Back in the saddle in a new role for a new year

By Lethbridge Herald on January 10, 2025.

LEAVE IT TO BEEBER – Al Beeber

I’m back. After seven working days off to relax, I’ve gotten back in the saddle in my new role as a part-time reporter.

I promised I’d continue with the column on a bi-weekly basis and I can’t think of a better way to ease into my new role than crafting one of these to start the new year.

I had all sorts of plans while I was taking a break and so far accomplished two – one is I started using my gym membership again which I’ve kept even though I’ve used it maybe 10 times since the COVID pandemic. I know that sounds like a waste of money but I was always open to the idea of returning and knew one day I would.

But I’ve discovered hitting the weights isn’t as easy as it once was. I’m used to the philosophy of ‘go big or go home’ and starting out using light weights has been an eyeopening experience because at least for now, I can’t lift like I used to.

The days of warming up on the bench press with 220 lbs. are long gone. Doing 190 pound tricep pulls ditto. I was never a leg guy so starting from scratch is like starting period but my upper body strength has definitely tanked.

Back in my 40s before blowing four discs in my neck and ending up in Foothills Hospital for a cervical fusion in 2002, I lifted heavy. A former co-worker named Gord Smiley mentioned on X recently I was the strongest person he ever worked out with, a comment which has really inspired me to push myself back to a level of fitness I haven’t experienced for decades.

But I have to work my way back to that capability – if it’s even possible at 65 – slowly. And ‘slow’ is not something I do. I go hard and I go fast and even being a senior it’s a mindset I can’t get over.

It’s why during the break I was still awake every morning around 4 a.m. Old habits are hard to break but this one is OK because Izzy still wants her early morning walk around Nicholas Sheran Lake. Granted, we’re not going at 5 a.m. anymore so we’re not seeing a couple of our pals but 6 a.m. is early enough.

My second goal while away was to develop a friendship with the new girl at home – Lady Diana, our rescue chiweeenie – that’s a chihauhau/dachshund cross. With Ben’s death, the house seemed empty because he was with us for 12 great years. Izzy was visibly out of sorts and wasn’t the frisky character she’d been. So I saw Diana’s story at Prairie Pet Rescue and while she’s the smallest dog I’ve ever seen, there was something irresistible about her.

This young adult bundle of energy is an absolute joy. She may be less than six inches tall but her personality fills the house. She and Izzy play steadily all day, chasing each other around the house and the yard until they both collapse on the ottoman together for a nap. Izzy outweighs her by probably 60 pounds and dwarfs her in size but she’s incredibly gentle with the new arrival who is timid with males so my son and I have really had to work to gain her trust. After five weeks, she’ll finally secure enough to cuddle up on my lap or beside me but I struggle to pick her up. And she still growls at Dylan when he approaches. I don’t know her history except that she had little human contact and needed to be adopted by a home that had another dog. But while Dylan and I are not yet worthy of her complete trust, Liz is another matter; She is Diana’s best friend in the house and follows her around the clock. I was hoping to fill the void left in my heart by Ben’s loss but Diana is clearly no Ben.

Except in one way – she’s not house trained despite being an adult. And that really makes me wonder about what her previous life was like but what matters now is she has her furever home.

Ben was on training pads when I adopted him as a pup and I seriously began to wonder if he was smart enough to go outside because it took months to train him. Diana, however, is at least two years old so clearly the circumstances of her past life are certainly suspect.

But just like Izzy, Ben, Rio, Roxie and our first dog, Jessie, Lady Diana has a family that will work with her, nurture her and take care of her for her entire life.

Which leads to my third plan while I was off: steam cleaning the carpets. And thanks to Diana’s lack of aim – you’d almost think she was a dude after too many brews at a bar – I’m using the steamer a lot. In fact sometimes twice a day in certain spots. But I’ve talked to other owners of smaller rescue dogs and I understand this isn’t a situation unique to Diana so we will be patient until she gets it figured out. And she doesn’t have a lot of fur or padding so even going outside for a few seconds has her shivering which can explain why she is using the pads. Or maybe being a Lady, she prefers indoor plumbing to an outhouse. Who could blame her?

And while Diana’s lack of house training is a bit annoying, I have to admit the carpets in the house have never looked so good. And now that I’m back to the gym, I can kind of consider cleaning a bit of cardio – after all, it has to be getting me a few steps every day. And every step counts.