Author: Diane Harper

Diane Harper is a retired former public servant who lives and swims (and bikes) in Ottawa. In her hobby life, she is Siglinde Harfnerstochter, a 6th C Merovingian housewife from the city of Metz. Her primary interests are cooking, textile arts and bonecarving. Siglinde lives in the canton of Caldrithig, Barony of Skraeling Althing, Kingdom of Ealdormere.
fitness

Lessons from Dad

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It has been just over a year since Dad died, and and now I’m the one dealing with multiple health diagnoses. The heart is on the mend, following surgery for a condition that I had no idea about until my doctor caught it while checking for bronchitis. I’m on a waitlist to see someone about the concerning lumps on my thyroid, discovered when I went for a pre-operative CT scan. I’m finally getting around to being tested for sleep apnea after the nurses in hospital asked whether I had it.

In all three cases, there were signs I should have been paying attention to, but ignored. Dad ignored or downplayed his symptoms until nothing could be done. I’m trying really hard (now) to break that pattern of behaviour.

I think of these things as mostly being lessons from Dad, but some come from Mom too. Was it a generational thing? Or just my family dynamics? Thankfully it doesn’t seem to have been passed on to my kids so hopefully they have learned the lessons already.

  • Listen to your body;
  • Consider that what you are telling yourself is normal for your body may actually just mean you are stubborn;
  • Admit when things hurt or feel wrong;
  • Ask for help;
  • If you can’t ask, at least accept help when it’s offered;
  • Read up on what is considered “normal” so at least you have some sort of baseline for assessing whether you should be worried, or feel free to carry on with whatever gives you joy.
A smiling woman wearing dark clothes rides a blue bicycle with an orange basket on the front. She has both her feet off the pedals, stretched forward. Having done this just last week, I am pretty sure she is saying “wheeeee!”
athletes

Go Sports Ball!

Diane Harper1 Comment

I’m writing this on my way to the Ottawa-Montreal hockey game. It has been an exciting season and series, and I can only hope that there will be one final game after tonight.

The Ottawa Charge celebrates a win at centre ice. Note the painted logo. It’s a big deal – really!

I didn’t expect to become such a big fan. I had watched Hockey Night in Canada as a kid because that was the only option in my two-channel, one TV household. A girls team was formed when I was in high school, but I wasn’t allowed to join. Later, I became a hockey mom for my son’s sake; but that wasn’t about the brilliant hockey – sorry kiddo!

As a feminist and a Canadian, I celebrated the achievements of Canadian women at the Olympics and other international tournaments. I was proud to see the achievements of some of those stars after their playing days ended.

I should have cheered even more for the dedication of those women who played for years with minimal sponsorship and no salaries, and only the occasional tournament to hone their skills.

But suddenly, women’s professional sports are having a moment.

The atmosphere at games over the three years of the PWHL’s existence has been phenomenal. It’s almost as much fun to watch the excitement of young girls dreaming of playing professionally as it is to watch the pros themselves. Attendance is skyrocketing (I expect a new playoff attendance record will have been set by the time you read this).

When the season ends, there will be options for the first time in my life: I can go to professional soccer games here in Ottawa, or follow the new basketball team in Toronto. New mixed team configurations in both traditional and para-sports are drawing my attention to things like curling, speed skating and athletics too.

Of course the women earn a pittance compared to their male counterparts, but there have been some modest moves towards parity in certain sports, and there is definitely a sense that the PWHL Players Association will be negotiating aggressively for more lucrative contracts now that they are a proven commodity.

Maybe that’s part of the reason so many of us older women are such fervent fans. We fought so hard for equality in our careers that we want to do what we can to help advance the careers of others.

I know for a fact that many of us are there celebrating a future our fourteen-year-old selves couldn’t have imagined.

fitness

Walking Walking Walking

Diane Harper1 Comment

Cardio rehab involves a lot of walking. It started with two six-minute walks on the first day I was released from hospital, and now I’m up to nearly an hour a day.

It’s necessary, but oh so boring for someone who loves to do other activities that aren’t yet permitted. Especially with the cold, damp spring we have been having. I’m getting flashbacks to the COVID lockdown days when we all walked because that was what was available.

Image: a grumpy looking bald eagle stomps through the water for its stupid physical and mental health

I have mapped out various routes around the neighborhood and am slowly checking them off as my distances get longer: grocery store, pharmacy, church, community garden, the Pond, the cemetery (it’s huge and full of trilliums this time of year). Tonight I am seriously considering walking downtown to see a ballet, if it isn’t too rainy.

The best was going to the tulip festival with my friend Florence. It was delightful to get out of my immediate neighborhood and see something new.

Left: Florence and I get our picture taken through one of the scenic frames set up to show off the tulip beds. Right: a particularly colourful bed of red, yellow, purple and white tulips with trees and a brilliant blue sky in the background.

Thanks Florence!

aging · habits

Nonnamaxxing

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I’m not big on following trends, especially those using terms like “maxxing” but this one made me laugh because I may be a trendsetter.

What is nonnamaxxing? Apparently, it’s a viral TikTok thing that encourages people to adopt the habits of an Italian grandmother, or “nonna.” Things like cooking from scratch, daily walking, gardening, long family meals, real-world social interaction and reduced screen time.

I don’t do all of these things (especially screen time), but I do love to cook from scratch, garden, go for walks or bike rides, and chat with friends.

As the Miami Herald says, movement, real food, social connection and mindset are the pillars of a nonna lifestyle.

An older woman in white shirt and pants enjoys a walk along the beach
fitness

Every Step Counts

Diane Harper1 Comment

There is a certain irony to having started this post just as the hospital physiotherapist arrived to take me for a walk around the ward. Where did my glute muscles go and why did they take my endurance with them?

I managed 140 metres, which was double my previous step count. Then I needed a nap.

When I’m not napping, I’m cleaning out my in-box and that’s how I rediscovered this January post by Nat. The softness of being okay with where I am, and working only to what feels comfortable really spoke to me.

It made me think of another thing that isn’t quite in season but is always relevant: One Foot in Front of the Other from the 1970 classic Christmas Show “Santa Claus is Coming to Town. You can follow this link to a YouTube version here: https://share.google/niRH0a8naZuA2zaRN

Diane in a purple jacket and carrying a blue and white umbrella out on one of her two daily walks. In the background, you can see trees beginning to bud, a sure sign of spring and better things ahead.

As of today, my walking distance has increased to 22 minutes, which works out to more than 2 km. One foot in front of the other.

health · swimming

Last Swim for a While

Diane Harper1 Comment

By the time you read this, I will be in recovery following my heart valve replacement.

I’m grateful I was able to go into surgery relatively fit. It will help my recovery.

I’m even more grateful that we finally had some good weather and I was able to go for a bike ride on Friday.

And I’m especially grateful to this amazing group of women, my swim club lane-mates. I couldn’t ask for better pals and can’t wait to be back in the water with them.

Five women grouped together in a swimming pool, hamming it up for the camera.
fitness

A New Way to Fight Off Dementia – One Bike Ride at a Time

Diane Harper2 Comments

I recently came across this article comparing the dementia risks for people using different forms of active and passive transit. Cyclists came out on top, with significantly lower rates of various forms of dementia.

“Previous studies have found a link between spatial navigational abilities and brain volume, which fits in with what the researchers found here: that cyclists ended up with higher hippocampal volumes.

“It could be the level of physical activity cycling demands that is largely responsible lowering the dementia risk, or having to negotiate routes and directions, or the need to stay alert, or perhaps being more exposed to fresh air.”

The study was careful to note that it was a link, but not necessarily a causal relationship. That makes me happy; I’m always suspicious of studies that aren’t clear about what they don’t know or didn’t examine.

I have written about the positive impacts of dance in fighting off dementia before, and more recent research backs it up. The London Taxi Driver Study researched a much more sedentary population, but one that relies on negotiating routes and directions, and where significantly larger hippocampus was found in study participants.

I’m happy to have another incentive to ride my bike.

Whee! A woman wearing an orange vest and raincoat rides a green bicycle. she has a big smile and one arm is up, as in celebration.
cycling · fitness

Checking in on Bike Month

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Week one is done. How did I do? Much better than anticipated, considering that I barely rode all winter, and the weather hasn’t been cooperating.

I missed April 1 because I didn’t even decide this might be a fun thing to do until at least April 2. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do the entire month because my (delayed) surgery is scheduled for April 20.

I did get out for the next three days. Then I missed Easter Sunday with the legitimate excuse that I had to cook the family dinner and haul it 25 km to my Mom’s (and bring home all the dirty dishes).

I got back at it Tuesday but missed Wednesday because of the weather and general tiredness. I couldn’t figure out the right clothes to go to work when it was -10 with the wind chill, but go home at +7.

I could have ridden to the hockey game that night and brought my bike home on the bus (or even ridden home) if a) I had remembered to charge my lights or b) remembered that busing home with my bike was an option. Oops.

By yesterday, I had the full-on cycling itch so went for a ride around the neighbourhood just for fun. It was my longest ride since last October and it felt great to be out admiring other cyclists, the runners, walkers, babies, dogs and geese enjoying the spring air.

A peaceful little island on the Rideau River. My bike is leaning against one of three red Muskoka chairs where you can sit and enjoy the view. If you know where to look, you’ll see the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill, and a common merganser swimming by.

I’ll probably only ride for another week this month, but I’m excited to feel brave enough to be out on two wheels again.

swimming

My Pool (and My Community) are Back!

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The swimming pool where I was hired as a lifeguard closed in June 2025 for renovations. Tuesday we opened for the first time.

It was a bit chaotic as our head guard couldn’t make it in, and our Aquafit instructor had sent an email saying they couldn’t come, but it was on the long weekend so no-one saw the message and arranged for a replacement. Kudos to my boss, who became head guard plus Aquafit instructor for two classes, on top of her day job. All the equipment that had been put away months ago needed to be set up again. But we made it.

Being back is wonderful. There were so many people joyfully catching up with each other. So many huge smiles, hugs and “welcome back!” greetings.

There were people I have seen at other pools where I work; they had been anxiously checking in on when we would reopen. There were people I had missed and wondered how they were doing. And there were people I had completely forgotten about until they walked through the door. It felt like a big family reunion.

Welcome back everyone! I’m so happy you’re here.

Me with a goofy grin, inside the lifeguard office.
diets · fitness · nutrition

Catching Up with Maintenance Phase

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Last weekend I had to go to an event across the province and decided to listen to podcasts as I drove. It had been a while since I listened to Maintenance Phase, which is all about debunking wellness and weight loss fads.

What a delightful way couple of days that turned out to be. I got caught up on trying to define ultra-processed food, the statistics behind blue dot communities (where lots of people live past 100), the wacky claims around seed oils and so much more.

Some of the influencer nonsense is spreading to Canada, as I discovered at a trendy shop in Toronto. I spotted a large display of tortilla chips made of organic Canadian corn, containing no seed oils, but fried (handcrafted) instead in grain-fed beef tallow. And as a bonus, it uses sea salt instead of salt containing iodine (iodine deficiency is the main cause of goitre).

A bag of tortilla chips that is clearly working to be perceived as Canadian and healthy.

I can’t be all smug though. My way of coping on long drives is to ingest caffeine and snack on something crunchy. By the end of the weekend, I had consumed many cups of coffee, two bags of potato chips and a Diet Coke. I had the worst case of heartburn in years, and was still feeling dodgy two days later.