Tag: leaf cleanup

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Running in Nashville: Chilly Mornings, Falling Leaves, and the Headset Saga

Written August 27, 2025

Hello Dear Readers,

This morning greeted me with a chill that made me briefly question my wardrobe choices. But stubbornness won, and I set out in shorts, bracing for regret. Turns out, the gamble paid off—Nashville’s weather decided to play nice, warming up nearly 10 degrees during my hour-long run. From shivering at the start to comfortable by the end, it was like running through two seasons in one workout.

Sadly, my legs weren’t as cooperative as the thermometer. I missed my target pace by 5 seconds per kilometer, and my legs felt oddly sore right from the start. Since my shoes have already broken in, I can’t pin the blame there. Oh well—Friday will be another chance to chase that elusive pace.

Meanwhile, autumn has barged in early. The cooler weather nudged our trees to drop their leaves weeks ahead of schedule. My wife was already vacuuming them last week, but I try not to let her shoulder too much yard work—weekends are packed enough for her. Collecting leaves is a race against nature: once it rains, they become a soggy, clingy mess, and if they slip between the bushes, cleanup turns into a full-scale excavation. Yesterday’s thorough session might buy me a day off, but one gusty morning could bury the yard all over again. So my mental checklist includes: “Check the battlefield after breakfast.”

On a brighter note, my replacement headset finally arrived after a nine-day odyssey (for something estimated at one day, that’s practically geologic time). I rely on it constantly—for running, chores, and audiobooks. My wife had signed up for Audible but realized multitasking and audiobooks weren’t her thing. Lucky for me, I swooped in before she canceled, and it’s been a lifeline. When my vision dropped to double and reading became nearly impossible, audiobooks kept my love for stories alive.

The last headset died from what I’ve been told is “death by overcharging.” Apparently, leaving it plugged in too long is a slow battery murder. Lesson learned. I’m now plotting a new charging routine to keep this one alive for the long haul. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: leaves will always fall, runs will always surprise, but headsets? They deserve protection at all costs.

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Embracing the Chill: Adjusting to Winter Routines and Biological Rhythms

Written October 8, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

I woke and dressed this morning, ready to go outside and vacuum leaves from our lawn. As soon as I opened the door, a sharp chill greeted my skin, biting my skin. Winter is definitely on the way. Shivering with cold, I quickly closed the door, leaving the cold weather behind the door. Let’s do the yard work after I eat breakfast. 

The weather in Nashville has gotten pretty chilly over the past few days, causing leaves to fall from the trees. We noticed some maple trees in the forest behind our house were changing color. Although the temperature rose quickly, by the time I’d eaten my breakfast, it had warmed by 10 degrees F. My biological thermostat has been broken since my brain stroke, so I am more sensitive to temperature change than ordinary people. After my breakfast, it was warm enough to tolerate, just like I had planned. 

There are two big trees—one on our property and one on our neighbor’s—that seem to be constantly battling to outdo each other with the amount of leaves they shed, leaving me to clean up after them. It took me nearly two hours to vacuum most of them. After nearly two hours of leaf collection, I decided that I had done enough. I’ll have to evaluate the yard again tomorrow after my run to see if I need to do another session on Thursday.

My wife mentioned to me that she felt like running at night even though she runs at 5:30 a.m. It’s pretty dark in the morning. She does not get to see any sunlight during her morning run anymore, and she feels that she does not get enough sunlight. She hopes the time shift will make some sunlight much more accessible. 

I am aware that my wife is struggling to balance her daily schedule with her biological rhythm. When the days are shorter, our biological clock changes. My wife had a restless summer and sleep problems, and now she seems to have the opposite. She just hopes for the timeshift so that her schedule is closer to her biological clock.

I, too, plan to shift my schedule to wintertime shortly. It’s almost as if I did a trial run of my intended schedule once daylight savings time ends, although I did not do the exercises I designed to do on that schedule. My body cannot tolerate the cold anymore, so I plan to run much later in the day to avoid the extra stress on my body.