Another New Bird In Our Backyard

I noticed a new visitor to our backyard last week and he seems to be staying. He is a Brown Thrasher.

 

My first view taken with my cell phone and zoomed in too much.

Here he is a few days later eating some munchies.

Tenth Caminoversary (Plus Two Days)

Last Saturday was the tenth anniversary of the start of my first Camino de Santiago trek.  Once again I have forgotten about an important anniversary.  I guess it's another victim of the funk I'm in.

Iconic Camino marker as you enter
Santiago de Compostela.

I wouldn't feel so bad but it was my tenth anniversary.  Ten is such a round number and round numbers always carry some significance.  And the start of my first Camino changed how I saw the world and saw myself.  It makes forgetting that much harder.

I'd thought about this anniversary for some time but I never could find a convenient time to put together a proper commemorative post.  Instead I am rushing to throw something together before I go get groceries.  This memory deserves so much better.

Happy Tenth Caminoversary.

Getting Out Of The House … Away From The Funk … I Hope

It's been over a month since my last post.  In earlier times I would have attributed this to writer's block.  But writer's block implies that one is trying to write but the creative juices are just not flowing.  My issue is a bit deeper in that I'm not even trying.

Nothing is really happening in the Homer's Travels household. I feel like I'm in the ongoing funk that I've been in since October 2019.  I am walking twice a week (at least when I feel like it … once a week is quite common) and still working towards the 1,000 mile challenge I started earlier this year.  When I started I assumed I would be ahead of my goal most of the year but I am finding myself lagging behind.  As of the end of April I've completed 325 miles (523 km), around fifty miles short of where I wanted to be.

I always carry my camera when I walk but more and more often it never leaves the bag slung over my shoulder.  I'm not sure if this is because there just hasn't been anything to photograph or if I'm just not seeing things right in front of me.  This feels like another result of the funk.

Add in half hearted attempts to maintain the house and the non-existence of the exercise regimen I was going to start at the beginning of April, the funk has a firm grip on my life right now.

The pandemic has left the road … less traveled.

In a couple weeks I hope some of this lack of inspiration motivation will change as the Wife and I go on our first vacation since the end of 2019 (Patagonia).  Due to the waning pandemic our travels will remain domestic.  It will be our first driving vacation since our 2015 New England vacation.  I didn't realize it was so long ago until I wrote this post.  My Appalachian Trail adventure followed by the pandemic kind of put the kibosh on our domestic travel plans.

This year's domestic trip will be to the south east.  A drive through Shenandoah National park and the northern Appalachian mountains on the way to the Biltmore Estate, Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Montgomery, AL, and places in between.  It will be two weeks of nature, history, authors, and civil rights.  Most importantly it will be two weeks out of the house.