Slow motion was the order of the day. I’ve felt muscle soreness for some unaccountable reason for the last few days. Maybe it’s just that I don’t stretch my legs enough to keep them loose, but lately they really feel tight. Now that the rain has started again, I won’t have as much of a chance to get out. That leaves indoor stretching (which, in turn, leaves me cold).

Then when I got back from my errands I couldn’t move because I was chilled. I got caught in the first of the icy raindrops, and by the time I’d made it from the garage to the house I was soaked through. I could feel it in my bones, but also in my throat and chest and head. This wasn’t looking like a very good Monday.

And wouldn’t you know, this afternoon the pain in my right hand returned, with a vengeance. I started resting it as much as possible, but I still had a number of checks that had to be written so they can be mailed tomorrow. That’s what takes the biggest toll on my hand and wrist, that business of writing, the old-fashioned way, with a pen. That’s why I use one with a big foam grip on it, but today it didn’t matter.

And by tonight, I was just worn down. I couldn’t do much moving around, and I didn’t have an appetite so I didn’t have the incentive the putter around the kitchen, much less drag out the old Debbie Reynolds tape and start getting the cobwebs out of what’s left of my muscles. Chopping potatoes or doing one-handed push-ups are examples of the kinds of things I try to avoid when my arthritis kicks up like this.

It’s a good thing I had only repetitive tasks to do today. A good thing and a bad thing, I guess. I probably couldn’t have made my way through anything complex or challenging, but who wants to do the same thing over and over, especially if it hurts? That doesn’t improve my physical well-being or my mood. And it pretty much assures that tomorrow won’t be a lot better, unless the sun comes out. That’s not in the forecast (which is the only thing that gives me hope).