Weekly Ephemera #82

Another early Weekly Ephemera post and for a good reason.

• Tomorrow the Wife and I are flying to Tampa (It's been ages since I've flown domestic - all our flights have been international).  The Wife's cousin, who we visited last year, will be on vacation and they offered us the use of their condominium and car.  We will be spending the week exploring Tampa and the warmer weather.  The highlight of the week will be Tuesday when we scratch an item off my unwritten bucket list and go skydiving.  My stomach does flippity flops when I think of it.  It will be fun.
• I walked two times this week for a total of 12.7 miles (20.4 km).  The last few days in Omaha have been foggy and blucky and it has been hard to get motivated to get out and move.
• Speaking of walking, my GPS took a dump after I downloaded the last track so I had to buy a new one.  The old one was around ten to twelve years old and served me well on the Camino and the Appalachian Trail.  The new one, a Garmin eTrex 32X, is smaller and has a different interface that will need some getting used to but it seems to do what I need it to do so I'm happy.  The carabiner/belt clip from my old GPS unit fits the new one so a piece of old faithful persists. 

Weekly Ephemera #81

I haven't been writing much besides these Weekly Ephemera posts.  I just haven't been in the mood to write.  I sincerely hope that will change soon.

• I didn't walk at all this week.  I wasn't a fan of life threatening wind chills.  I did shovel some snow though.
• The Wife had a minor accident that resulted in a dent in her rear passenger side door.  It was totally the other driver's fault.  He was even cited by the police officer who responded to the accident.  We took her car to an insurance company recommended body shop.  It turns out it will take a week and a half to get repaired.  The mechanic said that they were getting nearly sixty jobs per day during this snowy cold week.
• I've been having some mouth pain for the last week or so.  Turns out I am experiencing teething pain.  My new dentist said there is either a tooth fragment or a "fourth molar" erupting where my wisdom tooth had been.  He referred me to an oral surgeon for an extraction and I have an appointment for the twelfth of February.  Until then, acetaminophen and ibuprofen are my friends.
• On the boob tube I've continued my "One Piece" watch along with the new Marvel series "Echo".  I liked "Echo".  Marvel has been a bit weak lately so it was nice to see them put out a good show.  The main character, Maya Lopez, checks a lot of boxes: female, deaf, native-american, and physically disabled.

This morning I woke up to this sight out our back window.  It was a nice way to wake up.

Winter sunrise and clouds.
(with weather station photo bombing)

Weekly Ephemera #80

• I took my Mom to a neurologist this week.  It just took five months to get the appointment.  We finally received a diagnosis other than 'she is old' and it is a condition that can be treated.  I'm usually not optimistic but I think I'll make an exception this time.
• Speaking of health issues I restarted the medication which I suspected made me sick last Thanksgiving.  I restarted the day after Christmas.  The symptoms I experience then have not reappeared.  Unfortunately another side effect, dry mouth, has appeared over the last week.
• While my mouth dried out, something started getting really sore.  It appears to be in my gum.  Fortunately I have a dentist appointment this coming week with my new dentist.
• This week was dominated by the weather.  We had two rounds of snow which required me going out three times to clean off the sidewalks and driveways.  The wind didn't help and on Friday we had blizzard conditions.  Neither did the sub-zero temperatures (this morning's temperature was -16℉, -27℃ with wind chills near 40℉/40℃).
• With multiple doctor appointments and snow removals I had little time to go walking this week.  I did manage one walk at the beginning of the week of 5 miles (8 km)

Weekly Ephemera #79

• I managed to continue walking this week.  I walked three times totaling 17.6 miles (28.4 km).  Next week will be a bit touch and go as snow is coming and I have a few doctor's appointments to attend to.  Hopefully I'll still manage a couple walks at the end of the week when the temps will be in the single digits.
• I started watching an anime show called "One Piece".    I like the story but I'm not fond of the anime style.  I'm on episode 110ish out of ... 1,088.  I have a ways to go.
• While I watch One Piece I am playing Raid: Shadow Legends.  It's an interesting game though it's a grinder, especially if you play F2P (Free to Play) like I'm trying to do.

Best Photo Of 2024

All the pictures I took that I really liked were taken on our travels.  We drove to florida and took interesting pictures along the way.  We walked the Camino which is always photogenic.  The history of Rome filled my camera card.  Southeast Asia was a month full of exotic scenery and cityscapes.

In total, I marked forty-five photos as my favorites for the year, over twice the number I did in 2022.  While I took my camera(s) I often found it more convenient to pull out my phone to take the picture.  My favorite was a picture taken with my phone,  We were on the Camino, leaving the town of Torres del Rio.  As I hiked up the hill I turned and snapped a picture of the morning golden hour.  The town on the left of the picture is the town of Sansol, Spain.

"Sansol - Shades of Gold"
by Bruce H.
(Taken the 22nd of May, 2023)

I hope you had a happy and safe New Year's Eve.  I hope you all see photo worthy views in 2024.