Living in an RV. Tuesday, December 26, 2023 – Boxing Day 

Christmas has come and gone and today, in England and most of Europe, today is also a Holiday. This one is known as Boxing Day. When I lived there, we did not care what it was called as to us, it was a day off with pay and one more reason to eat and drink too much. For us athletes, it was also a day to play football, soccer to you, uneducated in the proper names of the games and usually against our fiercest local rival. These events always ended with much beer drinking and sometimes a fight or two all in good fun. Those were the days… 

I got up at a reasonable hour and true to form, the first thing was that morning walk. We managed to cover 1.4 miles and took Henly Lane all the way to the ginormous Live Oak and back again. That tree is huge, and I would love to know how old it is. 

We passed Olive and Greg going in the opposite direction. Olive was her usual lovable, funny self and she just loves everybody and everything. Even my dogs like her… 

When we finally got back to the RV, I tied the dogs up so they could “help” put out the bird feeders. I did some re-arranging and moved the two big ones that get emptied so quickly and wastefully to a lower position on different poles in the hope of diverting the sparrow’s attention elsewhere. Incidentally, Sparrows and Mourning Doves are the only bird visitors nowadays. 

With the birds taken care of for one more day, we adjourned inside of The Caboose for our breakfast. Sandy ate hers including her pill and Mikey saved his for later. I tried something different today and drank black coffee with just a splash of milk in it, but it did not really hit the spot. My taste buds sure are changing as even the Burrito was just “OK”. I am assuming that this is all a part of growing old. 

I worked on the blog and brought us up to date which was no real problem as with the quiet life I lead, nothing much happens, and I like it that way. 

Then it was a question of looking around for other things to get up to, or not…I had a few household chores that regardless of the day or date, still must get done. It is hard to keep an RV tidy as stuff tends to accumulate on any flat surface. Some of the cabinets are high and difficult to reach so they tend to get used for items that are not needed very often. There is never enough storage space in an RV. 

We went out for that final walk of the day and just wandered around and managed to cover 2.6 miles. We ran into Greg and Olive, his little Bull Terrier who is the funniest dog on the planet. Even my dogs like Olive as everybody does. As they had just started their walk, Olive had not yet found a stick to drag around as she usually does. Some of the sticks are as big or bigger than her. 

I was back at the RV and putting the feeders away and Daniel whistled at me to come over. So, I completed all of my outside chores and put the dogs in the RV and made the very short trip to Daniel and Malinda’s RV. 

Peggy was already there as was Daniel and Malinda and a little while later, Donna joined us. We sat around the campfire all wrapped up in blankets and drinking beer. The stories flowed fast and each one was a little wilder than the last as though the storyteller was trying to get out a better story than the earlier teller. It was all good fun and very entertaining. 

Then somebody brought out the liquor which has a very telling effect on me. Consequently, I do not partake in the liquor drinking session and stay with the beer. Altogether, I had three beers. The evening finally came to a close as Peggy insisted on walking me back to The Caboose. No idea why except out of friendship as I was perfectly sober. 

Back in the RV, I found something to eat as we watched the EPL or at least, that was the intent. I got about ten minutes into the game, long enough to finish the food and fell asleep only to wake up as the final whistle was blowing. So much for watching. I turned off the TV and we went to bed where I continued the sleep until a few hours later when I awoke with severe stomach cramps. A couple of trips to the bathroom helped a bit but my tummy was sore.  

I have a sinking feeling that it is the beer or alcohol that is causing the problem. Does that mean that I am going to have to give up drinking the few beers and glasses of wine that I have? I sure hope not as that doesn’t leave much else to do for pleasure. 

I finally dropped back off to sleep after taking stomach medication. 

Written 12/27/2023. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com