You Do You

You do you. Is that a positive? As in “you are a unique and cared for human, so keep being yourself and doing what you love.” Or a negative? Meaning “I completely disagree with what you’re doing or saying, but refuse to engage.” Perhaps it’s another way of saying “each to his/her/their own.” Maybe it’s uttered as an automatic response when feeling overwhelmed or distracted. Like “you do you ’cause I have my own stuff goin’ on.”

My read? It’s all of the above. It’s meaning in any given context comes down to tone of voice, inflection and body language.

Regardless, you do you is the theme for this month’s Photo Blogging Challenge. It’s going to be interesting to see how everyone captured this idea in photographs. Here are my five attempts:

1. Me Doing Me

A rare selfie, this one taken on my birthday early in the month. I walked solo, because Mr. GeoK had a couple of meetings that day. I wore my favourite purple tuque (knitted by my Mom, years ago), and my hair in braids – something I recently started doing to honour my Norweigian heritage. And because I never wore braids as a kid, so it’s past time!

person in purple tuque and sunglasses on snowy path

2. You do You, I’ll do Something Else

Another solo walk (another meeting for Mr GeoK), When I reached the point where the pathway opened onto the meadow, I abruptly stopped. Part of the Canmore elk herd was browsing on either side of the pathway. This is one of those occasions where you think “you do you, and I’ll just turnaround.” It’s also called being #wildsmart! πŸ™‚

herd of elk beside a pathway through a snow-covered meadow

3. “You Do You” Changes Over Time

Yes, we used to golf. No, we haven’t golfed for at least 6 or 7 years. This month we decided to officially move on from this past hobby. We spent an hour or two on a sunny afternoon cleaning up, organizing and photographing our golf equipment. We had 6 sets of clubs, 5 golf bags and various accessories.

Wait! Before you form an opinion about the 6 sets of clubs, you should know that includes 3 sets of junior clubs our kids outgrew over the years. After checking with our now young adults, we listed everything for sale on Facebook Marketplace.

After two weeks, we’re pretty much sold out. So many positives…no more guilt over not using the equipment; a little more cash in the bank; less clutter in the garage; feeling good that this gear is back in use; and some great conversations with the folks who bought the various items.

a set of golf clubs laid on the ground

4. New Things Can Change How “You Do You”

In March we got a notification from our utility company that our 5-year fixed price electricity contract was expiring. And when we looked into new pricing, we discovered that power prices in Alberta have more than doubled since we signed the old contract. Yikes! (NOTE: including transmission and various admin/franchise/service fees, our new cost is about 20 cents Canadian/kWh, still a bargain compared to a lot of jurisdictions.)

The steep price increase prompted us to take a fresh look at solar power. The economics simply didn’t work last time we looked. And I’m not convinced the economics are great this time around. But we ended up choosing a contractor that buys carbon offsets for the footprint from fabricating the solar panels, we qualified for a $5,000 federal grant and we’re taking advantage of the federal 10-year, interest-free loan program to finance a solar array on our south facing roof. So we look forward to the installation, slated for July.

Since we have enough south-facing roof area to also power an EV with solar energy, we also put our name on the waitlist for a Hyundai Ioniq 5. To make a long and complicated story short, we’re now the owners of an Ioniq 5. It’s not the trim line or colour we wanted. But by taking delivery an in-transit-to-the-dealer EV, we were able to size the solar array to include the incremental load for charging the EV.

The EV has changed how we drive. The charge/discharge display and dwindling range make you very aware of how best to drive to optimize your use of energy. We’re looking forward to seeing how the Ioniq 5 performs when we use it to drive to hiking trails this summer. And we’re even more curious to learn how it handles a Canadian winter. Plus we have started noticing EV chargers wherever we go.

electric vehicle with sun spot on rear window parked beside a frozen mountain lake

5. Recipe for Happiness? Us Doing Us

Ha ha! I feel a little bit like King Julian in Madagascar as I struggle to come up with variations on “you do you” that make sense! πŸ˜‰

With our 35th wedding anniversary coming up fast, we have some experience in things that can help a marriage last. One best practice = spending time together doing things you both enjoy. We have found many such things, starting with hiking, biking and photography. Over the past few years, we’ve added bird photography and kayaking to the mix.

This month we managed to get out for our first bike ride of the year – 54 km from Canmore to Banff and back. It was awesome! Especially because we could both walk the next day! πŸ˜‰ It was a good shakedown before heading out to ride the Bow Valley Parkway next week. For a better sense of this ride, check out Mr GeoK’s Relive video recap.

person riding a bike up a steep hill

Okay, those are my five. Now please head on over to host PJ’s blog: A lil’ HooHaa. You’ll see what everyone else came up with to depict “you do you.”

While you’re there, please consider joining us this month. The theme is Tell a Story. All you need are 5 photos and a blog to share them. The amount of accompanying text is entirely up to you.

8 thoughts on “You Do You

  1. First, happy birthday and happy anniversary!

    You really captured this theme well this month. As I navigate the world of owning a home, I need to start putting things aside and selling on Marketplace. There’s plenty to likely sell, and the proceeds can go into my “home” savings account as I have plenty of projects I want to do!

    And all those elk… pretty cool!

    Thanks for always being part of this challenge! There aren’t many of us, but we have some fun! πŸ™‚

    1. Marketplace has been an overall positive experience for me to this point. There’s definitely some overhead: taking photographs, writing the descriptions, doing a bit of research to see what similar items are listed for (sounds kind of like writing a blog post, doesn’t it). But I have enjoyed meeting everyone who’s bought some of our stuff, and it’s a good feeling getting something for it, rather than just donating it to a thrift shop. You know first hand the item will be used by the new owner and it’s satisfying to see less clutter around the house/garage. I was inspired to try FB MP by my 81 y.o. Mom, who has been selling things on FB MP for about a year now. Go Mom!

  2. cmiked

    Happy Birthday and congratulations on 35 years. I always look forward to your words and images. I have slowly started back at golf, maybe. We’ll see. I do have some kids clubs I need to get rid of, thanks for the inspiration. You’ve also provided me with the push to finally look into solar. I’m on a rural cooperative for electricity and the price is relatively low but they offer some buy back incentives too.

    1. I’d be interested in following along your solar power investigation/installation. We just got word today that our installation will be late June/early July. The sooner, the better, as far as we’re concerned.

  3. Great set of photos for this month’s theme. I have yet to bit the bullet and look into solar panels for our rooftop. Being from sunny Southern California, it really should be a no brainer for me.

  4. First, congrats on 35 years of wedded bliss AND happy birthday! I like your take on the prompt this month. Mine was sort of similar. I hope the solar upgrade works well for you. I’m not completely sold on EVs, but time will tell whether they are beneficial. It would be so cool to see moose and elk on a regular basis! All we see on a regular basis are squirrels! πŸ’œ
    https://peripheralperceptions.wordpress.com/2023/05/02/april-photo-challenge-you-do-you/

  5. Congratulations on your birthday and your upcoming anniversary!
    Love your braids, and “tuque” is one of the words that help me identify a Canadian πŸ™‚
    Great to read about your solar equipment, it’s truly a win-win in the long run: ecologically and economically. Keep doing you – it produces nice pictures for us πŸ™‚

  6. I loved your blog especially the part about selling your golf clubs, getting some solar panels and and getting an EV. Oh and the pics were great too, especially the moose…ah…I mean elk.

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