get me to walk properly. I remember that old beach yelling at me over and over, “Pull those front toes together” and “Heel - Toe, Heel - Toe”. And me saying back, “But it hurts” and her sympathetic response, “It’s suppose to hurt.”. I still hear her saying that today.
I also learned as an adult, my feet aren’t quite perfect. Nowadays I fight Achilles Tendon micro tears and Plantar Fasciitis from heel spurs on both feet. Mostly because the bones are NOT properly configured, and there is a lot of calcification in the joints, and the arches are not properly formed.
Thus, I waddle. And add to that the fact that I’ve been morbidly obese most of my adult life (that is well over 100 pounds above a supposedly health weight), and I am not going to travel straight.
Could I be healthier as a thinner person? Of course. But even those few times, as an adult, when I was closer to the “ideal” weight, I still waddled, and still had feet pains, and still could not put my knees on the ground, even using knee pads, without screaming in pain.
With all that said, I am glad I can waddle, and hope I keep on waddling, like a Thanksgiving Turkey, for a long time, and can continue to Enjoy Life.
Afternoon addendum… The weather lately has had plenty of low 40s and winds making it feel much colder. Lots of 30-40 mph winds. More this morning, and tomorrow, some may approach 45 mph. And for the coming weekend, they are predicting we may see our first snow as the temperatures on Sunday fall through the 30s, and not even getting back to 40 on Monday the 10th of November. That said, I was looking out the windows, on this sunny cold Tuesday, where it is 50-55 outside and those winds making it feel around 40, and see those dang midges are still alive.
Still alive and thriving. Bring on the freeze and snow. Maybe then they won’t be able to Enjoy Life