Knucklehead

About four months ago, I developed a peculiar ambition:  I decided I wanted to learn how to crack my knuckles.  Do I not have enough bad habits?  Both my kids do it -- usually one knuckle at a time, with one hand in a fist, the other hand pressing individually on the middle knuckles of the other hand.  Yuck.  It looks workmanlike and painful and....I don't know.... kind of masculine. But that's not the only way to crack your knuckles.  My ex-husband can ball both hands into tight fists, then release them suddenly, and all ten of them crack with no more effort than that. 

I think there's only one way to crack your knuckles with any degree of elegance, and here it is:  start with your hands in the "prayer" position, close to your chest, and slowly -- this is key -- slowly push your arms outward in front of you while rolling your hands inward, palms facing out. When your arms are fully extended, keep your fingers tense, while stretching them to their limit.  It is at once tacky and graceful, and makes a loud and layered cracking noise which is very pleasing to me. You don't want to do this too often -- maybe just once in the course of an hour-long meeting -- and flash a warm smile at anyone who looks over at you. 

Yesterday, again car-less, I walked Banks for three miles up and down Congress just after 5am.  Poor Banks.  When we got to the end of our driveway, in the darkness, he started tugging me to the right, towards Congress and away from St. Ed's or Stacy Park.  He really does not like walking in the dark, and Congress is so much more well-lit.  So we did our trek up and down the big hill, I dropped him off at the house, and proceeded on to Lynn's house, one mile away, to pick up her car for the day.  I kept it at four miles, because I planned to drop the car back off at her house at the end of the day, and walk the one remaining mile home.  But over the lunch hour, I walked to my credit union, about a mile round-trip, and though I didn't intend for that to be my fifth mile, I rolled with it when I realized, halfway home at 7:00pm, that I'd left my jacket at the office, and I just didn't want to walk a mile in the cold and dark in my uncomfortable shoes.  Heather, Lynn's roommate gave me a lift.

Today's going to be my day off.  Over lunch I've going to close the door and stretch for at least a half hour.  I still have a lot of kinks to work out from my New Orleans walks, one of them in boots.