Thursday, April 6, 2023

This is our last full day here in Hilton Head. We have enjoyed it here, but are ready to leave. One of the things we enjoyed a lot was how dog friendly it is. Almost every restaurant allows dogs and they can be on the beach at anytime (though from April-October they must be on a leash between 10-3). We took Justice to the beach with us yesterday and he enjoyed lounging alternately in the sun and shade for the day vs. being in the crate at the condo.

Today we will probably go to the beach for a short time, but have to do laundry, pack, and mostly load the car prior to bed. Tomorrow we need to be on the road heading to Washington DC between 6 and 7 am. We have a dinner reservation there with Mike's son at 5:15 and it will take us approximately 9 hours if we don't hit much traffic. Traffic is a real concern as we don't know if there will be more or less than usual since it is the Friday before Easter. Our last 8 hours of travel back to Cape Cod will be on Saturday.

Time to get the daily walk in. Have a terrific Thursday!

I fell asleep by 8 and slept through to 6:30! Worn out from my hike. And I am feeling it today...

Working on chores today. It's been so windy, my wind facing fountain was full of grasses and tumbleweeds I learned very quickly were covered in thorns. The saying is correct; Arizona is the Australia of the Southwest. Everything wants to bite you, impale you, or kill you!

I forgot to share that we saw javelinas on our hike right by the trail eating *****ly pear cactus whole. How must their mouths and guts have adapted to handle giant spikes?!

Anyway, off to do more chores. A trip to the dump transfer station with a broken tv, tidying, grocery store, maybe organizing the tools in the garage which are still in boxes or on the floor when I needed to dig for one...

Enjoy your days!

How cool are those Javelina!? I found a cool fact page about them here: Southwest Wildlife Org - Javelina Mythbusting

They could be my new favorite North American animal species. Not a pig, not a rodent.... Simply its own species... Very cool...

There was a debate on NextDoor today about whether they were related to pigs, hippos, or hedgehogs! Sounds like none of the above!

Apparently with those scent glands people say you can smell them before you see them. We didn't smell these at all and there were only about 10-15 feet away. Maybe we were upwind...

I read the link, interesting critters!

PS - Perhaps this could help you on your improved fitness journey???? Just sayin'....

I think that would make a huge difference! Not sure why I'm dragging my feet. Part of me was thinking I've never had a dog without having access to grass that they love so much. They would have loads of it in MI, but not here. Would they be happy with that? I don't even have an area for artificial grass...

But they LOVE to hike (even my little guy)!

Those guys are cool - nothing like that on the east coast!

I'm wearing shorts! Weather is spring time glorious! The sky is blue, it's going to be warm in the sun, the creek is dancing in the sunlight and making a lovely gurgling sound. Trees are budding out and the green of the leaves is that lovely light, soft green from which the sunlight radiates. Perhaps I like spring more than summer....

Weight is slowly coming off and well into the "safe" range. Funny how the safe range changes as life changes and challenges arise. 10 years ago this weight would have caused me a near suicidal depression, now it's simply a number on the scale and a "large body" to accompany the number.

I am trying to stick to protein forward in my eating, though carbs are not off limits. I clearly want to enjoy my sweets as several of you like to enjoy your wine. I'm guessing my sweets are far more calorie dense than wine, but hey, we all gotta pick our poison. I would like to drop about 3 more pounds for now.... Flipping baby steps at this stage of my life.

I am not being as productive as I would like to be during my spring break, but I guess that's okay. I think perhaps I expect too much of myself on these brief weeks off. So what if my office isn't perfectly organized and I did nothing in the garage to straighten it up, right?

I checked the school calendar this morning. I have only 6 more weeks of teaching when I go back on Monday. Then a week of inventory and packing up instruments for the summer! Last day of school this year is May 26. We also have no make up days this year (smoke days we call them here, as opposed to snow days in other parts of the country). That's kind of a glorious realization! Then I'll only have two more years before maxing out on retirement age credits. Whoo hoo! (I'll max out on service credit percentages at the end of 2024.) If I want to stay longer, I can, but it sure is nice that I have given myself permission to retire at the end of 2024 school year, if I feel I need to. I don't think I will want to, but it's a nice feeling.

Not much else to report...