Day 3447

Weird. I didn't realize it at the time, but at exactly the same time I was walking around one end of the lake yesterday evening, police were fishing a body out of the other end. Sadly, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Most of the deaths are by drowning. People go boating without wearing a life jacket. They even go boating when they are unable to swim. Accidents happen.

I haven't been boating in the lake in a long time. It used to be fairly easy to take my kayak down a little hill from the backyard to the lake. I attached a pair of wheels to one end and pulled the boat behind me. Unfortunately, the path I used to take has become overgrown with brush and it is virtually impassible now. The small sandy beach where I used to launch the kayak has eroded, making it difficult to get the boat in and out of the water. I'm so close, but I'd need to put the kayak in the car now and drive to a public boat dock. I'm not even sure that the kayak would fit in the car. I no longer own the Defender with its convenient roof rack. I doubt that any of this even matters. The last time I went kayaking I saw a huge water moccasin swimming along beside me. Kayaking has never seemed the same since then.

Kayaking provides a great upper body workout, but I get my exercise by walking now. I had another 20,000 step day today. I hope all this additional activity makes a difference. I don't feel that much stronger but I am able to go the distance. I've started wearing a hat now and hopefully sunburn will no longer be a problem as the days grow warmer. I don't know what to do about the chiggers though. There seem to be a lot of them this year. People say to dust your clothes with sulfur or spray them with distilled vinegar. Others believe that eating a glove of garlic a day will do the trick. None of these methods seems very appealing to me.

I've started going to the gym earlier on Sundays. This leaves more of the day for other things. Today, I went back to the store and got strawberries for my smoothie. There were none yesterday and a huge supply today. I guess I need to find out when the produce truck arrives. I need to mow the grass again but it's still too damp. Grass is much easier to mow when it's dry. Actually, I didn't feel like mowing anyway. I'm not even sure how much time I have left for household chores. Several walks a day takes a long time.

If I drive to Florida for the Space X launch, I noticed that the route I was planning to take passes right through several flooded areas. There is some major flooding along the Mississippi River right now. I wonder if any of the roads are under water. I probably should check this out. I imagine that the water will recede before it's time for me to go, but you never know. Weather is so weird now. Maybe when all the flood water from the Arkansas River joins the Mississippi, the flooding will actually get worse.

I doubt that there will be many surprises tomorrow. If the weather is nice, Janet and I may go up and visit the Dalmatians again. Visiting the rescue dogs is always enjoyable.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day