Friday the 13th

 Well, it’s Friday the 13th and I’ve got my black cat. Where’s yours? C’mon, it’s almost Halloween—there are just some things in life which MUST be faithfully observed.

Like physical therapy exercises. Sadly, I’ve been an almost complete slacker this week.

Monday I did nothing (no pt ex, no walks, no elliptical—nada). Everyone, even yurs truly, needs a day off now and then though.

Tuesday I managed a 3/4 mile walk. What made this more challenging was that we were on Nantasket Beach. Yes, on the beach, not the seawall. I managed to roll (with rollator, not wheelchair) down the ramp and get through the rocks and seaweed that gather at the ramp’s base. From there I found a swathe of sand that was firm enough for me to walk/roll along without sinking up to my ankles.

The beach angles downward though which made maintaining my balance (i.e., NOT falling over) much more challenging. Here I was thinking that getting down the damn ramp and past the pebbles, seaweed and rocks would be the hardest part.

Nope.

Wednesday, I did pt exercises and then strapped on my new ankle weights and took an ultra brief walk along our home seawall. Why was the short so stroll? Ankle weights. I’m not used to them yet. I didn’t trip—no falls—BUT apparently walking with weights takes some getting used to.

Which brought me to yesterday when I did fuck all. My back hurt from the weighted walk—that’s my excuse (NO, my reason)—for being a sloth on dope for the rest of the day.

Today I’ll be less of a lazy cat—I’ll get out and be all active and shit. Meantime, your word for this gorgeous but chilly Friday the 13th is macabre.

It’s an adjective meaning gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible.

Macabre comes from French, most likely from the phrase danse (de) Macabré, “dance of death.” (source)

What is the Danse Macabre?

According to a Halloween legend, “Death” appears at midnight every Halloween and summons the dead to dance for him while he plays a fiddle. The dance ends at daybreak, at which time the dead return to their graves. (source)

and...

The earliest use of the term danse macabre comes from a Frenchman named Jean le Fèvre who used it in a poem he composed in 1376 as he himself was recovering from the plague (Bubonic AKA the Black Death). In danse macabre paintings, drawings, and woodcuts, Death—represented as a skeleton—is usually shown engaging in a very enthusiastic dance, sometimes with other skeletons.

Most often, the skeleton or skeletons are shown holding hands with a long line of living people, dancing them away to their deaths—kind of like a much more upsetting version of the Pied Piper, although that story is pretty disturbing just as it is. (source) 

I only mention it but you really need to see the 1929 Disney short The Skeleton Dance.

I dearly wish I could hear the music that goes with this fun animation. According to Wikipedia, it’s Edvard Grieg‘s March of the Trolls from Lyric Suite. I’m completely unfamiliar with this piece. I am, however, happily able to bring Franz Liszt’s brilliant piano transcription of Totentanz (German for dance of death) to mind. Mostly.

I’ll take it!