The Last Christmas Present

I have been working sporadically on this sweater for Dana since long before Christmas. The list of interruptions is legion, ranging from quick trips to Berkeley to atmospheric rivers, from the knitting of pussyhats to the writing of postcards and joining the Women's March, but I finally finished it and gave it to her. Having made one and liked the result, I might make another one....It looked nice on Dana, but she got away with it on Saturday night before I could get a picture of it on her instead of hanging rather crookedly on the bedroom door. 

When we moved to Santa Rosa and I started looking around for exercise classes, I had hurt my knee somehow, and was halfway through rehab just before we moved. It took us a few months to get moved in and settled, we had carried and assembled furniture and toiled in the garden and I didn't feel very fit, so I decided to take some private reformer classes with Kathy, a trainer who is also a licensed physical therapist. I have added some other classes, but have continued with Kathy ever since.

When OilMan was having trouble with his golf game and expressed an interest in working with Kathy, we started 'sharing' her, alternating visits with her every Monday. Today we found out that she is retiring. In the grand scheme of things, four years doesn't seem like a long time, but when you work intimately with someone as empathetic and caring as Kathy, it is difficult to say good-bye. Thanks to Kathy, our shared office has filled up with big balls, little 'squishy' balls, therabands, weights, foam rollers, and pages of instructions which she has handwritten for us.I even have a 'dog bone pillow' on my bed. We certainly won't forget her, but we will miss her.

She plans to set up a studio in her house. I wouldn't be surprised if we find ourselves going to see her in Windsor on occasion.