Sunset

Another late start or maybe, as we seem to be doing it a lot lately, it is now the norm. It doesn’t matter as we have no plans of major importance. As usual, we wandered around the park, but we only did one circuit as both dogs were very active, bowel wise, which is the main purpose of the walk anyway. We always judge our success for the first walk of the day, not by the distance travelled but by the number of times they “go”. We don’t count peeing in that otherwise we would be up to the hundreds after each walk, especially from Sandy. That girl has a bottomless bladder. Incidentally, I carry plastic doggy bags with me to clean up after them which are then put into the dumpster. The dogs know the command, “Dumpster” as we visit it after every walk. OK, maybe not but they should. 

I had breakfast of a couple of burritos, which incidentally, did not taste that good, accompanied by a homemade Latte which took a long time to make. For some reason best known to those that invented my Latte machine, the milk was not frothing. I have had the machine for less than a year and I wonder if it too is on the fritz. Would not surprise me one little bit as most gadgets are now throwaway things and are not worth repairing. It still brews coffee so maybe I need to change my morning drink and forget the milky part and rely on Starbuck’s for a Latte. 

As I sit and write, the main entrance is only a couple hundred feet away and in perfect view. I can watch the RV’s come and go as new arrivals drive in and the “old” ones leave for places unknown. I watched as a small black car pulled in and parked by the entrance. A young guy of about 25 or so, got out and walked around, opened the trunk and then got back into the car. I kept my eye on it wondering what might be wrong and then, sometime later, a tow truck pulled in with lights flashing. I thought then the car had mechanical problems and needed to be towed and felt sorry for the young guy. Turns out, it was nothing more than a flat tire that in my book, any red-blooded American male or female, should be able to change on their own. Obviously, I do not know the circumstances and the guy may have a medical condition which prevents him from lifting anything heavy or maybe, did not have a jack so who am I to judge. Even so… 

The tow truck drove off after the driver changed the tire and put the flat back in the trunk. The young guy got back in his car and drove off leaving me wondering. If he had a condition, then he had an excuse. On the other hand, if he did not and preferred someone else to do it or did not know how, then something is lacking in his upbringing. A basic part of learning to drive, especially for a man, is to know how to do some small maintenance or repair work which includes changing tires. What is this country coming to? OK, do not answer that as I already know. Now if he only had an App on his cell phone, he could have got it to do the work. Why not, the younger generation relies on their cell phones for everything else… 

Enough ranting. I am not going to let the present or future of the world spoil my day.  I carried on writing in the blog and then worked on a couple of pictures that I have taken, wondering what we should do today. I have nothing planned but then again, I never usually do as we wait for the Jeep to be repaired. Incidentally, I called the Jeep repair shop and now the earliest will be Nov 5th, Guy Fawkes Day in England so maybe I will let off a few “bangers” when I eventually get it back. For those of you who do not know who Guy Fawkes was, he, along with others, tried to blow up the British Houses of Parliament back in in 1605. England celebrates this date every year with bonfires and fireworks. If and when, I get the Jeep back, I will celebrate it with a Latte.  

I remember back in England when I was still a youth, marching into my home on November 5 to announce, “The Prince is alight”. Everyone looked at me with a blank stare and I had to explain that the bonfire built in the parking lot of the Prince of Wales, a local pub, was alight. The family just shrugged and went on with whatever they were doing so my particular announcement fell on deaf ears just as most of them usually did. Who listens to an 11-year-old kid anyway… 

We went out for a long walk this time taking a different trail we had not walked before. It was concrete most of the way so easy walking. One runner passed us but other than that, we had it to ourselves. It was fast walking except to cater to the whims of Miss Sandy, and I was hot and sweaty when we arrived back at Quatro. I sat for a while to cool off and the dogs found their sleeping places and zonked off. I did not feel like taking a nap and instead just sat there in the A/C before turning my attention to the blog. 

I caught up, writing of the most recent events and brought us up to date. Incidentally, we covered 2.5 miles for the day.

Written 10/21/2022. Read my other blogs at https://pondblog2011.com  

Southgate RV Park, Fayetteville, AR Saturday Day 45 10/22/202

The view from the bridge

For once, we got up at a reasonable hour and after the usual morning preparations, took that first walk around the park. We saw one other dog walking his Hooman and made sure to go in the opposite direction to avoid a barking confrontation from Sandy. I noticed that the owner was standing and looking at us, probably sizing up which direction we were going so I pointed away from them. He waved back and we both went on our way. The park was quiet, which is not surprising as with the exception of two other RV’s, all of the rest are the regular tenants, most of whom have jobs.  

It was a bit gusty with a strong wind outside and the many leaves and a lot of dust were swirling all over the place. As I watched, the leaves are blowing mainly to the North. This got me thinking that eventually, they must end up somewhere and considering the amount from just this park alone, someone else is going to have a big clean up job. At least, my small area is clean of them. I also realized that Nature, by design, does this on purpose and it is her way of redistributing the leaves which eventually rot and supply more sustenance to the soil. Nature turning a full circle. 

Back in the RV, I fixed a breakfast bowl from the freezer in an attempt to eat some of the frozen food as I have overpacked the unit and it is not freezing properly. I have got to learn to be more conservative and not plan so far ahead and stop buying on a whim. I shared the bowl with the dogs who probably enjoyed it more than I did. Food just does not taste that good anymore and is just a necessity. At least I can control my weight fairly easily, although it does nothing for the flab and lack of muscle. Incidentally, the ice cream which is in very tiny containers is now liquid, and I give a half a single serve container to each dog in the evening. They do not care that it is not ice cream but rather liquid cream and lap it up. 

Following breakfast, the dogs found their sleeping places and I settled down to read the news, most of which was very discouraging. I turned away from it to check emails but many of them were of the routine read and discard kind. There were a couple that needed my attention and a couple more from friends that are always welcome as it is nice to stay in touch with them.  

Goodness only knows, I have very few real friends left in this world. Most of that is my fault with my nomadic lifestyle. Plus, I have always been a bit of a loner, and a lot is due to changing interests and such. Even, back in the day, I had associates and acquaintances from my many interests, especially when I played football and some of them were also friends. We grew away from each other when I retired from playing as we had little else in common. Such is life. On the other hand, I had good neighbors when I owned the house and I still stay in touch with them. 

We have nothing planned for today except the usual “stay busy” sort of things, most of which are a part of living in an RV. With those out of the way, we harnessed up for an early walk. We started in the field and then cut through the neighborhoods houses to get to Cato Park Road which we crossed over and headed down the sidewalk to the other trail areas that we have discovered. Last time, we made a left turn and eventually walked around in a big loop bringing us back to where we started. 

This time, I turned in the other direction heading away from our last walk hoping that this would bring us out onto Hwy 71B. A couple of people on bikes passed going in the opposite direction and as I turned a corner, in the distance in front of me was a group of about a half dozen people. I could tell from the shopping carts they were pushing piled high with their stuff and their general appearance, they were homeless. Plus, they had two dogs on leashes of what appeared to be of the Pitbull variety. The people were probably harmless, but I was worried about the dogs. I was not about to take that chance and made a swift about turn heading back the way we had just come. Luckily for me, they went straight on and passed my turnoff. As the saying goes, “Discretion is the better part of valor”. 

We walked back to the campground with the occasional glance behind, just to be sure but they were nowhere in sight and heaving a huge sigh of relief when we stepped into Quatro. My fears were probably groundless but why tempt fate when there are other options? Altogether, we covered 2.5 miles for the day. 

We ended the day in the usual fashion with the evening meal, food for us all and watching the latest version of “Third Watch”, which has taken some interesting turns but has still way too many sex situations in it for my liking. The show is good enough without that being included. I am not a prude by any means but have yet to see the value of including bedroom scenes in an otherwise very good police series. Way too much detail. 

Written 10/22/2022. Read my other blogs at https://pondblog2011.com