Wednesday, 12/29/2021
We got up at a reasonable hour and went out for a short walk. I let Sandy lead the way as she tends to not go in a straight line therebye getting in more steps. This gave them a chance to do their business before returning to Miss Daisy for breakfast and catching up with the usual things that we do on a regular daily basis. Funny how so much of our lives are repetitious and we go about our days mostly without thinking. Generally, much of my life, is lived by habit and it is only when something different comes along like in my case, a trip into town or something similar which requires planning or at least organizing on my part. Today, we have no plans except for a few chores around Miss Daisy one of which is to find the low point drain as we are expecting frosts over the next couple of mornings.
Today was also laundry day, something I had been putting off only because I am too lazy to want to do it. Besides, I still have plenty of clean clothes I can wear so what is the rush, right? In the end, I decided that my laundry bag is too full, and I had better get with the program. I drove the Jeep over to the laundry room only because the bag was too heavy to carry very far and loaded out two of the machines. I managed to get the app to work that allows pay by credit card and then tracks the progress of the washers and dryers notifying me when the completed cycle is done but only on the one machine. The other one, I had to go the old-fashioned way and put in quarters but at least both wash cycles are working. By watching the progress on my phone thanks to the modern technology, I knew when to go back over and put the laundry in the dryers. Good job too as the washroom was in high demand with all the machines, both washers and dryers working. An hour later and thanks to the app that tracked the progress of the one dryer, I was folding laundry and chatting to a young Mom who told me she washes every Wednesday without fail. Needs must when you have kids. In between the wash and dry cycles, we went out for a stroll around the park and out onto the road just so that the dogs could stretch their legs as I was not sure if the wash would be done before it got dark. As it happened, we were done in plenty of time, so we followed that up with a longer walk after I had returned with the finished wash and managed to cover almost 2 miles for the day.
It did not take long to put the laundry away and we ended the day in the usual fashion as I watched Brighton and Hove Albion, the team that my Great, Great Grandson, Solly March plays on, win their game. Go Solly.
Thursday, 12/30/2021
I knew that we had a busy and important day today so getting up early was not a problem as I had the right mindset not to snooze in. We did the walking thing around the park and then the usual breakfast all around with me drinking the nectar of the gods, coffee, to wake me up and get me started for the day ahead. I gave the dogs treats which they are smart enough to associate with me being away all day, but they took them anyway. Not that they needed them, but it eased my conscience for leaving them for an extended period of time.
The drive into Austin was very uneventful but as usual, the traffic was bad as it always is regardless of the time of day. My first stop was to PostNet as I knew that I had some mail that needed my attention. They are beginning to know me now as they see me coming and someone has already gone to get the mail. Great service and friendly people. In that part of town on Far West Blvd, more people seem to be wearing masks than in other parts of town or that how it appears anyway. A couple of the letters were related to a banking item that was already on the agenda for the day, so the timing was perfect.
Then, luckily for me, there was a Frost Bank right next door at which I stopped to complete my banking business. Interestingly enough, the masked clerk warned me that he had just learned that he had unknowingly been in contact with a friend who had just tested Covid positive and “would I please wait in the lobby” as he sorted out my banking business. When he did return, we conducted our business from a distance which he solved to my satisfaction. Now I remember why I only go into Austin as infrequently as possible.
My next stop as I meandered my way back towards South Austin was at the store where I bought my favorite hiking boots as I was looking for a similar pair only this time in shoes. Unfortunately, they did not have my size in wide for any of the shoes I picked out so with much disappointment, I headed into Oak Hill where I had a particularly important appointment with my Optometrist. I usually see Dr Tybor and have done for more than thirty years, but he was unavailable when I made the appointment, and I was helped by a very capable Doctor by the name of Dr Lechlitner. After a very thorough exam, I moved over to the desk where a very capable gentleman helped me pick out a new pair of glasses. Not that I needed a new pair as there was nothing wrong with my old ones, but it gave me a boost to have something new even if I do have to wait 4 weeks for the satisfaction. The ones I have ordered are frameless and very lightweight with much larger lenses and I also ordered an accompanying set of clip-on sun visors. Going full out on this one. Unfortunately, I do not think they will be here in time to renew my driver’s license so I hope the old ones will get me through.
Leaving the Optometrist office, I made the drive back into Dripping Springs bypassing the Starbucks store as me and Starbucks coffee are not in agreement taste wise just lately and made my way back to Miss Daisy to be met by two extremely excited little dogs. One of them, Mikey, the little boy dog must have had an upset tummy as he had pooped all over the floor, luckily on the hard part and not where the rug was located so I quickly harnessed them up and we went out walking although of course, too late to avoid the initial accident. He could not help how he felt, and I was not around so he is not to blame. Not like it was damage or anything like that, just a mess to clean up. We walked for a bit and the I tied them up outside while I cleaned up the mess. We then took another walk so that the scented spray could take effect by the time we got back.
We sat on the outside couch for a while watching what was going on around us before adjourning inside for the usual evening meal and entertainment.
Friday 12/31/2021
Hard to believe that today is the last day of 2021. I have no idea where this year has gone as it has flown by as is the way of life as one grows older. It seems that most days are about 8 hours long and the nights even shorter and the body is too weak and too tired to pack anymore into that timeframe. Looking back, this has been a very interesting year from my perspective as we went from living in a house, mixing living in a house with living in an RV, selling the house, buying a new RV, and then downsizing to living in it full time. We have a few hundred miles under our belt and have seen a bit more of this great country with high hopes of more travel in 2022.
Early this morning when the call of Nature forced me to get up, I got out of bed into a puddle of water which turned out to be a repetition of an earlier problem when I inadvertently left the kitchen faucet running only this time it was the bathroom faucet. The sink was overflowing which is what I had stepped into. Luckily, the water spread was light, and I quickly mopped things up and threw the two floor rugs outside to dry. That is the second time I have created this problem by leaving the faucets running now in both sinks. I do not know why I do not hear any noise as running faucets usually make some sound. I really got to be more careful. As it happens, there does not appear to be any damage to anything.
We went out walking for a short walk around the park but as my mind was on the cleanup, quickly returned for me to do just that and with it out of the way, continued with our usual morning routines. I noticed that the deer have finally discovered the bird feeders and are managing to empty them on a regular basis. I need to devise a way to anchor the bottom of the feeders so they cannot tip the seed out. Something else to work on.
I worked on the website and drafted a poem among other things before deciding that we should visit one of the local parks to walk one of the trails. I carefully packed my new camera into the car and then the dogs before setting off in what I thought was the direction to Reimers Ranch Park, one I have visited many times in the past. I managed to take a left turn too early and before long, found myself in front of Pedernales Falls State Park, another that I have also visited many times managing to get lost on the trails, not once but twice ending up in walking in the dark to finally get back to my car. I knew long before I got there that I was heading in the wrong directions for Reimers Ranch and decided to keep driving anyway. As I drove, I thought about it that I was not going hiking after all and was now out for an afternoon’s drive. Both dogs had settled down albeit squeezed on my lap, somehow, so it made sense to just drive around. We passed the State Park and a shorter way back home deciding instead to drive into Johnson City and then head home from their taking the long route. It was a fun drive although the weather was hazy. Not sure why. When we finally arrived back at Miss Daisy, we went for a walk around the park and out on the roads getting the exercise that I had promised the dogs although much shorter than we had initially planned. We will just have to do the Park thing all over again, maybe tomorrow as we have nothing planned. Be a safe way to welcome in the New Year and it is hard to get lost at Reimers Ranch Park…
Written 12/31/2021 – Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com