One Year Gone

My Mom passed away a year ago.  It feels like it's been forever.

Mom and I were never really that close.  When I went to college, and then later moved to California for my job, we grew apart.  While we reconnected a bit during the last couple of years of her life, we still were never that close.  I guess that's why I've found it easy to move on after her passing.  I do miss her every now and then when something reminds me of her, but those occasions are fewer and fewer as time goes by.  

Weekly Ephemera #147

• The week was dominated by Netflix.  I finished "Squid Game" and started the last season of "Fear the Walking Dead".  Half way through I realized I was watching a lot of bleak stuff so I paused the viewing of "Fear the Walking Dead" and switched to watching episodes of "One Piece".
• I had a dentist appointment that went well.  No Problems.  I hope to have the same results this week when I go to see the eye doctor for a check up.
• I walked twice this week.  It was very humid, but not as bad as I expected it would be.  Both of the walks were relatively short, totalling 12.8 miles (20.6 km).
• Cooper, the Wife's niece's dog, had a quiet week with us.  No drama.

Weekly Ephemera #146

• I went to see if it was worth changing to Allo Fiber over the Cox Internet we currently have.  While Allo has no data caps – a big advantage – and is faster, there's no price advantage.  The increased speed isn't a big factor as we currently have enough speed to do everything we want.  I decided that we would not switch until Cox prices went up.
• We restarted Netflix for a month and I binged the latest seasons of "Love, Death, and Robots" and "Black Mirror".  I started the last two seasons of "Squid Game".
• I started walking again.  It's strange that even short walks feel hard after doing a long, multi-day hike.  I only managed 4.4 miles (7.1 km).  Next week, the temperatures are going to be over 90℉ (32℃) with 'feels like' temperatures over 100℉ (38℃).  I want to walk twice this week and will probably start walking earlier than usual to try and beat the worst of the heat.
• We're taking care of the Wife's niece's dog, Cooper.  We've taken care of him many times over the years, starting when he was nearly a puppy.  Now he's an old man.  Since he lives in a house full of little kids, this week will be a quiet one for Cooper.
• Today I turned sixty-two.  Not sure what to think.

Happy Birthday Mom

This would have been my Mom's ninetieth birthday.  Based on some genealogy research and some questioning of my one-hundred-years-old Great Aunt, she probably would be turning ninety-one today but that's a whole different story.

Happy Birthday Mom!  Miss you.

P.S. We are celebrating this birthday by starting our Camino and leaving Burgos to our first stop, Rabé de las Calzadas.

Weekly Ephemera #141

I skipped last week's Ephemera post because I was out of town last weekend.  Time to catch up.

• Last weekend we went to Minneapolis, to celebrate one of the Wife's cousin's First Communion.  We stayed at the Matron of Honor's (MoH) and Best Man's (BM) new house.  Their new house is very nice and is perfect for them.  The long weekend was full of family and conversation and I had a good time.
  
  The first communion was nice and the after-party with family was fun and full of food.  The Godson's and Deacon's families are great and fun to be with.
  
  On Monday we joined the MoH and BM and went antiquing and booking in Stillwater, MN.  It was a bit drizzly but we had a great time looking for treasures.  Sadly, none were found.
• I finally took pictures of the rest of our magnets.  Naturally, a day later I came across three more magnets hiding on my desk in the den.  I will be posting a couple travel magnet posts later this week.
• Our travel agent called this week and told us the September tour dates for our Greek, Albania, Macedonia trip fell through.  Fortunately, there are dates in early October that will work so she is reworking all the hotel reservations and Athens tours.
• Moving the trip will let me go to Rilo Kiley's reunion tour at the Astro.  Looking forward to that.
• I walked three times over the last two weeks.  I walked a total of 27.9 miles (44.9 km).   I skipped a couple walking days to get some chores I'd put off far too long.
• I started watching "Andor" season 2.  I like it so far.  Also watching the current series of "Doctor Who".  I'm also working through a show on Amazon.  "ALTER Collection" is an anthology horror series where each episode is themed and consists of four to ten short films.  They are a bit hit or miss and some are surely movie school projects but they are holding my interest.
  
  On Friday the Wife and I went to see "Sinners".  I have mixed feelings.  The music, setting, and ambiance were spot on but the horror felt a bit off.  There are many layers in the movie and it's worth a view.
  
  Since the conclave is this Wednesday I figured I'd better see "Conclave" so I watched it today.  The three cardinals vying for the position of Pope reminded me of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Visually stunning at times, loved Ray Fiennes, but the final twist was not necessary.

P.S.  Happy Anniversary to the Wife's Niece and Husband!  To everyone else, I hope the 4^th was with you today.

Weekly Ephemera #130

Theme of the week: I do not get it. I just do not understand anything anymore.

• This week started with avoidance.  I avoided watching the inauguration by watching/listening to non-political podcasts and music.  Unfortunately, since I steep myself in news nearly everyday, this reprieve from politics lasted twenty-four hours.
• Took my car for its first service since I bought it.  I drive my car so infrequently that I usually don't hit the mileage maintenance target in a year.  I think I actually walk more in a week than I drive.
• Went in for a teeth cleaning.  This may be one of the few dentist appointments when I didn't have any issues.
• I walked twice a this week.  I skipped my Monday walk due to the single digit temperatures accompanied by negative wind chills temperatures.  I probably could have walked as I know how to properly layer and bundle up for cold weather but I cocooned in podcasts instead.  The two walks I did totaled 24.1 miles (38.8 km).  Next week we're having spring-like weather so I should be able to get three walks in.
• Watch 'The Wild Robot".  It has been nominated, and in many cases won, best animated film rewards.  It's pretty good.  A bit on the saccharine side but definitely a safe place in our current situation.  It reminded me, at least superficially, a bit of the robot in Becky Chambers' Monk & Robot books.
• I am getting an MRI this week to check my prostate.  I think they are being overly cautious but better to be safe I guess.  I wish it wasn't so expensive though.
• My cousin sent me a bunch of family pictures my Aunt had.  I may start posting a few.  Here's one:

"Bruce giving PJ a Pepsi"
Developed January 1975
Picture taken in Guatemala.  Probably taken around Christmas 1974.  PJ was a peekapoo.

A Homer's Travel's Look Back At 2024

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain

2024 was going to be the year of the nap but instead it became a crappy echo of 2016.  2016 started with the loss of family members and friends and ended with a disastrous election.  This year we lost family members and friends and, once again, gained an incompetent government with a large side of corruption and stupidity.

I feel I was coasting most of this year.  Few things excited me.  Many things left me dumbfounded.  Eight months of this year were all about my Mom.  My schedule revolved around hers.  I think I lost a little of myself during those months.  The passing of my Mother was sad but a bit liberating.  Too bad the rest of the year fell apart thanks to ... stupidity ... selfishness ... apathy ... I guess a combination of all of those.  Overall, 2024 was not a really good year for me.

Let's look back at 2024, shall we:

• January:  The year would be dominated by the health of my Mom. This month she was diagnosed with parkinson's disease. I bought a new GPS. We left on a short vacation to Tampa.
• February:  We had a great time in Tampa. Very relaxing. We tandem skydived which was interesting but a bit of a let down (kinda like scuba was in 2016). Glad I did it though. I filed my taxes and went to see the Oscar nominated shorts.
• March:  The Wife went to New York for the Big East Men's Basketball tournament. We started planning our Great Britain trip. The start of multiple sprinkler system repairs started this month.
• April:  We went to see Omaha Supernova volleyball (one of the Wife's students will be joining them in 2025). We went to the GodSon's school gala in Minneapolis. We remodeled our bathroom.
• May:  The new bathroom was finished. My Mom had her last birthday.
• June: The Wife's student, the one ordained as a Deacon in Rome, was ordained a Priest in Omaha. We cancelled the Wife's Camino trip when we moved Mom's spinal surgery up. Mom's surgery was a success and her back pain diminished soon after her procedure. She would be at a rehab center for a few weeks. We were hit by a big hail storm this month. We would still be fighting the insurance company in November.
• July: Mom fell at the rehab center and fractured her hip. More surgery and more rehab to come. We celebrated our twenty-seventh wedding anniversary by taking care of Mom's finances and having burgers. On the way to celebrate the MoH and BM's birthdays our car got totaled by a semi. We had no injuries but OOF. We took the Wife's car and went to Minneapolis with a side trip to the Dignity of Earth and Sky statue. We tried to distract ourselves by watching the Olympics. July was a crazy a$$ month.
• August:   Mom went home from rehab. She was happy to be home. A week later I found her in her kitchen after she'd passed away. While we prepared Mom's memorial and burial we tried to live a normal life. I got a new car totally paid for my insurance. We went to a political rally, our first. Mom was buried near my Dad's grave. The Wife and I came down with COVID for the first (confirmed) time. Both cases were very mild. 2024 was not being gentle.
• September: Things started becoming more normal this month though this would be a brief respite until the real world caught up to us. We got vaccinated before our next international trip. We went on our trip to Great Britain (documented in October and November) and met with friends.
• October: We returned home from our Great Britain trip, a fun adventure. We voted by mail. The October weather rollercoaster resulted in our first brief freeze of the season. Eleven years have passed since the end of my second Camino. Not being done with us yet 2024 took one of my Aunts and one of the Wife's cousins. I had a follow up CT scan.
• November: One of the Wife's aunts and cousins visited this month and had a nice visit. 2024 had the coup de grȃce when the election crashed and burned.  After one phone call from the Wife we got a check from the insurance company to complete the roof repairs from the June hail damage.  I left Xitter and moved over to Bluesky.  We celebrated Thanksgiving with family,
• December: The house was decorated for Christmas including putting the balls in the oak tree out front.  Our TV died and was replaced.  We celebrated Christmas with family ... and Moose.
• Hiking: Like in 2023 my walking started off strong as I prepared to do the Camino with the Wife. Mom's schedule and our travel disrupted my walking until I somewhat got back on track in October.  I successfully pushed the length of my walks out beyond the ten mile mark.  In the end I managed to hike 605.4 miles (974.3 km) over 69 hikes. This distance ranks in seventh place and the number of hikes ranks ninth place since I started keeping track - an average showing I would say.   Definitely not a bad showing considering I really didn't hike much in the summer months.
  
  In early November I crossed the one thousand hikes recorded over seventeen years of keeping records.  Onward to two thousand!
• Books: I set a goal to read twenty books this year and, unlike last year, did not meet my goal reading only twelve books.  I read nearly everyday including while we were traveling (which is odd for me).  Despite this I think I read less per sitting and took a long time to finish books.  Here are my Goodreads Stats for 2024.
• Concerts, Shows & Music :  We went to a few concerts this year. With the Wife, I went to the Eagles, Peter Frampton, and Melissa Etheridge. I also went to Joe Satriani and The Offspring by myself.
  
  I listened to a lot of music this year - mostly during naps and on long airplane trips. According to Spotify I listened to 2,839 songs from 1,264 artists for 39,710 minutes.  Here is my Spotify 2024 Wrapped if you want to explore what the shuffle button did music-wise this year.
• I posted 96 times this year. Not as many as 2023 but good enough I guess.  I think I need to write more but I'm afraid of either going too dark, too political, or too preachy. 

What will 2025 bring? We are going to Guatemala early in the year to see where I spent my formative years and to visit parts of the country I've never been before.  We will be going back to Spain to continue, and possibly finish, the Wife's Camino in the summer. A trip in the fall is not out of the question but we are still mulling over possible destinations.  Other than that we will be trying to keep our sanity intact and brace ourselves for what 2025 has in store for us.

Here's to a Happy, Prosperous, and Healthy New Year for all.  May you all find happiness in 2025.

Merry Christmas!

Weekly Ephemera #125

• Today we celebrated Christmas with the Wife's niece's family.  We met their new dog, Moose, who is a sweetie and watched the kiddos open presents.
  
  It's kind of nice celebrating holidays before the actual holiday.  It lets the actual day of celebration be relaxing and quiet.
• I walked three times this week doing 32.4 miles (52.1 km).  I prefer doing three shorter hikes than two longer ones.  Of course your definition of shorter might be different than mine (10 - 12 miles).
  
  I listen to podcasts while I walk.  This week, for the first time in a while, I ran out of podcasts and had to switch to music.  I will have to find new podcasts to add to my list though listening to music while I walk is not a bad thing.

  

  "In an age of performative cruelty, kindness is punk as f*ck.  Please, be punk as f*ck"
  - Signed ☮,❤, Anarchy!

• On Max I watched "The Penguin".  While I'm not a big DC comics fan I did like this show.  Batman and Batman adjacent shows have always been done well.  I think it's because they are grittier and more 'realistic'.  Also watched "Dune pt 2".  It met my love/hate relationship with the Dune series.

Weekly Ephemera #124

First off, I want to correct an oversight on my part.  In last week's Weekly Ephemera post I left off meeting with the Matron of Honor and Best Man in Des Moines for food, drink, and conversational catch up.  We had a great time and I am not sure why I left it out of the post.  Sorry!

Now, for this week's stuff:

• On Monday we did our annual setting up of our health insurance for next year.  The price nearly doubled from last year though it was nearly a hundred dollars below the estimate the insurance company had provided a few months ago.
• I was going to walk twice this week but I ended up cancelling the second walk.  The one I did was one of my longer ones and my legs really didn't recover as fast as I expected.  I walked 14.8 miles (23.9 km).  I'm trying to lose weight this month and I have been combining long walks with a cutback in food.  This combination may explain why my legs were so achy and slow to recover after the walk.
• We still haven't had any snow beyond a light dusting but we did have a light glaze of ice Saturday morning.  I spread some deicer even though it would have melted off on its own later in the day.
• We canceled Netflix this week.  Before it ended I watched "Godzilla Minus One" - very cheesy fun - and "Spaceman" and ok but weird 'Man meets Alien, Alien saves Man' story.  Not a huge Adam Sandler fan but his dramatic performance here was pretty good.  We are subscribing to Max for the next month or so.

Weekly Ephemera #121

Eight years ago yesterday my friend G_v passed away.  Sometimes it feels like yesterday ... other times it's been forever.

• I decorated the house for Christmas this week.  Early in the week I put up the front door garland, wreaths, and laser lights.  Yesterday I put up the tree.
  
  I was going to put up the balls in our oak tree but the tree hasn't shed its leaves yet.  If my crappy memory serves, there was a year when the tree didn't drop its leaves until the end of winter/early spring.  I'm going to wait for a week to see if something happens with he leaves and then will decide if the balls go up or not.
• Our television took a dump.  A dark vertical bar appeared along the left side of the screen.  Ordered a new one and were up and running by Friday with a new TV.
  
  Also on the tech front I lost an earbud during one of my walks.  It fell out on a noisy street when I couldn't hear the podcast I was trying to listen to so I didn't notice when it fell out of my ear.  Fortunately it was a cheap set of buds so not a great financial loss.  I ordered a new pair before I got back to my car.  I might have to experiment with the larger ear cushions.
• The Wife's Aunt and Uncle celebrated their sixty-fifth anniversary.  If the Wife and I make it to that one we will be nearly one hundred years old.
• Speaking about the Wife, she's been fighting a cold this week.  Hope she gets better soon.
• I walked twice this week for a total of 23.4 miles (37.7 km).  It was cold this week but I still worked up a sweat.  As I walk longer distances it's getting harder to plot interesting paths.  I try not to visit the same place very often and I try to do loops instead of doing there-and-back paths.  I'm also finding that walking along rural roads near the outskirts of the city is not interesting or desirable to me.  Unfortunately there is only one place I can do long enough trail hikes (Indian Cave state Park) but it's over an hour drive from where I live so not worth doing very often.
• This week I started watching "Arcane" on Netflix.  Really liking it.

Welcome to December and the Holiday Season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all my American friends and family have a stomach stretching Thanksgiving.

It's during times like these that we need to remember the good things we have and be thankful for those who share their love, friendship, and support with us.

🍂 Happy Thanksgiving!!! 🦃

Weekly Ephemera #120

Not much happened this week which, frankly for once, feels nice.  A few highlights:

• We were invited to Thanksgiving Brunch at the Wife's niece's home today.  It was a nice departure from the major dinner on Thanksgiving Thursday.  We all had a great chat about 'things' and I came home with a new red dog hair coat - Thanks Ruby!!!
• I walked two times this week.  I would have done three but Monday was rainy and windy and I just stayed home and hunkered down.  The walks I did totaled 24.8 miles (39.9 km).  They were a nice meander around the downtown area of the city.  I was going to cross the pedestrian bridge and walk on the Iowa side but the bridge is being worked on as they add an extension.  Temperatures are finally feeling like fall but that won't last as colder winter temperatures are coming this coming week.
• In between the walks I watched some television.  The Wife and I watched the latest seasons of "The Great British Baking Show" and "Blown Away".  We enjoyed "The Remarkable Life of Ibelin" (⭐⭐⭐),  I watched "Star Trek: Prodigy" (⭐⭐⭐), the director's cuts of "Rebel Moon" parts one and two (⭐⭐), and "Madam Web" a Sony/Marvel movie (⭐½).

That was it for this week.  Have a good week everyone!

Weekly Ephemera #118

I missed last weekend's Ephemera post as we had guests staying at our house.

• The Wife's aunt and cousin flew up from Florida and visited over last weekend.  We'd stayed at the cousin's place earlier this year.  They visited with friends and family in the area.  It was a very nice visit.
• The election ... well ... we all know what happened.  It sucked.  I hate all the uncertainty it will bring in the coming months/years.
• I'd given up ever getting enough money from our insurance company to fix the hail damage on our roof.  I'd been talking with them for four months with no luck.  The Wife said it was her turn.  One call later and the insurance company is sending a second adjuster out this week to reassess the damage.  My hope has been restored.
• I walked two times this week for a total of 23.6 miles (37.9 km).  Both walks were after the election results were known and it was nice to be distracted.  Unfortunately I saw my first cybertruck out in the wild which yanked me back to reality.  Damn it was ugly.
• We cleaned all the furniture and stuff off the deck.  I'll be power washing the deck to get it ready for winter.

Weekly Ephemera #117

• One of the Wife's cousins (once removed) tragically passed away this week.  This Autumn is turning into a sad season. The Wife will be going to her memorial in Texas later this week.
• We will be having family visit near the end of the week.  The Wife and I will be checking out the new bed as our guests will sleep in ours.
• I had a CT scan on Friday to check on a kidney stone that was detected after my surgery earlier this year.  The stone is non-obstructive and I have an appointment with my (new) urologist early next year to see how I should proceed.
• I walked twice this week for a total of 25.9 miles (41.6 km).  One of those walks was the longest since the Wife's Camino in May 2023.  My body is recovering faster which is progress though my legs continue to feel it for days afterwards.  Not sure how much of this is overexertion and how much of this is age.
• On the television front I've been watching ... well there's no nice way to describe it but crap.  The kind of crap that allows your brain to just tune out.

Time Moves On For All Of Us ... Again

Thirteen months ago we lost my Uncle Jimmy.  Two months ago my Mom passed away.  Just over a week ago we lost another wonderful person, my Aunt Betty (Uncle Jimmy's wife) passed away.  I always liked Betty.  She was such a nice person.  You can read about her life here.

I knew that, as I aged, there would be more people passing from my life but this has been a crazy twelve to thirteen months.

Aunt Betty's Memorial service is today.  May she be reunited with Jimmy.

Weekly Ephemera #111

• The Wife's older brother and his wife stayed at our house after Mom's memorial Sunday.  We went to Louis M's for breakfast on Monday before they went home.
• Tuesday I went for a nice walk ... the first of many I hoped.  I walked 5.3 miles (8.6 km).  I was planning to walk on Thursday too but something was going to get in the way.
• On Wednesday, with the help of one of Mom's stepsons, I moved Mom's Guatemalan furniture to our basement.  We still aren't sure where the cabinets, tables, and benches will go.
• Wednesday afternoon Mom's urn was buried in Dad's plot at the Noble Center Cemetery.  It felt very final as the urn was lowered into the hole and dirt was tossed in.  Mom is gone.
• Wednesday night my throat was scratchy and I developed a massive sinus headache.  By Thursday afternoon I had a mild fever.  I was trying to recover on the couch in the basement when the Wife's brother confirmed he and his wife had tested positive with COVID.  Her other brother who had come by our house Sunday night with his wife also tested positive.  So did I.  This is my first confirmed COVID infection though I had a possible one back in 2022 (I was irresponsible and did not test at the time).  I think walking is done for a few days.
  
  

  

  Crap ...

  On Saturday the Wife said she wasn't feeling well.  As of this post she hasn't tested positive yet.
• When I wasn't watching the Democratic National Convention I finished "The Boys", watched the latest seasons of "Solar Opposites" and "Futurama", and started the second season of "Hit Monkey".  In other words, I've been catching up on some television while I've been in quarantine.
  

A Misnamed Weekly Ephemera #110

On Sunday Mom's visitation and funeral service were held.  I was pleasantly surprised how many people came to pay their respects.  I saw aunts and cousins I hadn't seen since the 1980s.  Mom's Pastor led a wonderful service.  The whole thing was very heartwarming.

Other highlights of last week:

• The week was filled with meetings about Mom's funeral preparation.  It was not as hectic as I expected it would be but the Wife and Mom's stepsons took a lot of pressure off me.  Not being Mom's executor kept things to a minimum.  I did a few things to help the executor.  I'd been dealing with some of Mom's accounts when we were trying to get her on Medicaid so it was easy for me to handle the closing of some of those accounts. 
• On Saturday we attended the Tim Walz for Vice President rally that was held a couple miles from where we live.  It was our first political rally and we were happy to see how positive it was.



The non-AI generated crowd in the Astro theater.  You can see us in this photo if you look closely.

(Photo 'borrowed' from an Alex Cole - @acnewsitics - Xitter post)

The line going in stretched for a long ways.  We got in the theater that has a 2,400 capacity and the outside amphitheater was used for overflow held another 5,500.  There were speeches by Congressional/senate candidates, music by a very talented twelve year old Jayde Dorsey, and speeches from Tim Walz and his wife.  It was an interesting ... and exhausting ... experience. 

 

Photos of the rally can be found in my 2024-08-17 Gov Tim Walz Rally, The Astro, La Vista, NE Google Photos album.

• Keeping in the political realm I started watching the fourth season of "The Boys". 
• This coming week I hope to return to my 'normal' routine and to start walking again.  I can't remember when I last had a 'normal' week.

Passage

My Mom was a happy person.  Exceedingly positive.  Often stubborn.  Ever independent.  Always easy to share her laughter.  On Sunday, after visiting with her stepsons, she was getting ready to eat lunch when, quickly without warning, Mom passed away.  I discovered her Sunday afternoon when I went over to her house to see why she wasn't answering her phone.

Her passing came as a great surprise.  She'd had two surgeries since June and had gotten through them with flying colors and was well on her way to mending.  The back pain that had plagued her the past few years was gone.  There was no underlying condition that we were aware of.  When her stepsons were there she was happy, laughing, and not complaining of any discomfort.

When she was in rehab recovering from her surgeries we talked about how we could keep her safe, content, and happy.  We discussing moving her to a care facility.  While she would be safe and content there, she didn't think she would be happy so we did our best to get her back in her own home with the support she needed to live an independent life.  When she passed she was safe, content, and most importantly, happy.  Love you Mom.

Patricia D. May
May 30, 1935 - August 11, 2024

Visitation and services will be held on Sunday, August 18, 2024 at Heafey, Hoffman, Dwork & Cutler on W. Center Rd, in Omaha, NE.  Her obituary can be found here.

Weekly Ephemera #109

A relatively quiet week with things moving in the right direction:

• Mom had Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy visits this week.  They went well.  More of the Medicaid paperwork fell into place.
• My car after being totaled, then repairable, finally settled on totaled.  I discovered that body shops will not touch a totaled car due to liability issues.  I can understand this.
  
  The Wife found me a car on Carmax that looked good.  We ordered it on Wednesday and I picked it up on Friday.  It is a 2014 Toyota Prius Four with 85K miles on the odometer.  It has more bells and whistles than my 2016 Prius - Backup camera, electric adjustable heated seats, keyless ignition.  The car is a little bit bigger than my old one - mostly longer with a bigger trunk which is nice.  The only thing I don't like are the displays.  My old car had a lot of information consolidated on one screen while the new one has the information spread across multiple screens.   I'll just have to get used to that.
  
  Tomorrow I'll register it.  The only thing left will be to wait for the insurance payout check which should come in a few days.  One of the three big things on our plate will be finished.  Yay!
  
  Also, no more sharing a car with the Wife.  That was a bit irritating for the both of us.
• Next on our plate is getting the hail damage fixed on our house.  Our contractor came by this week to take pictures so we can appeal the insurance company's damage assessment.  I expect another visit from an adjuster and a larger check.
• I walked twice this week for a total of 18.4 miles (29.6 km).  My legs are still feeling it a bit but I am happy to get out of the house and forget about the world for a few hours.  Also saw two foxes (or one fox twice ... not sure).  First time I saw a fox in our neighborhood since we moved here sixteen years ago.
• Olympics has once again dominated out television watching but that is coming to an end this weekend.  This week it's time to catch up with a few shows I've been putting off until I was in the mood.