8: Stairs

Dear Friend,

Did you see the moon this morning? As I type this, the moon is setting over my right shoulder, slowly weaving between wisps of clouds making its way down, down, through the early morning sky to slip away into the ocean. Lovely.

The moon moves so gracefully as it sets. Have you noticed that it appears to grow in size as it nears the horizon? Even this morning, our ‘micromoon’ (Read Why It Appears Smaller) seems to get bigger and bigger as it sets behind a band of clouds in the west, meanwhile, because I am in Northern California, the sun is peeking over the Sierras in the east, and another week has begun.

Happy last week of February - enjoy the extra day that this leap year has to offer! What will you do with this extra day?

Do you know anyone with a birthday that falls on February 29th? (Did you know that Leap Year babies are required by law to observe their birthday on March 1st)?

Hmmm. Law and Time. It’s an interesting thing, owning time, the way human beings have corralled it into manageable chunks to keep it organized so that everything can happen step-by-step.

It’s how we learn most things, step by step. If you’ve ever been tasked to teach someone something, you are aware of breaking things down into manageable chunks… the first steps being the most basic.

And as our attention spans seem to expand as our interest expands as our knowledge expands, the steps can become more complex.

When I was a little kid, I loved stairs! If there was an opportunity to go up a stair case, I would! It wasn’t that I wanted to know what was at the top of the stair case, it was the actual climbing that I enjoyed. After years of cleaning split-level and multi-storied homes, my infatuation with climbing staircases has waned; I’ve actually fallen up more stairs than down. But, whether I fell up or down, it’s too many times to count, and I’ll blame my attention-span every time. If I’m not paying attention, each step is a potential for disaster. I expect myself to be alert and I guess I take it for granted that each stair will be safely measured, the same as the next… but staircases haven’t always been built with safety in mind.

Have you ever used stairs that aren’t the same distance from one to the next? Or if you have big feet like me, have you ever used stairs that have such a narrow ‘run’ that you climb up using your tiptoes and down using your heels?

Maybe you’ve never built a stair case? Watch This Helpful Video on Building Stairs by Josh Fedorka of Training Hands Academy to find out How!

The rise and run of ‘to code’ stair cases is all about math (and, if you’re like me, it’s great if the “run” accommodates your shoe size).

Another big deal is accessibility, (building so that everyone can get from here to there). If you’ve ever had a leg injury, you’ve had to adjust your approach to stairs. Physical Therapists agree that it is best to step up with your strongest leg and step down with your injured leg. “Up with the good, Down with the bad.” And it is always good to remember to ‘inhale at rest and exhale on the job’… exhale while moving, (stepping up or down or when you are lifting out of a chair). All this PT stuff is a whole ‘nuther subject.

Out on the trails, sometimes we encounter other ways of climbing… (not all trail guides warn of such climbing features so it’s good to read reviews… you might not feel up to doing an impression of Spider Man).

Thank you, as always, for being here to read Tracks by the Post! Please Contact Me if you'd like, let me know how you're doing!

Each day that goes by, we are grateful for you and we are also grateful for your caring thoughts and prayers in our direction.

Wishing you a lovely week ahead!

Gently Be,

Leslie and Frank

Thank you, Frank, for these beautiful photos! xo!