I had such a plan for today, and it didn’t go exactly the way I wanted it to. I woke up to pee and I could see that the sky was light outside. While I’m on the toilet, my alarm went off. It was so disappointing not to be getting back into bed for a spell. I started the morning with my Move U exercises.
Today was the first day of Shoulders & Arms level 2 week 3, so I had some new moves to review and learn. These moves are tough. I’m not feeling very confident about them, so rather than continue with the exercises from the PDF tomorrow, I’m going to do some focused work on those new moves, and I’m going to do some filming as well, though that might have to wait for Tuesday, because I’ll be mowing after work tomorrow and might not have the energy to film.
Then I ate a hearty breakfast, anticipating that I would be doing a tankful of lawn mowing before the family zoom at 10. But the weather was not cooperating. It was windy and threatening rain, so I decided that I would just have to do some mowing after my hike instead. I spent a pleasant half hour in bed just thinking of nothing before it was zoom time.
In theory, the wider family was invited to today’s zoom. But in practice, it was just my brother, my dad, and me. I don’t know why my other relatives don’t like to show up to the zooms anymore. I miss seeing them. But it’s also good to talk to my dad and brother. I took some notes about my grandfather’s adventures as a seeker, which I found interesting. I hadn’t considered before that I have a spiritual lineage.
After the zoom, I got myself out the door to go hiking. Yes, it was windy, but the sun was coming out. And the trail is easier to walk on than my “lawn” anyway. The snow line had moved up significantly, as evidenced by the Brownlee Creek and the side streams in full spate. I thought that I would be slower than last week because my legs were so sore from all the mowing I’ve been doing, but I shaved more than 3 minutes off my first mile time. Overall, I was moving a lot better, and I’m looking forward to continued improvement.
Once I hiked high enough to see the peak, I knew I wouldn’t be getting there today. I mean, there’s a chance that I could have, but the peaks were covered in roiling clouds that looked like they might be snowing or just freezing fog. Either way, not ideal for an ascent. So I contented myself with another 4 mile round trip hike.
At my first break, I finally tried a Walking Tamale. They are a trail snack that Ambrose purchased and for some reason, I never wanted to try them. They looked yucky to me and I just didn’t give them a chance. Well, they are actually pretty good. And I wish that he could be around to gloat about the fact that I am now down with the Walking Tamales.
I didn’t take another snack break on the hike, though I did stop for water on the way down. Normally, I’d eat when I drank, but I had a blueberry & cream muffin waiting in the car – Costco largesse that my friend had shared with my yesterday. That muffin was good!
When I got home, I changed into my mowing clothes. I’ve been wearing Ambrose’s shirts on the hikes, but for mowing I put on the sun hoodies. And I like to have more pockets when I’m mowing, so off with the leggings and on with a pair of Ambrose’s pants. I wear his clothes a lot. It feels right for me. I wish they smelled more of him.
Changed, I walked down to the mailbox since I hadn’t checked it yesterday. Then I got to work mowing another section. I cleaned up around the raised beds, and got a part of the “front” lawn done. I’m not happy with my strings, still. I finally lost one of the blue ones that had been hanging on so valiantly, and it just seems like the new ones i put in refused to stay put. I might have to get a different size. I’ve got a bunch more soaking now.
After mowing, I showered and made dinner. Then I kind of vegged out for the rest of the evening. My body is pleasantly sore. I’ve got mowing to do tomorrow. I hope I can finish a circuit by the end of the week, but that will partly depend on whether or not I end up going to visit my friends in Moscow this weekend. I’ve asked when a good weekend will be to come and visit and get the urn, but I haven’t heard back yet. Not Memorial Day weekend though. That is sacredly reserved for car camping.
The wind is blowing fiercely, has been all day. But tomorrow, the weather actually has a little wind icon in the forecast, so I guess it’s going to get windier. I might have to buy myself an anemometer. I really want to know what my windspeed is up here, and Ambrose never finished hooking up the weather station. Plus it’s kind of falling to pieces.
I hope I can be more focused at work this week. I should try to enjoy the rest that sitting behind a desk brings. And I no longer have to come in early or work late because of class, because class is over! There, I just changed my “get ready for work” alarm to reflect the change. Very happy about that. I don’t know if I’ll do the class again next spring. Things are a bit in flux.
