Sweet home Manitoba. Lord, I'm coming home to you

Lets see. I leave Miami at 4 in the morning and the temperature is already 24C. I arrive home 6 hours later to -10C and this:

The next day, I take my hour walk, in the snow. I only go a little over two miles or about 1.2 miles less than an hour long walk in Miami Beach. During my winter walk, I have the distinct feeling that I am going to fall over. Plus my right hand is dancing while hanging by my side. In other words, I have symptoms when I walk in the winter but I have few, if any, symptoms when I walk in the summer. What's up with that?

In my life's winter, I will try to find my invincible summer. What choice do I have?

Now,as I said in an earlier entry, on to exercise. I hate exercising. I always have. Whether or not to exercise is a daily decision. I started running about 30 years ago 4 - 5 times a week, 3 - 5 miles and I detested every step. Fortunately my touch of OCD (just a touch, it only affects me positively)kept me going but as I approached 65, I was determined to change my run to a daily walk of 3 miles. PD confirmed I had no choice, I would be walking, not running, and I noticed it was beneficial immediately. A half mile into the walk, my tremor would stop, even without medication. This improvement could only be the result of exercise. Recently, this hypothesis was confirmed:

"Recent research has shown that exercise seems to protect the dopamine-producing nerve cells that are lost in Parkinson's, helping them work better and survive for longer.

"This could potentially slow down the progression of Parkinson's – something no current treatment can do."More at Parkinson's UK

My daily exercise begins with 15 minutes of stretching all the muscles in my legs, my neck, chest and lower back. I then take 10 pound dumbbells and do 30 reps each of exercises designed to strengthen my chest, shoulders, arms (both bicep and tricep)and hands. Following that I use resistance bands and tubing to strengthen my inner and outer thighs. These strength exercises take another 25 minutes at the end of which (4-5 days per week), I do my walk. Apparently, my walk will be longer in mileage come the summer. The only trouble is, our summer is like an extra-marital love affair, extremely hot, a thrill a minute and gone before you can say good bye. (Not that I have ever had an affair you understand.)

But winter. Well, winter is not my favourite time of year. Robert Byrne wrote:

"Winter is nature's way of saying, 'Up yours'".

I can't argue with that, snow, cold, ice, sleet, there is nothing likeable about winter.

Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone;
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.
(Edna St Vincent Millay)