self-care – How I'm Living With KB253

So this year, with a renewed interest in being a tourista in my own city, I joined the Tacoma Trails Challenge. Initially I thought it would be a lot of climbing up a few trailheads or some steep hills on the outskirts of Tacoma. I was a bit leery since Tacoma still has a reputation for loads of meth labs on the outskirts of the city. I’m glad to say my perception of the challenge was wrong.

The challenge, sponsored by Metro Parks Tacoma, was to visit various parks and trails in the city and complete the accompanying activities. It was designed to inspire movement, family fun, conversation and of course picture taking. Choosing where to walk and which activities to do for the challenge wasn’t easy. Let me tell you, Tacoma is an absolutely beautiful city, especially on sunny summer weekends. So having to decide between the Art Walk, Ruston Way, School Yard or Wright Park challenges to complete within the two week time frame tested my time management skills. After all, tourista or not, I’m working from home, not on vacation.

I did seven challenges and had a great time visiting some new sights and exhibits. I got in lots of steps, averaged 20k on the weekends and took lots of pictures. That’s a big accomplishment for most people but especially for those of us with Rheumatoid Disease. And to be honest, there were a couple days my pain level was high; that made for some serious self-care on Mondays. Pandemic restrictions, or their state of influx, weren’t a deterrent either. Many people, young and old, big and small, were out walking and snapping pictures to enter into the photo contest.