Open Space

Seems like just yesterday I was convincing myself that this was going to be THE ‘summer.’ The summer I dropped my extra COVID 19 pounds of flesh and rocked my bikini aka my mommified highwaisted two piece with maximumhold spandex. The summer that I felt like a million bucks in my sundresses (as in my arms didn’t look like bat wings). The summer I’d start running again—maybe even sign up for a half marathon. Heck—maybe a whole. The summer I started eating healthy, maybe even committing to a plantbased diet. The summer I actually relaxed.

I had a vision, but no plan other than a nightly regimen of chowing down on carbs with an ice cream chaser. Oh well. There’s always next summer…

It’s hard to focus on these (shallow?) desires when there is so much heaviness in the world. It is challenging to get out, move, and have fun when you feel as if the universe has gone utterly bonkers. But, finding joy is important—especially during the summer months. It’s almost our duty to enjoy some down time, indulge in some ice cream, and dip our toes in the sand. Joy and happiness—and FUN—are important to our mental health. Unrealistic goals and beating ourselves up when we fail, however, is detrimental to our well-being.

During the dog days of summer when August presents itself as a horse hair blanket coated in hot embers, it is especially important to practice selfcare whether it is a midday nap in the air-conditioning, thirty minutes in the hammock with a summer read, or an early morning bike ride. Sure— push yourself a little to pedal an extra ten minutes or log another mile on the treadmill, but do so with caution and an awareness of the big picture. It’s hot out there, and your body can only take so much. It needs down time especially during the dog days… why else would they call it dog days? I guess they could call it cat nap days.

As I’m writing this, I’m staring out my window at the ocean and yet my toes haven’t hit the sand in over a week. Partly due to poor weather conditions, but partly because the horse hair blanket I wear is sometimes of my own making. I’ve been known to weigh myself down with obligatory tasks and anxious energy. In other words, sweating the small stuff. “Look,” I tell myself, “There’s plenty of sweating going on without having to add to it.” Truth. The to-do list will be here when I get back. Another truth. Make time to walk on the beach.

For us over-achieving, Type A sorts, we often have to force ourselves away from our ever present to-do lists and hamster brains, and actually schedule time to do absolutely nothing or something that helps us to relax and tune out the noise of the world and forget about our obligations, deadlines and tasks for a period of time.

I’ve been starting out with a goal of riding my bike for thirty minutes. I put my headphones on, pull up a book on Audible, and off I go. The past few days, I’ve been so engrossed with my book that an hour passed before I realized. The route is mostly flat, but it makes my legs work consistently. My thoughts often wander, and the other day I found myself thinking of a time when I won’t be able to ride my bike. I thought about my dad whose legs stopped working and he became confined to a wheelchair the last years of his life. It reminded me that I owe it to myself to enjoy these small pleasures while I can.

My husband, XXL, and I have started playing pickle ball. By ‘playing,’ I mean attempting to volley the plastic ball to each other. It’s great exercise especially since we don’t have a clue what we are doing, but we laugh a lot, and apologize a lot to the folks playing next to us when our ball inevitably flies across their court. Turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks, but just don’t expect blue-ribbon results.

This might not be the summer I hoped for, but it is the only summer I have, and I intend to enjoy as much of it as possible. Who cares what you’re wearing (no bikini here) as long as you’re healthy and happy.

Life is short. Summer is shorter. Eat the ice cream, but ride the bike first.

Summer plans laid to waste

About the Author: Lori is a local writer, painter and pet lover who loves to share her experiences and expertise with our readers. She has been penning a column for the OTC for well over 20 years. Please follow Lori online on Medium for more missives like this.

Nancy D guiding her student through difficult stretches while on the horse. Nancy L amazes her doctors with her core strength and encourage her to keep doing what she’s doing.

Jeff, a retired military general, suffered a stroke impacting his cognitive abilities. His weekly lesson with physical therapist/instructor Sue entailed memorizing dressage tests and steering Thor, a large beauty of a horse, through the tests. Jeff’s doctors were stunned at his recovery. Jeff, by the way, had never before been on a horse.

Caroline, who is in her 20’s and uses a wheelchair, participates in carriage driving lessons with instructor Anna and horse Dancer. The joy and smile on Caroline’s face during the lessons says it all.

A beloved family member who was stricken with polio leaving him paralyzed inspired his niece Brooke Waldron, an avid equestrian herself, to start the riding facility focused on students with special needs. Brooke explains that her late uncle, although in a wheelchair, was a leader and entrepreneur who didn’t recognize or understand limitations; rather, he saw possibilities. To that end, Brooke’s pride in her students’ accomplishments is evident and she reminds them to embrace being a “possibilitarian”, a wonderfully appropriate and creative made-up word.

Brooke is so much more than the founder of Sprout. She is its heart, soul and brains. Her management and leadership skills are evident as she oversees a 27-acre facility with 16 dedicated staff members that include instructors, physical therapists, a barn manager and assistants, as well as front office personnel and an army of volunteers, working together to provide lessons and programs six days a week, ten months a year.

Caring for the horses is a large part of Sprout’s budget. But Sprout donations also go toward ensuring that no student is turned away through subsidizing more than 50% of each student’s lesson cost.

The annual September black-tie gala is only one of several fundraisers throughout the year. Donor contributions, volunteer manpower, and in-kind donations allow Sprout to provide on-going therapeutic programs essential to the disability community.

In defining her vision, Brooke explains, “Sprout is built on the conviction that we are not bound by our limitations but rather we are called to achieve personal greatness and invest in one another.” Possibilitarians, indeed.

Full disclosure: I have volunteered at Sprout for several years and have witnessed what can only be described as miracles.

Photo courtesy of SPROUT

Possibilitarians!

About the Author: Meg Mullery is a contributing writer and Blue Ridge distribution “assistant” to the OTC and just a great all around person. She is a Middleburg resident and spends some of her valuable time selling real estate for Washington Fine Properties and volunteering at Sprout – a therapeutic riding program in Aldie.

A BIT OF HISTORY | FROM PAGE 9

thus far failed. With Dobbs the Law of Coverture in part lives on as does the Christian right’s political sway.

In 1918 a divided Congress feared a federally initiated woman’s suffrage amendment “could undermine” Jim Crow. “Shall we admit [women] only to a partnership of sacrifice and suffering and toil and not to a partnership of privilege and right?” President Woodrow Wilson [D-VA] asked the U.S. Senate.

“The Justices who vote[d] to strike down Roe v. Wade will not succeed in ending abortion: they will only succeed in ending safe abortions,” The Lancet the world’s oldest medical journal opined. The City of Alexandria now asks “the General Assembly of Virginia and the United States Congress to take such actions as may be necessary to protect the right to abortion in Virginia.”

Columnist’s’ Update:

On July 3, 2022, NPR reported a South Florida synagogue filed a lawsuit claiming, “that banning abortion is a violation of Jews’ First Amendment right to practice their religion.” On July 18, 2022, The Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer wrote “It is impossible to argue that the U.S. Supreme Court justices personal religious beliefs didn’t have an impact on their belief that abortion is not protected by the Constitution...Jewish law sees fetuses as full people once they are born...Temple Beth Or Senior Rabbi Lucy Dinner said ‘I can’t speak for all of the Jewish community, but I would say a majority...believe that this is a religious issue...and to be forced by our government to follow a different religious point of view is a breach of the separation between church and state...The Christian right does not have a monopoly on faith and morality.” The legal debate continues.

GO FISH | FROM PAGE 41

Other cost-effective, natural, and long-term solutions include promoting native shoreline vegetation to improve water clarity, stabilize shorelines, and reduce nutrients. Plant growth levels of desired species are being established in areas where they would be effective.

Planting would occur in small plot areas in a variety of substrates to determine the best to minimize losses. Expected planting costs would be approximately $25,000 - $50,000 per surface acre, depending on planting density and species. Large common carp populations take a toll on subaquatic vegetation. Removing carp can help these natural vegetation filters. Carp also increase turbidity during spawning periods.

This algae will be tough and expensive to wipe out as Cyanobacteria survive well in high water temperatures, adapt to low light conditions, and are able to regulate their buoyancy in the water column to obtain nutrients from bottom to surface waters. Fingers of the lake are likely acting as nutrient filters for incoming watershed, meaning the primary productivity of plants and algae decreases downstream to the outflow at the dam. Unfortunately, algae uses the nutrients before they reach the water-clearing submerged vegetation. However, promoting growth of all vegetation in the lake’s fingers upstream could provide substantial water quality improvements.

It’s been reported that the cost of the first treatment is $100,000 and about $300,000 annually to prevent the blooms. LACA has launched a campaign “Kick the HAB”, referencing Harmful Algae Booms, to raise money. Attempting to kill off the algae blooms before they form is not a permanent solution. A complete, more intensive approach to eradicating algae blooms is needed, at an estimated $200 million cost and could take decades to complete.

Sarah Becker started writing for The Economist while a graduate student in England. Similar publications followed. She joined the Crier in 1996 while serving on the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association Board. Her interest in antiquities began as a World Bank hire, with Indonesia’s need to generate hard currency. Balinese history, i.e. tourism provided the means. The New York Times describes Becker’s book, Off Your Duffs & Up the Assets, as “a blueprint for thousands of nonprofit managers.” A former museum director, SLAM’s saving grace Sarah received Alexandria’s Salute to Women Award in 2007. Email: abitofhistory53@gmail.com

Author Capt. Steve Chaconas is Potomac bass fishing guide. Potomac River reports: nationalbass.com. Check out YouTube page, NationalBassGuide.