Costco Adventures

/

My daughter decided to buy a Costco membership…and I decided to buy one too. I’ve had the membership for a month…am still in the learning curve. The warehouse is far enough away that I won’t be going more than about once a month; I’ll still do a weekly shopping at a grocery store very close to where I live.

My first trip to the warehouse was an adventure since their website does not say where in the warehouse things are located…or even accurately portrays what is in the warehouse versus has to be ordered. I did find a bedspread that I liked and a brand of protein drinks that was new to me but less expensive that the brand I had been buying (and nutritionally almost the same). They have bags of frozen chicken breasts that work great for us – but I might not even need one bag per month! I bought a big package of water bottles which I won’t do again – too heavy.

I was in the area and bought gas at Costco….saving a bit on each gallon. I’ll continue to do that, but it won’t be for every tank since I buy more gas when I am on a road trip…and generally do my driving around town under battery power (in my plug-in hybrid Prius Prime).

It snowed before my next trip to Costco and I decided to see if they sold a snow blower (probably for next winter). They had an electric one for a good price and, after my husband confirmed my initial assessment of the machine, I ordered it; it was delivered less than a week later.  It’s a relief to know that shoveling snow is not in my future!

For my third trip to Costco, I arrived as the warehouse opened and had a list. I was disappointed they did not have Ritz crackers (my husband eats a lot of them so I was hoping to get a large box) or a crunchy peanut butter that didn’t have sugar (also for my husband) or popcorn kernels (they had prepackaged popcorn….not the ‘whole food’ version). But – I did buy two sets of sheets, a 35 pack of Coke zero sugar (won’t do that again…too heavy), the CereVe lotion that I like, our favorite spaghetti sauce, frozen broccoli, a 2 loaf pack of Dave’s bread, 1.5 gallons of lactose-free milk (won’t do that again since my grocery store has it for a little bit more but in a recyclable container), mushrooms, protein drinks, and butter.

I am still in the mode of wandering around the store to find what I need….and occasionally splurging. The splurge of my most recent shopping was Honey Citron Ginger Tea. It is fabulous in hot water!

The lessons learned so far mostly are about not buying things that are too heavy. Big packs of toilet paper and paper towels are OK…but not soft drinks or water! I think I am getting what I expected from the membership so far, but will continue to assess as the year progresses.

Zentangle® – February 2025

/

28 days in February…28 ‘tiles.’

I cut light blue cardstock tiles and used them for half the tiles.

The two other groups started with a Flowering Dogwood coloring book page with a leaf and the flower. I am using it as the string for a ‘pattern art’ activity included in a Missouri Trees program (Flowering Dogwood is Missouri’s state tree) at a local library for children…so many experiments as part of my preparation. My scanner opted to make the page into two images, so I am including them here as a rectangle and square tile rather than the page with both. As you can see…starting with the same string can still lead to a lot of variation!

—

The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Geology Course Experiences – February 2025

/

I have completed 3 more chapters in my online course – reading the eTextbook, working through the study questions and taking the quizzes (all part of the online book). There was a short YouTube video. The professor sent an email about another video - Hidden Fury - the New Madrid Quake Zone – which was more  substantial (although not very polished); I wondered why she did not make it part of the online course as part of the section on earthquakes. So far, the online course content seems to be almost entirely the eTextbook – very little content/value added by the professor or the university. I will finish the course and get as much as I can from the online book that I can access until next summer but probably will not take another online course from this university.

The lab course is almost better than I expected. It started out in what seemed like the traditional entry level geology lab: trays of minerals and rocks; I took a few pictures. Diorite made of quartz, plagioclase, and hornblende.

Granite made quartz, feldspar, and plagioclase. 

But the next lab (volcanoes) involved use of VR headsets or scanning a QR code to look at something on our smartphone. The lab for the next week (volcanoes again) included some more video initiated by scanning a QR code followed by a simulation of a volcano emergency with role playing. It was interesting to have the Santorini earthquakes and associated response in the news at the same time we were doing the lab. Overall, the lab is exceeding my expectations; I appreciate that the faculty is incorporating new content and delivery mechanisms into the course.

I’ve met my daughter for lunch after two of the labs…before I head back home. I showed her the imprint of the shell in the limestone near the student union before the first one; the light was better for photography.

PT on my Own

/

It’s been three weeks since my last physical therapy session. I’ve had some ups and downs. The therapy did succeed in dramatically reducing my back pain but now there are other aches that I wasn’t noticing previously. They could be simply a byproduct of me becoming more active and using some muscles that did not get worked very much previously. There were a couple of days I felt like I was coming down with a cold or flu…but then I bounced back feeling back to normal without getting sicker.

No matter how I feel…I do at least some PT every day and try to add repetitions or harder exercise as often as I can. The overall trend is good but not always a straight path. I am challenged to remember the warm-up required for some parts of the routine. One routine that is done on stairs is particularly hard on the knees if I don’t warm-up first!

There is more vigorous activity in some of my other activities now. I fast walk between by car and the geology class I am taking; the last bit is up three flights of stairs. After class I take the stairs down and go to another building to meet my daughter for lunch…with another 3 flights of stairs up to the dining room. We take the elevator down! On those days, I don’t do the PT routine that involves stairs.

I am still challenged to remember to stand correctly when I am out and about – particularly on uneven terrain after being in the car for an hour or more; the result is that my back starts hurting. My husband and I are going to be taking some field trips soon that will give me more opportunity to practice – learn how to get my muscles warmed-up enough after being in the car to enjoy the hiking.

Winter Seed Sowing

/

I assisted one of my fellow Missouri Master Naturalists with a program for her county’s libraries – planting seeds in plastic jugs for planting in gardens next spring. There were about 50 participants (plus parents) that participated across the two sessions. The set up included lots of plastic jugs (saved from distilled water purchased for humidifiers), soil, gloves, tarps to protect the carpet of the library meeting rooms, scissors, and seeds. I took pictures of the brief calm between set up and the chaos of everyone getting dirt and planting their seeds.  

The battery powered drill was used to make holes in the bottom of the jugs and marker holes to cut the top part almost off…leaving a 1-2 inch hinge. Most of the children were young enough that we recruited parents to make holes in the jugs.

Several of the older children mixed the soil with water in big buckets for everything else to use. We had native wildflower seeds but almost half the children chose to plant vegetables. An older lady chose to plant common milkweed in her jug…and she is going to plant the seedlings near some buckeyes in her yard in the spring.

Each hour-long session was a whirlwind of activity. We managed to contain the mess with the tarps on the floor, so cleanup was not bad. I was grateful that we had some extra help from some local Master Gardeners and the parents of the children jumped in to help too.

Geology Course Experiences – January 2025

/

I started a second semester at Missouri State University in January – taking a geology course (online) and lab (in person). The semester did not start out as well as the one in the fall:

  • Unfortunately for me, the department had made the lab optional so the university’s program for people over 62 only applied to one part – make the semester considerably more expensive than the fall semester.

  • I also mistakenly signed up for an online lecture course that didn’t begin until March (it didn’t occur to me that there would be a schedule like that) so I had to make a quick adjustment to get a course that matched the lab duration.

  • The lecture part of the course (online) had a digital textbook that include study aids that was required for the course….that cost over $80. It was quite a ‘sticker shock.’

The first lab happened before I got the lecture course situation fixed, but evidently it was also before most people in the lab had attended a class too. The instructor walked us through the lab as a group, but she talked to fast that I wonder how many of the students understood it very well. Fortunately it was a topic I was familiar with.

I’ve completed the first two chapters of the textbook that have been assigned – and the associated questions/quizzes. There was one short YouTube video that was included in the assignments. I am disappointed that the professor does not include any recorded lectures for the online course; she did invite us to a similar course that she is teaching in person if we wanted to hear a lecture on particular topics…and I have gone to one.

The course and lab both reference field trips but there were none listed on the schedule for either one. I asked the lab instructor…they only knew that there hadn’t been field trips since COVID. When I emailed the professor, I was told that there would be a field trip in early April. Would it have happened without my query? Geology field trips are some of my favorites. When I was in high school, I went on several field trips with Southern Methodist University’s geology department since I had a friend whose father was a paleontologist there…and then in college I tagged along with my husband’s geology class at El Centro (community college) and University of Texas (rock roses and marine fossils and caves). In Maryland, the master naturalist training included a hike in Patapsco Valley State Park with a geologist! So – I really want at least one geology field trip from this course.

The professor also sent out a pdf with a self-guided geology tour of the campus. I did it last week; the day was too cold to do it leisurely although I did notice non-geology things along the way too.

As I walked from the lecture building toward the first stop on the tour – I made a slight detour to photograph Ozark Witch Hazel that blooms in January. The buds were open but the streamers were still curled…probably because it has been very cold during the past week.

The first stop was to see the “Carthage Stone” (limestone) façade of Carrington Hall. The foundation of the building is Missouri Red Granite from the St. Francois mountains of southeastern Missouri.

Inside the building, there is a tile floor (not a geological feature) and steps/decorative spheres of marble….a grand staircase.

I photographed tiny fossils in the polished limestone stairs of Hill Hall. The building was constructed in 1924…one of the older buildings on campus.

The Memorial Garden near the student union building has a gabbro slab (igneous like granite but with larger crystals and dark silicate minerals like plagioclase feldspar). There is also as sandstone ramp/wall along the walk to the Memorial Garden. The stones are from northwestern Arkansas and reminded me of some sandstone my grandfather used to construct some benches back in the 1960s.

There are dolomite rocks in some of the planting areas – ugly but interesting.

At the southeastern door of the student union, the slab to the right of the door is more Carthage Stone…this time with more visible fossils! The step up to the door is granite porphyry…with different crystal sizes indicating that it had 2 phases of cooling and crystallization.

It had been a cold walk but the exercise of being out and about felt good as I walked back to my car to go home. I am thinking of the walk as the first field trip of the course.

Volunteering – January 2025

/

It has been a busy month for volunteering – all Missouri Master Naturalist but quite a variety.

Citizen science. Project Feeder Watch is something I do looking through a window of my home to my bird feeders for 2 hours per week (4 30-minute observation times). My husband does it with me and I record the maximum numbers of individuals we see of each species. It is a great way to enjoy the outdoors when the weather is too cold or wet for being outdoors! And 2 hours a week from November to April will add quite a few volunteer hours to my Missouri Master Naturalist total!

Educational presentations at Cedar County Libraries. The presentations themselves are only an hour each but there is a lot of preparation for them…and there is travel time for me (over an hour each way from where I live). I have enjoyed the interactions and am relieved that my partner is taking the lead on half of them. This is the biggest chunk of volunteer hours recently and we still have 2 to go in February – and I am leading the last of those sessions.

Program Chairperson for the master naturalist chapter (i.e. supporting administration of the chapter). The job requires snippets of time so far….but they do add up. I have presentations set for February and March….with many ideas at various stages of development for future programs. Some have been tentatively set for a particular month. I want to be 2-3 months ahead speakers that have committed to speak.

Thinking ahead…I will probably trend toward citizen science volunteering with occasional outreach and educational presentations. This is a reversal from the volunteering I did in Maryland. I haven’t found an organization that has themed-hike leader volunteer opportunities like Howard County Conservancy did in Maryland. There is a butterfly house in Springfield that seems to need volunteers similar to Brookside Gardens did for their Wings of Fancy (pre-pandemic). That will be an outreach/educational type of volunteering I can do in the warmer months and I am looking forward to getting linked up to do that in the spring.

52 years

/

Another wedding anniversary…

January is the month I got married…52 years ago. There were patches of ice on the ground in much of Dallas on the day, but the roads were clear enough that our small ceremony and larger reception at my parents’ house went as planned.

Looking back at the years, I am a little surprised at how many of them there are! We were among the first of our friends to marry and we survived those early years even better than we expected…being in school for most of the first 10 years.

There are so many positive trends that made our marriage easier than most:

Our careers were enjoyable and well-paying --- more than keeping up with inflation (which was a challenge in the 1970s and 1980s).

Every move to a new home was a better house than the last.

Our daughter was born after 16 years of marriage and still brings joy to our lives.

Our medical expenses were never great (always well covered by insurance through our employers and, now, Medicare).

Travel was always within our budget (we now tend to stay in hotels rather than camp as we did in the early years) and has resulted in many new experiences.

The post-career years have been good (so far).

Of course, there were some choices that might not have been the best, but they didn’t have a long-term negative impact. My philosophy all along has been to live in a way that I will have few regrets….and it has served me well.

Missouri Giant Traveling Map

/

Doing a program for 7-13 years old students with the 17 feet x 21 feet Missouri Giant Traveling Map at a nearby county library was a learning experience for me as a Master Naturalist (and my partners too). For one session we had 18 students and the other one 4. The groups were enthusiastic to be out and about after a snowstorm had kept them inside for a few days. They enjoyed taking their shoes off and walking around on the map…so much that they sometimes started sliding on the plastic a little too much.

That age group has had some great outdoor experiences in the state – but they don’t necessarily know where they went unless it is associated with a city. Fortunately - one of the fathers took off his shoes and stepped on the map to show his daughter where the river they had floated down was on the map.

The students also were able to look at rivers in Missouri that flow into the Mississippi River directly…ones that flow into the Missouri River and then the Mississippi…and those that flow south into Arkansas and the rivers there before eventually flowing into the Mississippi.

We noted the grayish areas on the map…where the terrain is very hilly…and other areas that were not. I suggested that they look at roadcuts when they are out and about in the state (that it is a safe thing to do since they are not driving!)…and notice that not all of the layers of rock are horizonal…and think about how the layers can become the way they are.

We have 3 more topics we are presenting in upcoming library sessions and we learned: to have a better idea of how many people we expect and be more assertive when some of the students are disruptive. We also realized that it was fortunate that our subsequent sessions are more hands-on active rather than simply walking around and looking. We’ll get better with each one!

Zentangle® – December 2024

/

31 tiles for the 31 days of December.

They are all presented as square tiles this month. I segregated the ones I made in New Mexico for this first group of 12.

The rest were made mostly at home. I am using a lot of different colors of card stock…mostly black or white pens although there is a smattering of other colors.

Making Zentangle tiles almost every day is rewarding…and a way to create islands of calm in otherwise hectic days.

--

The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

2024 in Review – Life Events

/

This is the first post reviewing what happened to me in 2024; I’m starting with the big events.

2024 included a bigger-than-usual event…perhaps even a pivot point in my life: my mother died. We had shared our lives for over 70 years; no one else can fill the gap completely. The months leading up to her death (hospitalization, moving to assisted living, rallying, COVID-19) and the immediate aftermath (the funeral, selling my parents’ house, finalizing her financial affairs, comforting my father) are still fresh in my memory. I’m not completely sure that the pivot is complete even now. My relationship with my siblings (3 sisters) is still changing.

All the other events of 2024 are not as life changing:

Taking the Identifying Wood Plants class at Missouri State University and the Missouri Master Naturalist training were an important step back to pre-COVID times. Both have prompted an uptick in volunteering and discovering ‘favorite places’ close to home.

Attending a funeral for my cousin. She was more than a decade younger than me, and we had not seen each other frequently in recent years. It happened not that long after my mother’s death and the sadness was quite different…for a life that ended early.

I made many short trips (day trips, one or two nights away from home) with my daughter. Sometimes with my husband along too. There are so many new places to explore when one moves to a new part of the country. We have been here in Missouri for 2.5 years and there still seems a lot to see for the first time within the ‘short trip’ range.

Physical therapy (1)

/

My first session of physical therapy for lower back pain was just before Thanksgiving. I have 2 appointments per week through December – with a week off while I am out of town. It will be fabulous if this round can be as successful as the one about 20 years ago when I had a shoulder problem.

It has started out with very simple exercises for me to do twice a day. I’m sure it will ramp up to more challenging ones soon since the first ones are very easy for me. I am optimistic that it is going to help because of my previous experience and because the therapist has already made some suggestions that are helping me move without hurting!

It feels great to be ending the year with this type of activity…doing something that has the potential to enable me to start 2025 in better physical condition than I’ve been in 2024!

Zentangle® – November 2024

/

November has 30 days – hence 30 tiles picked for this post. I made slightly more square tiles than rectangular ones…and had almost 60 tiles to choose from. The black card stock is still my favorite, but I did some on recycled cardboard and other colors of cardstock. Each tile is unique…some with favorite patterns and some with new or experimental ones that appealed to me in the end. Tiles are like rivers…never the same twice.

Most of the time I ‘fill the tile’ but I managed to avoid the tendency for a few and they are probably my favorites…I’ll do more of this in December!

--

The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Sorting Used Books

/

I sorted used books for Friends of the Library at two of our county libraries this month.

The first library was not one I had been in before and the sorting was done in a small windowless room lined with shelves --- table in the middle with bins underneath --- a narrow walk space around the table. The door is left open; otherwise, it would be very claustrophobic. There was one bag of donated books that was in bad shape (water damage, detached covers, a musty smell); most of those went into the recycling bin. The other volunteer and I quickly sorted everything and boxed up over 10 boxes to go into storage for the next book sale. It was a good experience but not the place I want to do book sorting very often.

The second library was one that is close to where I live and one I had worked in before. The room is without windows but is large…plenty of room to move around and the boxes of books are kept in the middle of the room.

There aren’t as many puzzles being donated these days so I didn’t find any while I was sorting to buy from the library for my dad’s assisted living home.

13th Anniversary of my Blog

/

This is the 13th anniversary of this blog space. It all started when I made the firm decision to retire and started a daily blog…a few months before my career formally ended. It was a way for me to guarantee a little bit of structure in what loomed as a time of my life without many external requirements on my time.

Work had dominated so much of my time – way more than my college education during the first decade of my career…more than my daughter’s 1st 20 years in decades 1.5-3.5 of my career. My husband has been a constant through it all  - both of us putting considerable time into our careers. Mine ended without a glide path (intentional on my part)….his was a glide that finally ended a few years after my retirement. We both were aware of developing new ways to fill our days with a mix of activities that we chose – sometimes very different from things we did while our careers were active.

Writing a daily blog has had a positive impact on furthering my artistic side…and sometimes spurring me to action.

Previous anniversary posts: 12th anniversary, 11th anniversary, 10th anniversary, 9th anniversary

Book sorting for Friends of the Library

/

There were not a lot of books on the table to sort when I volunteered this week…and there weren’t any 300-piece puzzles on the shelves (I can buy them for $2 each to take to my Dad when there are).

The shelves that we use for sorting were full for hardback fiction, softback fiction, history, and non-fiction. I boxed books and managed to mostly clear the table while I did.

Just as I was beginning to think I would finish early, a librarian brought in a cart of donated books! There was enough hardback fiction to fill a box – no trip to the shelves for them. And the rest I sorted onto shelves. And the big bonus: there was a 300-piece puzzle that will go to Dallas next time I make the trek!

Friends of the Library Volunteering

/

I enjoy volunteering for the Friends of the Library used books/puzzles sale. Last week it was at the branch closest to where I live. I volunteered twice: at the preview sale for people in the Friends of the Library group and then the morning of the $3/bag on the last day of sale. I took some pictures of the tables of books just before we opened the doors for the preview sale.

There were a lot of books that left the building on both days and I was glad since this is the main way Friends raises money to support special programs at the library. I was handling the cash box on the first afternoon and then straightened books remaining as the morning progressed on the $3 bag day (so many books are being sold that the tables look messy quickly). Both days were 2 hours well spent from my perspective – the $ raised and the great social interactions; the other volunteers are always helpful and I’m beginning to recognize repeat customers.

I got a total of 6 puzzles for my dad, a big cookie pan/cookbook, and 3 children’s books….and a FOL t-shirt which helps me look like a volunteer rather than someone that is a neatnik shopper! There is one more sale before the end of the year and I’ll try to help with set up for that one. The main day of the sale conflicts with a required Missouri Master Naturalist field trip.  

A College Class…after 40 Years

/

Going to a college campus for a class was almost a ‘new’ experience since I hadn’t done it for over 40 years.

The campus was newer and bigger than the university I attended in the 1970s. There was more construction and different types of parking that I’d experienced before. I set my nav system for a parking lot close to the building where my class was located; it took me to the parking lot but not on the side that had an entrance! I used the nav system to help me find the building to…and still walked past it because I wasn’t looking for the name of the building in the right place. As I walked in the building, the doors leading to the first floor were taped saying there was construction on that floor…realizing that my class was supposed to be on the third floor; I took the door to the stairs that were off the lobby between the outside doors and the doors to first floor. I stopped at a lady’s room then found the classroom…both similar to 40 years ago.

The class I am taking is a field class about woody plants so there is a short lecture segment at the beginning and then the rest of the session is outside either around the campus or on field trips at various locations around Springfield MO. The professor had posted the charts for the first class and the syllabus for the course on Brightspace earlier in the week; I had looked at the charts and printed the schedule page of the syllabus…brought a notebook for recording notes in the field.

It turned out that the professor had printed copies of the syllabus and worksheets for when we were out in the field (around campus). The amount of paper was reminiscent of my long-ago college days. My earlier idea of using my phone to take pictures and notes in the field was not looking as realistic.

I did try to take some pictures of the woody plants that were part of the first class but the only ‘good enough’ picture were from black gum (Nyssa sylvatica) (1 picture) and buckeye (Aesculus) (2 pictures).

Juggling the cell phone on a lanyard and taking physical notes is cumbersome. I’m going to try a slightly different approach for the next class which will be a field trip to Springfield Botanical Gardens….maybe taking my bridge camera (better optics so I don’t need to get as close to what I am photographing) and wearing my photovest (with lots of pockets in the front) so the notebook can be taken in and out more easily.

I am not taking the class for credit, but I am still trying to learn the common and scientific names for the woody plants viewed in the course. It might take some study techniques I’ve not used for a very long time. I want to find techniques that do not involve making paper flashcards!

Registering for a College Class

/

I registered for a class at Missouri State University last week – Identification of Woody Plants. It has been over 40 years since I did this last! Lots has changed in those years.

  • I didn’t need to go through an admissions process ahead of time or get transcripts sent because I am part of the cohort of people over 62 years old that can attend classes at much reduced cost (MSU 62). I called their office a week before the registration day to confirm. I also asked about the pre-req for the class I wanted to take; I had the pre-req in my long-ago college experience but without the transcript, how would they know? I was advised to email the instructor to get a waiver…which I did and they waived the pre-req for me.

  • The course catalog and schedule are all online now rather in paper/soft cover books. I knew that there were only 7 slots remaining in the course I wanted to take before I headed to registration.

  • The registration for the MSU 62 cohort was held the week before classes started which is later than I usually registered back in the 70s. I arrived just after they opened. The receptionist for the event handed me forms and sent me to tables/chairs to fill them out. The course I wanted to take was not on the paper version of a course list on the tables, so I was glad I had the numbers for it written down to enter in the appropriate places on the form. I also had the printed version of the email exchange with the instructor. I was so focused on the requirements for my degree 40 years ago…now I am just taking whatever interests me and not for credit.

  • When I finished the forms, I joined the queue in chairs waiting for advisors…and thoroughly enjoyed a donut while I waited. I don’t remember ever having food provided when I registered for college classes before!

  • The advisor got me admitted and registered very quickly. She discovered that I already had a number with the university (maybe because I had donated back in 2020).

  • After that I was routed to a second person that printed out my concise schedule and talked to me about setting up my computer accounts, books and parking permits. It appears that the only cost is going to be for the parking pass – quite a bargain even compared to the costs I had in the 1970s. In addition, the textbook for the class I am taking is listed as ‘optional’ so I am waiting to buy it until after I hear what the instructor says in the first session.

Less than an hour after I entered the building, I was walking back to the parking garage. Along the way I photographed the colorful school mascot (bear) at the corner of the building. I am looking forward to this course…not so different from the way I always looked forward to the fall during my education-intense years…but savoring that I won’t be taking any tests!

Baking Soda

/

My mother used to keep a small bowl with baking soda in it during the summer…adding some water to it when she came in from working in the yard to make a watery slurry that she’d rub over her arms and legs. She said it stopped a lot of the itching. I remembered her doing that and decided to try it. It helps – sometimes completely alleviating the itching!

Most of the time I apply it when if first get in the shower – no worries about leaving soda splashes on the floor that way. I use a back brush to scrub the baking soda slurry onto my back too. Then shower as usual.

In-between uses, the water evaporates, and the remaining baking soda makes a cake that looks like a miniature ice flow….or abstract art. At some point I add more soda, so the container is ready for the next time I am cleaning up after yard work.