Well, took Dad in for his tests this morning. I mean, that's why I'm here. We, unsurprisingly, had the start of a tiff on the drive in. I reminded both of us that 95% of arguments are because someone in the argument is hungry, and, well, he had been fasting for around 30 hours at this point, so maybe, we can hand each other some grace. He calmed, I calmed, we arrived safely and on time to the medical facility.

The temperature was -22˚C, again, still, when we arrived. I commented to Dad that I was going to walk to the nearest Starbucks for breakfast while he was having his tests done. He looked at me like I was crazy. I was going to walk? It is cold. Most people would drive. Why would I walk? I explained that the walk was all of a 9 minute walk, why wouldn't I walk? THE WEATHER, he repeated.

Well, he's not exactly wrong. It is cold.

He checked in, we waited, he was called back, he went.

After he was gone, I bundled up, pulled on my backpack, and left the medical facility and started walking down the long driveway. I wondered if I wanted to hop into the truck and drive the distance of 9 minutes walking instead of walking. I haven't been moving much in this cold weather, most outdoor activities off-limits because of terribly cold temperatures. Maybe I should drive, I could feel all the cold places the wind was finding in my clothing. The sidewalk might not be shoveled. The wind was really cutting. All the reasons not to walk.

And as I stood at the end of the driveway, I realized those reasons were why I should walk the nine minutes to the corner. Yes, it was cold, I had clothes that were on the low end of reasonable, but they should be warm enough. There are enough businesses along the way if I were in trouble, I could step into a government building or store and warm up. I would be moving, which would keep me warm. I wasn't really in any danger of freezing, and the movement would feel so good.

So, I walked down the street.

It was cold.

It was really cold. -29˚C with the windchill. I felt my legs start to cool, then chill as I walked.

I made the whole experience colder by stopping.

Because look! The sidewalks were begging (begging) to be macro photographed!

But, yeah, I was chilled when I arrived, 11 minutes later.

Before my walk back, I adjusted my layers, making sure the gap between my silks and socks was gone and my gloves were on before leaving.

The walk did, indeed, feel good. Brisk.

Dad and I went out grocery shopping today. The house doesn't have much food in it, as he doesn't eat here much, and it definitely doesn't have food that I normally eat ("You fixing broccolli?" "Should I not buy any for you?" "No, I don't eat that stuff."), so out we went for food. Dad has opinions™ about grocery shopping, what to buy, what he's willing to spend on food. I'm less stingy with my food, if I want to try something new, I will try it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

After shopping, we hustled out to the truck. It was -22˚C without wind chill, and we chilled quickly. The walk wasn't very far, but wow, being out of the wind in the cold truck cab was such a relief, even with the groceries piled up along the front seat.

When Dad started pulling out of the parking spot, he was able to go forward, so he started moving perpendicular to the parking lot rows (columns?). He went across the space in front of us, missed being hit by the person driving down the row, across the row to the next space. He continued driving straight across the lot, gaining speed, until another car driving diagonally across the parking lot crossed our path, forcing him to both slow down and swerve slightly.

"That driver!" he yelled.

"I know!" I yelled immediately after. "How dare they do exactly what we are doing?"

Dad looked at me, and started laughing. I joined in. I don't recall the last time that Dad and I laughed together for 15 minutes straight, but it was glorious.

For various health reasons, my having lots of sugar is not a good idea.

For various health reasons, my dad's having lots of sugar is not a good idea.

These two statements are linked by genetics.

So, what do I do when we both have a day off?

I insist we head over for cupcakes.

Dad likes, uh, not great coffee. After our walk downtown yesterday, and having the proprietor tell us they were open today, I knew that I wanted one of Dad's birthday gifts to be those new coffee drinks. Which is to say, an espresso drink.

Today, we drove at least.

So today, Dad had his first espresso-based drink: a latte.

His review?

"It was pretty good."

I have this note I wrote to myself that reads:

Not about catching the absolutes, it's more ups than downs ⬅ about having more ups than downs.

I looked at that note, and wondered what I was thinking about when I wrote it. After casually considering, I determined it was about mindfulness and paying attention to the ups more than the downs. We have evolved to notice the bad more than we notice the good. That balance kept us alive. Maybe in this world when we don't have to worry about being eaten by a lion, generally speaking being aware of the good could be a way to balance out millions of years of evolution that has turned into negative thinking, and live a more satisfying life.

Seems a good thought, except that thought wasn't what the note was about at all. Worth a chuckle when I remembered the actual topic.