Squats, Stilly. As many as you can manage, and then some more.

The locker room at the Y before and after pool class should be a work assignment for students of orthopaedic surgery and physiotherapy, for it’s where the old crocks meet. At least two thirds of the group are dealing with the long-term effects of a major skeletal injury. A couple of the younger ones are living with genetic deformities or birth injuries. Everybody has arthritis.

Last week, I emerged from the showers into a learned discussion of knee problems. Did you know that one of the leading reasons for non-demented people to go into care is that they can’t count on being able to get up off the toilet? The take-away was that I should work hard to maintain the ability to rise from a seated position without launching myself with my hands.

Last week, I had to throw out a Christmas cactus I bought the year we were married. Back in the summer, I noticed that the surface of the growing medium was covered with a white mould and re-potted it into a vermiculite mixture, but no luck; the mould came back even worse. I am allergic to mould, and for several weeks this fall I woke up every day with a sinus headache. The plant went out with the trash on Monday, and the sinus pain disappeared by Wednesday.

I miss the blossoms, though. It flowered reliably twice a year, for Easter and Remembrance Day.