When:  Another day where I didn’t, 2/2/2018
Weather: Low 50’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

Today’s walk was still nearly 7,000 steps–so claims my iPhone.  I didn’t take a formal walk today. The busyness of work supplied the iPhone app with something productive to do.  I have been testing out a few excuses for myself.  None of them seem to be very convincing.  In the National Guard (and probably most of the military in general), they often said, “The maximum range of an excuse is 0 yards.”  This was a take-off on us having to memorize the range of various weapons we trained with.  So, the truth…

On a good night, I get something less than 7 hours of sleep.  On a bad night, “something less than 7 hours” MINUS “lots of stuff on my mind” EQUALS “6 or fewer hours of sleep”.  This week a project we “anticipated” since I started 6 months ago really started.  Besides the logistical issues, there were moments when people didn’t deal with their frustration well.  I was not immune to the headaches surrounding this change.  After getting home from work today, I chose to postpone any walks until after my nap.  After my nap (Before sleeping, I set an alarm.  I didn’t want to go TOO deep.), I found out I did go too deep.  I had to coax myself back to wakefulness with some mindless television.

After watching the news with my wife with minimal conversation, a dinner of warmups got my probably as close as I will come for the rest of the night to human.  At this point, the only option I have is to promise myself to be better tomorrow.  I am hopeful my “real” trail will be officially open.  I rather write about happy things than about being terrorized by homeowners who wave phones and throw threats at me.  Simply, I want a stressfree weekend.  Monday I get to start the SECOND week of the new project.  Don’t let me disguise my enthusiasm!!

When:  Not as nice as yesterday, but still sunny, 2/1/2018
Weather: Low 60’s with sun and breeze; walked with a jacket
Observations/Thoughts

I didn’t enjoy my day at work. I considered neglecting the whole idea of a walk. When I realized I had to come up with something to write about, I found the energy to get a few steps in.

• Fence repaired:  My walk of yesterday will likely not follow the same path for some time.  Even though the older gentlemen was just trying to rattle me with talk of “marshals” and middle-age delinquency, I don’t want to waste good mental energy getting my conscious poked unfairly.  As I saw the part of the sidewalk in the “closed” zone, I noticed they had tidied up the fence.  It now looked only slightly more foreboding than yesterday.  If there were no fences today and the path was open, I was not going to brave it.  I am hoping the old man will forget about me.  (I will certainly wear a different hat next time I walk through.)
• Little Passer: A mother and son were out riding their bike.  As I came to the point of yesterday’s fateful decision and turned around, they turned around just behind me.  It wasn’t long before they passed me—son then mom.  The son passed pretty close on my left.  The mother gave him some encouraging words like, “Be careful. Don’t be too close to people.”  As she passed me, she apologized for her son’s hastiness.  I forget exactly what I said.  It was something like, “I heard you, mom.  I know you are working on him.”  I hope when people hear what I say, they hear what I mean and just the words.  When I reflect on what I say to others where the conversation is really brief, I seem to say things out loud that are not as clear as they were when the thought was formed.  I did mean well.
• Barking:  When I went “out” on the front end of the walk, the barking dogs didn’t give me much more than a look.   When I returned, they were all about barking and chasing me along the fence.  (Fortunately, they didn’t have any cameras or anything beyond their barks.)  However, since I was still in a “recovering” mood, my head imagined itself swelling up to 10 times its normal size.  My face took on a cartoonesque look.  I opened my mouth wide, and I roared at the dogs.  The force of my roar backed them up into the pool.  They exited the pool and cowered on the other side.  The windows of the house shook.  As I passed their house and came to the bridge, I dared not look back for fear my imagination got the best of me.

When:  Beautiful day for a walk, 1/31/2018
Weather: Low 70’s with sun and a breeze slightly more than gentle
Observations/Thoughts

If I were a younger person who was afraid of every shadow, I might have been more scarred by today’s walk.  Since I am old and jaded, I came through it fine.  I do recall my heart beating a little faster…but I am getting ahead of myself.

On my walk yesterday, I yearned to walk the sidewalk I normally do.  I did get a little excited when I saw the worker moving some of the boards off of the path area. When I asked when the sidewalk would open, he stated, “It will be open in a week.”  As I walked today, I came upon this same spot.  The bigger barriers had all been removed.  It only had an orange-webbed fence and a waving yellow tape to limit my access.  I could not shake the temptation.  I crossed and explored.

There really was nothing to see. The issue responsible for the closing was the land to the left of the path (when going south) was not getting the runoff it was previously getting. Along the right side of the path, 15-20 yards of concrete had a gradual drop.  At the end of the drop, a pipe ran under the path and took the water to the other side.  Just pass another orange-webbed fencing, the owners of the land I just passed have their house.  As I came upon the yard, the homeowner was out.  He came to the fence right at me.  He said, “I was told I need to take a picture of everyone who uses this path while it is closed.”  He apparently didn’t get a good picture of me, or he just needed to harass me some more.  He was continuing to try and match my stride to the left of me–the path ran parallel to his driveway.  As the end of the “closed” sidewalk approached, I realized he may be trying to get a picture of me crossing the last webbed fence.  I picked up my stepped and hopped over.  Fortunately, no cars were coming on the road on the other side of the fence.  I crossed quickly.  As I crossed the homeowner yelled, “I think I have a good one for the marshall.”

When I was “caught”, I can’t deny a twinge of guilt. I got curious and explored more than I should have done.   I do not believe I interacted with the guy at all.  I do not recall saying anything to him.  I took his threats, and I just kept moving.  The irony of my position was why the sidewalk was still closed.  There was no equipment or tools or anything remaining. The only thing I saw was 3 orange webbed fences, the drain I mentioned, and quite a few new pieces of less-than-green sod.  I anticipate the path being open very soon.  I make no promises on the paparazzi.

To avoid any old man with attitudes, I avoided the sidewalk coming home.  As I was preparing to cross the last small bridge before the house, I saw the golfers I saw the other day.  After leaving them the other day, I realized I had a few golf balls I could give them for their practice sessions.  I followed them for a little bit on the path–they didn’t seem very aware of me.  As I was about to pass them, I asked them how their drives went today.  They were non-committal to slightly embellishing.  I volunteered the balls I had recovered from the park where other duffers had failed to recycle their golf balls.  They were up for it.  As they hopped into their truck, I directed them to the house where the balls would await.

Most of the balls were lemon-to-limey in color.  They may have been a little dirty, too.  They pulled the truck up to the end of the driveway.  I brought the small box where the balls had lived for a number of months out to their truck.  I emptied the balls into their “ball” bag.  And, they were off.  I don’t know their names and didn’t shake their hands.  I gained nothing from the interaction other than the satisfaction I stretched their golf game out for a few more days.

When:  Beautiful day for a walk, 1/30/2018
Weather: Mid 60’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

• I like to walk clockwise.  With all of the construction, this has been difficult to do in a satisfactory way.  Today, I was grateful for the fragments of my original walk I was able to assemble.  Besides the noted blocked sidewalk and closed sidewalk that wraps around the park, the alternate path (that happened to be a road)  had some additional construction challenges.  Somebody had AT&T in front of their house with 2 vehicles parked on the street taking up one lane.  The road travel was also hampered as a construction crew was burrowing around with equipment.  As a walker, it was just another hazard.  The distance between the road and the fence (donkeys and Longhorns were on the other side of the fence) gave me a few yards to play with as the equipment infringed on my space.
• This walk was really not very exciting today.  No golfer or friendly walkers.  Do I even need to mention how un-friendly most bicyclists are?  Was I to walk with headphones on, I might not look around and see things others had dropped.   Today, I think someone was studying for some sort of math test.  I would assume they were walking while they were studying, but they may have been in the back of a pickup when the wind wanted the study card more than they did.  Their note was on a washed out green 3′ x 5′ notecard.  The answer was “additive inverse” the other side had,  “the opposite of a number, a + (-a) = 0 “.  My wife was a math major.  She can’t remember what field of math this is in.  Hopefully, the person who lost their card realized it and didn’t miss it on the test.

I was disappointed there was not more to see or experience today.  I can just control being physically present.  The randomness of others peoples lives will not always be there when I am ready to view it.

When:  Beautiful day for a walk, 1/29/2018
Weather: Mid 50’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

I didn’t think I was going to get a walk in today.  I stalled for a bit after getting home from work.  Then, I had the expectation I would drop the car off to get its new tires tomorrow.  I just expected it to be too busy and crowded.  Fortunately, they were slow.  This gave me the opportunity to wait.  Should I have left the car and picked it up tomorrow, I would not have witnessed the actual time being nearly double the estimated time.  My wife was able to continue her best efforts to work from home.  If I have a book (a Kindle definitely counts), I can usually fend for myself pretty well.

• Boomerang:  The darn sidewalk construction continues to create encounters I might not otherwise have the pleasure of experiencing.  As I walked toward the most recent construction addition, a couple plodded along ahead of me.  I was nearing a “passing” range when they hit the construction.  Not wanting to risk walking the construction zone, they turned around and headed back at me.  Shortly after, I did a similar turnaround.  My stride was long and rapid.  I caught them pretty quickly.  As I came upon their left, I gave them the courtesy “On your left” so they would know I was not attempting to startle them.  The husband acknowledged me in a friendly way.  I replied, “Kind of a boomerang walk with the path being closed.”  His reply recognized my stride was a little quicker than he and his wife.  My response was a little tragic, “It is not my intent to walk so fast, but maybe that is why my wife doesn’t walk with me.”
• Fore:  The other boomerang part of my walk took me toward the closed park.  As I neared the orange warning fence, a couple young men with clubs were on my right–golf clubs.  They didn’t invite me into a conversation. I just decided I wanted to.  They had 15 – 20 golf balls in front of them.  They hit the balls straight ahead over the trees.  They let me know they never seem to hit the ball very well when anyone else is watching.  While I was watching and when I walked away, I saw a whiff, and I heard a couple balls that appeared to be grass burners.  (Or, maybe reed burners–they didn’t have much air under them.)  The guy (he claimed to be a swimmer) who had the whiff said, “It is my job to make him [the other guy] look good.”  I replied to him in what I hope was a friendly way, “You are going to have to try harder to be bad enough to make him look good.”    I enjoyed the conversation.  I am not sure if they did.  They did claim they recovered 80-90% of the balls each time they hit into the trees/dried-up-swampy area.  Based on what I was seeing, the recover ratio might be a little less with the most recent set of balls.

When:  Beautiful day for a walk, 1/28/2018
Weather: Mid 60’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

• Traffic cop II:  Today’s walk was similar to yesterdays.  I reversed my modified walk.  The walk ended up feeling more like my old walk–the views were the same and I was on the same side of the road.  The darn construction!!  As I came to the source of my contempt, 2 surprised bicyclists came up behind me.  They were rather dismayed by the closed path.  I tried to reassure them how they could “find” their path from there.  Another bicyclist came along as I was explaining.  I believe he led them along to where my abbreviated directions tried to get them.  As I went East and they went West, I didn’t know if our paths with cross again.  Our paths did not truly cross.  They crossed the street at the light a couple of minutes ahead of me.  They either got briefly lost or they rode slowly.  Alternatively, I may just walk fast…
• The fence is down:  While I honored the orange safety fence today, some other(s) did not.  During my walk, I saw an older woman walking very resolutely along a path that easily could have made her the guilty party.  For her sake, I hope the older gentlemen was taking a nap today and incapable of giving her the double evil eye.  Given her stride, I don’t think she would have paused for anyone.
• Free-range grubs: The armadillo has been quite active lately.  Today, he was searching the grass again attempting to find the grubs with just the right flavor.  Never having eaten any grubs, I don’t know what makes for a more satisfying grub.  If eating them outside of the drip zone of a tree makes them tastier to the average armadillo, then may he dine well…just maybe more often at night where he won’t scare the children or startle the adults.

When:  Beautiful day for a walk, 1/27/2018
Weather: Low 60’s with sun
Observations/Thoughts

• Reverse Walk (Walking Backwards):  With the construction on my paths and due to the eyes that would have incinerated me to ash should I have seen him again, I decided to walk my normal walk in reverse.  “Normal” is not quite accurate.  The walk did have to be modified.  And, when walking and seeing everything in reverse, new things come to light.  You see squirrel and bird’s nest you wouldn’t see.  When going the other direction on some roads, you see ditches and yards almost completely unknown to you when walking the other direction.  It is good to have variety, but I am looking forward to the old familiar becoming the norm again.
• More Armadillo:  The armadillo must have come out of hibernation again.  He was foraging around again.  His opportunities did not look good, but yet he persists in trying.  He may even have wandered over to our yard recently.  Our flower bed must have been growing some grubs awaiting his pleasure.
• Traffic Cop:  Again, as I came toward the home stretch, I had to help avoid a collision.  A family of 4 was on the path–the parents were walking and the kids were on a bike and a scooter.  As the younger brother was trying to catch his sister, he went to the left of me.  I saw the bicyclist coming along rapidly toward us.  A few times, I said, “Son, son, you must get over.”  He eventually he did get over.  As soon as he did, the bicyclist went by and blew our shirts up with the wind he created.

I finished the walk the way I usually do.   Walking the same direction I normally do helped me recover from any remaining uncomfortableness the exercise created.  Really, it was barely disconcerting at all.  I just am getting old and like whining.  Until my path opens up again, I sometimes lose control of my whiney self.

When:  Could not make it happen, 1/26/2018
Weather: High 50’s with clouds
Observations/Thoughts

These 6 AM – 2 PM hours are very difficult for me.  My ability to end the day well typically depends on whether or not I get a late afternoon nap.  This week there were fewer days without naps than days with them.  With my 40 hours behind me this week and a busy day volunteering at a robotics qualifying event (my youngest daughter is very involved at her school), I was certain a nap would serve me well.  My nap and walk needed to fit in around my modified schedule today–I was meeting with a salesman to get an estimate for a new roof.  Once he left, I considered taking a walk. My droopy eyes won out.  I lay down to read with full anticipation a nap would come over me quickly.  (I did set an alarm to prevent excessive sleeping.)

After I woke, I planned to walk.  it was not going to be a long walk.  I just like to make a daily effort to do some amount of walking.  As I considered the walk, the mist, the dark, and my growing ambivalence worked against me.  I decided to sit on the couch and just finish my book.  Another day to remind me not all walks involve movement.

When:  Late-afternoon, 1/25/2018
Weather: High 60’s with blue skies
Observations/Thoughts

Due to work issues, I was at work later than expected.  Then, I made a stop at Sprouts–our local farmers market.  All of this on the way to getting my daughter for her doctor appointment.  The day was so nice, I could not with a clear conscious NOT walk.  Remarkably, the last 1/2 mile of the walk was the most eventful.

• Crazy Old Man:  At the time I walked, it was very close to 5:00.  All of the work crews working on the parts of my path that were under construction had left for the day.  I decided I was brave enough to remove the little piece of wire that allowed the orange fencing to block my path.  The path was mostly okay.  There were just a few obstacles to easily overcome.  The rest of the walk was not a problem…or not until I returned to go the opposite direction on the path.  As I prepared to re-enter the construction zone, there was an older gentleman standing to my left.  He was anxious to meet me.  He had his hat on and was just staring at me.  As I came upon him, I stated, “They really messed things up, didn’t they?”  I waited for his response.  I then said, “Are you okay, sir?”  I just kept walking.  When I had walked past him, he turned and walked back toward his house.  (There was a fence between us.)  When I told my daughter about this, she commented, “If it were me, I would have been freaked out.  If I were you, it probably would not have bothered me either.”  I think he was trying to guilt me so much I would have turned around.  I am usually not a rule-breaker.  For some reason, this didn’t bother me at all.
• Russians Dog Walkers: I have seen these folks before.  It was a husband and a wife with their larger dog.  As our paths were near crossing, they were walking south on my side of the path.  They gradually migrated to the left side.  (Their right side.)  As I passed them, they were speaking a foreign language.  I am not sure, but I am pretty sure it had some of the sounds I associate with Russian.  With a mind having been the victim of too many spy books, I can’t help but imagine the couple taking a walk to do some spy related thing.  It is doubtful they were doing anything clandestine.  It sure is fun imagining it though.
• Drone:  The adult son of the family with a couple of the barkingest dogs along my path was flying his drone today.  He didn’t seem to be doing anything for a foreign government.  His sole purpose was, apparently, to fly the drone as high as possible.  A distant secondary purpose may have been spending some quality time with his attention-starved puppies.

When:  Early-afternoon, 1/24/2018
Weather: Low 60’s with blue
Observations/Thoughts

Today’s walk was not canceled, but my whole heart was not in it.  The previous evening I had put some dried pinto bean into a bowl of water.  The beans were ready for the next part of their adventure.  In the past when trying to make refried beans, I had used the pressure cooker.  Today, I put the beans on the stove with a lid.  I was letting the beans simmer.  Yet, I still wanted to take a walk.  Leaving a pan on the stove when not in the house is like leaving the water running in the sink when you are not in the room.  There is always the fear you might get distracted and the worst could happen.  As I chose my walking path, I attempted to balance effective against rapid.  The striding time was uneventful with the exception of a couple of dogs and their masters.

When I got home, the beans were not burnt and doing fine.  The ended up simmering on the stove for nearly 2 hours.  It was quite worth it.  They were certainly my best-refried beans ever.  My daughters appreciated them too.  One of my next goals is to come up with a good Spanish rice.   I also need to stop cutting corners and take a “real” walk again!