growing old, haiga, humor, life hacks, photography

Two Workarounds

§1: Tree to Stone to Tree to Stone

“I must grow.”
“I can’t move.  Sorry.”
“No problem.”

TreeRock_crop.2_sat-20_840x538

 

§2: Me to Knee and Up Again

Kneeling on one knee to capture the image for §1 was no problem for me, but my old legs stiffened in the time it took to get a few photos of the tree’s workaround for the stone.  To get up again, I depended on my own workaround.

After a few scares with stiffness from kneeling and balance on slopes earlier this year, I had bought a monopod and then replaced the monopod’s wrist lanyard with a clip that was intended for attaching a key ring to a belt loop.

Monopod_crop.1_840x571

Having taken the monopod on the walk leading to §1, I extended two of its four sections and used it to get up w/o drama.  When collapsed and clipped to a belt loop, the monopod leaves my hands free for wiping sweat or taking photos.  Like a good assistant, it’s there when I need it and unobtrusive when I don’t.  Remembering to take it when I go for a walk is the hard part.

 
 

Stone ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #387

 
– Gray button (upper left corner) reveals widgets, –
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
 

growing old, life hacks, photography

Repurposed Spoon

A big serving spoon can be a better shoehorn than a shoehorn.  Looks better too.

While shoehorns with short handles make me bend over too much, those with long handles slip off my heel prematurely.  The intermediate length of a big serving spoon’s handle works well.  The bowl of the spoon cradles my heel and stays there until I want it to move.  Shoehorns are too flat for cradling.

Tho slow at learning physical skills, I got the hang of using the spoon as a shoehorn quickly.  The trick is to tilt the handle forward while lifting the spoon out from between heel and shoe.  (Pulling straight up would scrap the edge of the bowl along the Achilles tendon.)  The lower leg is in the way, so a slight tilt to the side is needed along with the forward tilt.  This is simpler than it sounds.  If I can do it easily, so can most people w/o specific disabilities.

Does the spoon really need to be brushed stainless steel like mine?  No, but it does need a thin bowl that is smooth on the outside as well as the inside.  Go for metal to be sure.  The spoon will last forever and be seen often, so it’s worthwhile to get one that’s eye-friendly.

IMG_7694_rot+30_crop_denoise_840x933

– Gray button (upper left corner) reveals widgets, –
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –