The Days of Future Past

 I have started running again.

It happened somewhat organically, partially driven by FOTB (Friend-Of-This-Blog) Eaton Rapids Joe's ongoing efforts to improve his own physical fitness and partially driven by morning walks which sort of turned into morning runs.  A great additional incentive to all of this is the fact that most mornings here it is far cooler than it would be at this time in New Home (which of course also raises the specter of what to do when the cold and rainy season comes - we will get to that bridge next month).

This is not like the last great running push I had 8 to 10 years ago:  I have limited speed expectations and distance simply is something that comes about:  I run as far as I run with the goal of trying to get a bit farther, then turn around and come home.  I do not anticipate ever trying to run any kind of race again, but have been pleasantly surprised at how relatively good I seem to be doing - frankly, running at a slow jog seems to do wonders for the knees (my biggest concern).

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I have also been picking the harp back up.

Picking the harp back up (for me) is pushing through the inevitable two to three days where all one does is tune and retune the harp.  It is a bigger initial task than it sounds like: imagine a 25 string guitar where one has to check 3.5 octaves' worth of strings for tuning, with the knowledge that changing any one of the tuning keys (Delgán Beag in Irish Gaelic) will possibly set off your tuning on an already tuned string - for context, wire strung harps such as mine (and nylon strung ones as well, as I recall) use a combination of taper and friction to hold the strings in place, thus allowing them to flex instead of break. Fair enough that it becomes less and less over time as the strings stretch a bit to hold their positions, but it is a mental block I struggle with.

(The other issue is tuning replaced strings.  Often this can be a case of slowly bringing them up to tune over days or weeks as you allow the wire and peg to adjust.)

This is one of those things that has been "on my list" for years of things that I wanted to pick back up: I often harp (pun intended) on the fact that we lay down our hobbies and artistic endeavors as we grow older because we get too busy with the activities of life.  Arts and crafts (however you define that) becomes a luxury activity that we either practice rarely or not at all and/or admire in others with their skill.  We could have no less skill; at least in my own life I convince myself that other things I am doing somehow are more critical.  

Note to self:  One of the most famous harpers from the 1792 Belfast Harper's Festival was Dennis Hempson, who was 97 at the time of the festival.  Born in 1695 he played for Bonnie Prince Charlie. He lived to be 112 and was known to have played as late as two years prior to his death.

Like Iaijutsu, this is something I can do for years.  I can put forth a little more effort: true that Dennis did this all his life, but he was also blind from age 3.  I have no such physical impediment to excuse my lack of effort.

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Why things such as this (and others that I have not mentioned)?  Why now?

Part of it, I suppose, is purely a survival mechanism:  frankly, all of this is free.  I have had my harp for many years and all of the music books I could learn from for the rest of my life.  Running requires only shoes at this point (which have to be replaced periodically of course, and cold weather gear to be considered) - but I can put a lot of mileage on shoes before they give out.  Between now and the middle of next year will be tight enough; no sense in layering on a new set of expenses.

Part of it as well is that I have a different schedule than I did, thanks to the move.  Between the addition of time formerly lost to a commute and not having Iaijutsu three times a week (as well as no part time job), I have to time to start dropping such things like this back into my schedule.

The final part is simply that I am appreciating more and more that the time I have is limited.  As Uisdean Ruadh and I were discussing last weekend, there is a limit to the amount of new things I should consider taking up simply because there is not much time left (short or in the long run).  Yes, we can pick up a thing at any time and become good at it; the question is does the cost/benefit ratio make sense?  Thus, a return to things that I know and can start from an elevated platform of knowledge.

How odd to find that moving in the Near Abroad would result in a return to the past in a way I could not imagine.