When I got up and looked out of the window, the first thing I noticed was that at least 2 RV’s have pulled out and a third was preparing to do so. We too will be doing the same thing in a few days. We wandered around under a cloudy sky and nice cool weather with a bit of a dew on the grass, just enough to make the dogs feet wet. The little white kitty showed up and was hanging around, so I gave it some canned dog food. Hope it doesn’t start to bark instead of meowing as it greedily ate it. I have not seen the little black kitty after that first visit. The walk was uneventful, and we did not see any other dogs walking their Hooman’s.
We did the usual mandatory things like breakfast, coffee and then emails before settling down to write in the blog. As we have nothing planned for today, I worked on a couple of photos I had taken and tidied up the RV putting even more stuff away. Of course, I will not be able to find anything I want without going through everything that I have just put away. Currently, I am missing a package of plastic doggy doo bags and can’t find them anywhere and am making doo, excuse the pun, with the regular plastic shopping bags which work just as well but are much bulkier to carry around. Such is the story of my life and my ageing brain but at least I remembered the plastic shopping bags. Hard to miss those as I have so many of them. I re-use them mainly as trash bags as they fit very nicely on the hanger that I have or in the trash can on the floor. Now, they have another use.
Today was another of those quiet days with nothing planned other than the things we routinely do every day, dog walks, breakfast and coffee, RV cleanup and maintenance including emptying the tanks, reading and trashing emails, writing the blog with the occasional posting of pictures, listening to Audiobooks while sitting outside or sometimes inside if it is too hot out, evening meal accompanied by a glass of sweet chardonnay and watching television until it is bed time. Every 3-5 days, I go into town to Walmart’s for groceries and any other shopping and about every 2 weeks, we do the laundry. Basically, that is our life in a nutshell. Boring, maybe but very relaxing and I always find something to get up to even if it is as simple as to take a short nap. I have two unwritten rules and they are, never watch TV during the day and try to walk at least a mile every day. The latter has been difficult here as there is nowhere to walk except around the campground which usually includes dodging from one patch of sparse shade to the next. Invariably, I will leave my phone behind and so never really know how far we walk.
I could see that many of the younger generation would find this very boring as I probably would if this was 20 years ago. Then, walking trails and taking pictures was a necessity and a major hobby and prior to that, actually, many years before that, physical activities, especially playing, coaching and refereeing soccer, were the norm. Now, the body has aged and even the spirit is not as willing, and I gladly settle for a good book and many quiet moments. I no longer think I am wasting time sitting around and listening to an Audiobook or feel like I must do something productive all the time. I have long ago come to grips with the fact that Nature is pursuing it’s normal course and that we slow down as we age. The key word here is age as the alternative is not so good although it is inevitable in the end.
A storm blew up out of nowhere while we were watching television late in the evening. My first thought was to bring in the awning. It is nice to use it to keep the rain off the wicker couch and the floor mats, but I did not want to take a chance on it getting damaged again. We went to bed and listened to the storm as it flashed and roared all around. This time, there were no lightning flashes that seemed to be on top of us and eventually, it receded into the distance. All that remained, was the sound of the rain as it pelted down on the RV roof which amplified the sound even louder.
We dropped off to sleep lulled by the drumming of the rain and slept the sleep of an old man, content with his lot.
Written 08/21/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Ozark Country RV Park, Branson, MO Day 28 Sunday 08/21/2022
The storm had passed when we crawled out of bed to face the day. I didn’t know if I was ready but figured we would find out very soon. After the usual morning ablutions, we harnessed up and wandered around the park going in whichever direction, Sandy wanted to lead us. I let her think she is in control and all I do is redirect as necessary until eventually, we end up back at Quatro.
The white kitty was hanging around and although, still very skittish, allowed me to put some food down without running away. Definite improvement on its behavior. It appeared to still be hungry with the first bowl, so I gave it more and it finished the whole thing must have been starving. It must be tough to be a feral cat and hunt for food, literally. If I had more time to gentle it down and get to know it, I might consider adopting it but only if the dogs also accepted it.
Back inside of the RV, I fixed breakfast for us all and tidied up before settling down in front of the computer for the inevitable browsing and writing. Thinking about it, if I did not take pictures and work on them, or spend time writing, then I probably would be bored with this life as I take at least 3 hours a day and sometimes more working on the blog. Not only that, all of this is very stimulating to my ageing brain which needs all of the help it can get. I am not like one of my dogs that can curl up in their favorite spot and snore their fool heads off although, there are many times when I envy them.
I sat there pondering about the day ahead. This is moving week as we pull out on Thursday which leaves us essentially, Today, Monday and Tuesday to go to Walmart’s to stock up and also do laundry as Wednesday will be spent with moving preparations like storing things in their proper places for the journey and loading the Jeep with the wicker couch and table and the outside mats. I like to be so prepared that all I have to do on moving day is to pull in slides, lower jacks and disconnect the power and water and hook up the Jeep which, as I have mentioned many times before, always takes the longest. Altogether, about an hour’s work before we actually start to drive wherever we have planned to go. Our next stop is only a little over 100 miles away, about 2-3 hours’ drive depending on the mountainous terrain which always slows us down.
I wrote another poem this time about the gloomy day that we are currently having although I was quick to point out that without these sorts of days, in the end, nothing would grow. Gloomy days sometimes turn into rainy days which might interfere with our plans or be considered a nuisance but in truth, we cannot live without the rain, ergo, a cloudy and gloomy day.
We went out for the afternoons walk just to stretch our collective legs and just wandered around with no particular direction in mind. We eventually ended back at Quatro to be greeted by a very hungry Kittie. Very skittish too because as soon as the dogs did their barking thing, it quickly ran off. I put out some food for it but as we were sitting outside, the cat chose to stay away for a bit until we finally went inside. This took some time as we sat and listened to an Audiobook. The last 3 that we have listened to, have all had Australian actors reading the parts and I got to hear the Australian accents first hand. The stories were all based in Australia, and it was just a coincidence when I selected all three.
Back inside of Quatro, I fixed food for us before I settled down to watch TV for the rest of the evening.
Written 08/22/2022. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
I like gloomy days. After all of the hundred plus days of weather we’ve had, clouds are a very good thing.
I agree. It absolutely poured down yesterday just as I came out of Walmart’s and I got soaked to the skin.