Thirty-six

Last year was quite a year. Less than two weeks after my thirty-fifth birthday, I was in the hospital for five days from a blood clot in my kidney. That kicked off a year of focusing on my health.

First, I had many specialist appointments for six months. I’m all good on the blood clot and kidney front and off of the blood thinners. But the positive thing that came out of the whole unpleasant ordeal is that I started seeing a doctor again regularly for the first time in 15 years.

I learned that my cholesterol is slightly high (not a contributing factor for this blood clot, but something to watch), and I was able to lower that by altering my diet and exercising more. I started going to CrossFit regularly in July.

My stress levels have gone down at work. From April through June I was on sabbatical, and my average resting heart rate decreased over that period. When I returned to work in July, I was switched to a new position that I find more enjoyable and less stressful.

My sleep has improved this year on two fronts. First, recovering from the blood clot forced me to slow down. For four or five months my energy was gone by ~7pm each night, so I spent most evenings reading in bed and falling asleep early. My energy levels have improved and I’m staying up a bit later now, but for the most part I’ve been getting consistent sleep.

The second front my sleep has improved upon is managing my acid reflux. In one of my many CT scans, I learned that I have a hiatal hernia, which is a major contributing factor to my acid reflux. I’ve taken famotidine for it for years, but it has always been a problem, and I was sick of taking medication, so I sought out alternatives. I raised the head of my bed for a few months, which helped a lot, but wasn’t great for the bed. I ended up getting a Medcline pillow, which has been incredible. Immediately it managed my acid reflux and allowed me to get off of medication for it. It has also been better for my lower back, since it forces side sleeping and helps with spine and hip alignment.

The next health thing I’m working on is improving my digestion. I got completely wrecked with strong antibiotic injections, then oral antibiotics. I took probiotics for a couple months to recolonize my gut floura, which helped, but I still needed some improvements. The last two months I’ve been focusing on increasing my fiber intake through my weekly beans project (see the posts here) and a daily Floura bar. Without going into too much detail, the increased fiber has been a positive improvement. I’m hoping it shows in the cholesterol numbers in my next blood draw, too.

Side note: Did you know how little fiber Metamucil and the like have? They only have ~5g of fiber and taste like a terrible sludge. Floura bars have 13g of fiber and taste amazing. They are made from 12 different plants instead of the husk of one kind of seed. I’m a fan.

All things considered, I’m feeling better than I have in the last couple years.

Last year I wrote this:

There is so much in our own communities that we ignore/miss/tune out/don’t notice. One of my goals this year is to explore and experience where I live in new ways.

This is an extension of trying to lean into the seasonality of this region. Noticing how the brook in the woods changes from season to season. Keeping an eye on the wineberries so I can pick them at peak ripeness. Noticing when certain wildflowers emerge. Which birds are around when.

Taking it a step further, I’d like to see the same place from a new perspective. I’d like to walk or ride my bike some places we normally drive and experience it at a slower pace. Fish a spot we’ve only driven by. Try catching some striped bass where I normally row my boat. Have coffee in a new park. Go to different playgrounds with Charlie.

I think I’ve done pretty well on that front this past year. I fished a lot of new streams, rowed and paddled new places, taken more woods walks, volunteered with Trout in the Classroom, visited new playgrounds, eaten at different restaurants, noticed three different kinds of trilliums in the woods, foraged, photographed different places, and have walked and driven new routes in daily routines.

I ended my post last year with an intention:

What do I want my thirty-sixth year to look like?

More local and seasonal focus. More time outside. Daily connection with Amanda and Charlie. Take advantage of ideas/inspiration/excitement when it strikes. Keep making things.

How did that go?

More local and seasonal focus.

This went very well (see above), and I will keep it going this year.

More time outside.

This was the highlight of my sabbatical. I spent almost every day outside for three months. Beyond that, we spent as much time outside with Charlie as we could. The extreme cold this winter put a damper on that, but we still bundled up and went out when we could.

Daily connection with Amanda and Charlie.

All-in-all this went well, but I can still improve here. Recently work has accelerated and I’m working more in the evenings, and I need to set a better boundary there. This winter has been hard with how cooped up we’ve been, and I’ve been losing my patience with Charlie, who probably just needs to run around outside and play in a completely unstructured way, but can’t. I need to work on that.

Amanda and I recently bought Bricks to help us reduce our screen time. That should help.

Amanda and I have been more intentional about going out for lunch dates, which has been wonderful. Dinner dates would be great, but finding a sitter is hard, so at this stage of life lunch dates are where it is at.

Take advantage of ideas/inspiration/excitement when it strikes.

Pretty good on this one. We’ve made house improvements, made things, and taken trips this year by acting when inspiration strikes instead of sitting on it. I’ve also read some great books by buying them when they catch my interest, instead of adding them to a black hole “to read” list.

Keep making things.

I’ve tied lots of flies this year and made some nice things in the workshop:

https://cagrimmett.com/2025/05/04/two-rustic-oak-bowls-from-a-log/

https://cagrimmett.com/2025/05/03/adding-a-slide-platform-to-an-a-frame-swing-set/

https://cagrimmett.com/2025/05/02/walnut-handle-for-a-hook-remover/

https://cagrimmett.com/2025/04/24/turning-smaller-tenkara-line-spools/

https://cagrimmett.com/2025/04/08/oak-fruit-bowl/

My woodworking declined when I was waiting on a part for my Shopsmith, but now that I’ve replaced it, I’d like to get back out there again soon. I had no desire to get out there when it was in the single digits, but now that is back up around 30F-40F during the day, my heater should be able to keep up.

One other thing I want to note: It has been great getting back into photography these last two months after a decade hiatus.

What do I want my thirty-seventh year to look like?

I want to prioritize my health, prioritize being present with Amanda and Charlie, spend as much time outside as I can, keep making things, and keep blogging.

A few ideas for this:

Staying consistent with CrossFit. Illness and snow days have derailed that this month, but next week is a new week.

Turning more small bowls in the workshop. Keeping a list of workshop ideas. Like those candleholders I saw in Woodstock last weekend!

Themed photo walks with Charlie.

Taking Charlie with me to sample streams for the Big Apple Brook Trout project.

Bricking my phone more.

Just hitting publish.

Previous birthday posts: 35, 34, 33, 32