I went for a walk today (it is a beautiful day, here in Melbourne) and surprised myself that I covered more than 3.5Km. on our local walking/cycling trail. I had to peel my jumper off near the end! Walking is important, as it always is, to keep our old bodies in reasonable shape. I shouldn’t use that word as my bulging tummy is not, obviously, in ‘good shape’! But you know what I mean. Motivation is the key, of course, but application is more difficult these days. I know it’s related to one’s state of mind and I really try to apply that ‘mind over matter’ mantra. It doesn’t work for me! I have become very lazy and it’s a battle to convince my mind that it does matter that I am not fit!

Now with this enforced ‘stay at home’ legal compulsion, I will need to make the effort to be more mobile. I had thought to go for a long ride on my (electric) bike, but I am so glad I walked instead – there were lots of other riders and walkers on the trail today and I would not have felt safe. Maybe another day; even the thought of a spill and injury is enough to keep me just walking at this time!

Keeping occupied at home is easy. In fact, there are so many tidy-up jobs to do that it makes it hard to know where to start, so I don’t. Maybe another day…..

Dorothy is OK. I phone in to her care-home each day and although she is not able to talk to me, the staff confirm that she’s fine. Last time I was there (three days ago!) she was beginning to ‘bond’ with a lady who had joined the group a few weeks ago. I am hoping that she will develop a sort of friendship with her because most of the residents don’t seem to interact much on a personal level. But despite that they have all learned to live reasonably harmoniously, most of the time. It is a big challenge for the staff, I know, to manage the sometimes less pleasant encounters that can happen between some individuals at times.  

There is, I find surprising, a remarkable calmness around and between the dozen or so residents and the staff in Dorothy’s (Alzheimer’s) wing. The different personalities and behaviours really require the staff to be alert, and I often notice the quiet way they intervene with some diversionary tactic when an incident is brewing! The range of ages is quite large and so are the responses to any given situation and I am so proud of, and give credit to, the staff who seem to be innovative, patient and perceptive and so aware of the activities that engage all these disparate personalities.

I think that’s a good place to end this post, with my gratitude to the staff who are so capably and carefully looking after my dear Dorothy, especially in these trying times with the coronavirus threat ever present.