I look at the clock and decide I’ve had enough sleep – time to get up. I put my feet on the floor, stand up and check out my bad knee. Seems in working order. Test my balance walking over to the window to open the blinds. I made it. I’m working up a head of steam now. Next comes coffee to rev-up my circulation. But first another hurdle. I challenge myself to sit down in my morning coffee armchair without holding onto the arms. With my full cup of coffee in one hand this wouldn’t be a good idea anyway. I look behind me to be sure I’ll land in the middle of the seat and slowly let myself down exercising my thigh muscles. Aha! I did it. I’m batting 1000.
After coffee it’s time to get the New York Times which on Monday’s and Tuesday’s isn’t delivered to my apartment door. I do not tax my brain trying to understand why. I take the elevator down to the lobby (Using the stairs would be great exercise but is hard on knees.) The newspapers, all four of them, for my neighbors who also subscribe and me, are lined up with our apartment numbers written on them with a black Magic Marker. They are always there, in numerical order, in the vestibule beyond the door with the buzzer for visitors to be let in. It takes a special key for inhabitants to get in. I let myself into the vestibule and wedge a bedroom slipper into the door so I can get back into the lobby without using my key. I bend down and gather the four papers. I have volunteered to be the paper woman because I am the one most able to bend down.I make it back inside and leave the papers for my neighbors on a convenient table – lined up in numerical order.
Now for breakfast. Time to wrestle with opening a new box of cereal. I can manage the paper box. It’s the tightly sealed inner bag that gets me. Why don’t they come up with easy-open bags, like easy-open caps on arthritis pain relievers? Cereal box opened I move onto my next exercise = getting the gallon container of milk out of the refrigerator and pouring milk on my cereal. I have friends who buy only half-gallons of milk but I’m not ready to give up just yet.
Finally, breakfast over, I settle myself in my reading chair (not to be confused with my coffee drinking chair) for my favorite part of the morning – solving the word puzzles in the paper. Exercising my brain is absolutely tops on my work-out list. Since the local newspaper that carries the puzzle section, delightfully named “Diversions”, no longer has a print edition everyday, Monday and Tuesday’s puzzle sections appear in the Friday paper. Go figure. Today, however, I won’t be doing word puzzles. I accidentally got the puzzle section mixed up with my recycling and took it down to the garage on Saturday. I’m going to have to exercise my brain harder so I don’t make that mistake again.
poetrybyheart.me 
We are kindred spirits!
Fun to meet you. Thanks.