Back to Normal

We've been home from our trip almost 2 weeks now, and things have slowly returned to normal. Basically what we do once we get home is start planning our next trip.

We had a wine and cheese social at the clubhouse this past Friday. It was nice to sit around and visit with our neighbors. A couple whom we did not know sat at our table, and it is always nice to meet new people. I don't drink wine, so Donna helped herself to mine. I visited with the powers that be and suggested that if they could have a wine and cheese social, they could also have a beer and nachos fiesta. They said they would take it under advisement, and then told me to get lost.

I've tried to get back into my walking routine. The week away on our trip did not seem to hurt too much, as I immediately started my 5 mile walks again. We did quite a bit of walking on the trip, including the steep hills in Cripple Creek, and that obviously helped. But a few days later, my routine was interrupted again, this time by weather and other items, and I've found it harder to get going this time. The first day I really struggled to get 3.6 miles. The next I did a little over 4, and yesterday morning Donna and I walked together and logged 4.25 miles. As I age, I find that anytime I lay off, I find it more difficult to return to my former mileage. I guess that is normal.

Got my haircut earlier this week. We have a new hair stylist/barber at the clubhouse. I really prefer an old fashioned men's barbershop. I especially like when they use a straight-edged razor to trim around my ears and the nape of my neck. I feel like I have a really clean cut then. It's getting harder and harder to find such barbershops these days. And I have to admit I'm a bit lazy. I can simply take the short walk to our clubhouse to get my haircut now. Even though it is not cut quite as I like it, the convenience wins out. It beats hopping in the car and driving miles around town to another barber.

The weather is delightful these days. We had one day that never got out of the high 60s, though most days are still getting into the mid 80s. With our dry climate, the mornings and evenings are just about ideal right now.

We'll probably start shifting our walks soon to later in the morning and eventually even into the afternoon as the weather cools. In fact, we did take a walk recently at our state park on a foggy morning shortly after 8:00 AM. We did a 5 mile loop, and the fog eventually began to burn away as we neared the end of our walk. At one point, we heard a distressed animal cry. I did not recognize it, but could tell that it was off to our left only a short distance. I then saw something close to the ground and dark brown scurrying about. Then, a few feet to the left of it, I saw 2 wild pigs run off. Not wanting to be caught between an angry sow and what might be an injured baby, I hurried Donna along. I do not know what the commotion was about. Possibly the piglet was attacked by something, perhaps a rattler. Quien sabe?

I took this photo at the start of the walk. This is a playground next to the parking area at the Red Arroyo Camping Area.

This is a photo of the same location, but at the end of our walk. You can see how foggy it was.

This is about the halfway point of our walk, and you can see that the fog has cleared some. The dam and lake are in the background. We jokingly refer to the camping site in the foreground as "Donna's Spot," as she has always wanted to camp in this spot with the lake in the background. It has always been taken when we have camped in the park.

But overall, the weather is great. We are spending a great deal of time on our back porch in our rocking chairs, watching the comings and goings in our little neighborhood. At night, we often see deer nearby, and our eyes follow planes across the sky as they head to or from the local airport. We make plans for future trips and narrow down where we want to go.

It's a hard life.