The trees are turning color.

Again, we slept late even after going to bed at a respectable hour. It does not matter very much as we have no plans for today and come to that, not many other days either while we wait it out. It was much cooler outside as we wandered around the park dropping a bag of trash in the dumpster as we walked by and did a couple of circuits before returning for breakfast. The temperature is only supposed to reach the high 40’s today following the overnight freeze. 

I raised the front blinds this time to let in the sun to help warm the RV but even with that, had to run one of the portable heaters. Last night, I had two of them running all night. They are thermostatically controlled and very safe. Anything to save using the propane fueled central heaters at least until I find a park that has a Propane Filling service.  

I turned my attention to writing in the blog. I use Word to write the first drafts as it makes corrections and offers suggestions which I sometimes use. We each have our own style of writing and a computer driven program devoid of any feeling or personality, can only make a guess at what we are trying to say. Consequently, many of the suggestions are ignored. The only problem with that is the program is very persistent and takes every opportunity to offer those same suggestions over and over, going all the way back to the very first post. When I am using Word, instead of writing each day as a separate page, I like to combine them together as in a diary so that the different days and stays in each park are all kept together in one long continuous segment.  

Word offers suggestions as I write to spelling, vocabulary and phraseology much of which I use. Sometimes, I prefer my own style and ignore the suggestions. The only problem with that is that Word is very insistent that I use what it offers and will keep making those same corrections repeatedly. It is very hard to stay at 100% score because it does that. I think the program was designed to check single page(s) programs and not continuous ones as I am doing. I spent a frustrating hour making those same corrections over and over to reach a !00% score and never did achieve it. In the end I gave up and if my phraseology makes sense and there are no spelling mistakes, it will have to do. Probably, only English Majors, like my friend BJ, will notice and will bother to remind me… 

Both Sandy and Mikey were standing and giving me “The Look” which interpreted from dog means, “I gotta go, Dad”. I quickly dropped what I was doing, and we harnessed up and started walking after a false start because I had left the phone behind. My intention was a quick walk around the park, but the dogs had other ideas and dragged me out on the field. Mikey interacted with three other dogs that were on the other side of a sturdy picket fence, thank goodness. The interaction is made up of jumping on the fence and barking loudly, acting as ferociously as possible but knowing that the fence protected them from each other. All a part of the game. 

We moved on and instead of staying on the field, they led me out onto the roads outside and with gentle guidance from me, we walked through the residential area and then back out onto the road that we walked yesterday, the one with the very wide sidewalk, eventually arriving back at the RV Park. It was cool in the shade and the wind had a bite to it and I was glad of my jacket. It must be that I have no concept of distance as I always imagine that we walk much further than we do but so far, we have covered 1.2 miles with at least one more walk for the day to go. By my interior step clock, that should be at least 5 miles. 

I sat quietly for a while with the dogs on my lap and we stayed there with me stroking them. It was very soothing and peaceful until something from outside got Mikey’s attention and he jumped down. That aroused Sandy’s curiosity and she followed him and suddenly, my lap was empty, and I could feel their warmth, quickly disappearing. So, it was back to writing and working on a few pictures that I had taken over the past couple of days around the neighborhood. There is nothing like the feel of a living, breathing animal that trusts you enough to sleep quietly on your lap. Better yet with two of them. 

Later, we went out for that final walk of the day and of course, not much had changed between this walk and the earlier one. This time, we only walked the park for a couple of circuits before heading back indoors for the usual evening’s food and entertainment. We covered 1.6 miles for the day. 

Written 10/18/2022. Read my other blogs at https://pondblog2011.com