I have been pushing the old body pretty hard in anticipation of this day. While I know it officially begins with the Winter Solstice on Friday, December 21, 2018, my activities shift to winter mode when the ground becomes frozen and unworkable. Today, November 30th is that day.
While Intellicast.com and the National Weather Service are often incorrect, I’m not betting against this particular prognostication. It feels about right to me. Game over for new construction, yard improvements and anything that involves moving dirt. Temperatures consistently below freezing also make outdoor work a lot less fun and inspire me to limit my hours outside protective shelters.
This day where I shift from outdoor to indoor modes came a little later this year than some. Around June I made a list of projects I wanted completed before winter. Typical Ted, it was ambitious. My wife advised greater patience. I considered her wise counsel but put the hammer down to get’er done. The costs were not insignificant. Our savings took a hit. So did my body. Ingesting supplements like krill oil and glucosamine along with topical CBD oil, essential oils, Lasting Touch and many other protocols kept the old machine running with moderate pain levels, but the biggest healing factor was REM sleep.
I would go to bed slathering Lasting Touch on rather significant old-man aches and pains in numerous body parts and wake up in the middle of the night or early morning with them still in their full glory. But if I went back to bed, resting through my impatient boredom with just laying there, then drifting off into an hour or more light sleep marked with plenty of that REM dream state, I would notice a marked reduction in pain from the complaining joints and muscles.
My real world experience matches up with information from scientific studies. During REM sleep the mind is churning away, cementing experiences into learning while the muscles are actually paralyzed … you cannot get much more physically relaxed than that. Logically, and from experience, that is just what the doctor ordered.
While I tend to pop up in the morning, my wife arises much later savoring what I call “her death-grip on the bedsheets”. There some cost-benefits to be considered with the two modes. I’ll be using a bit more of hers while I transition into my winter mode.
