Walking ~ Days 16-19

I have been back in Florida for four days and making the time for walking has been difficult. There was so much to catch up on. My book’s 5 day KDP free promotion took place while I was out West. There were emails to answer and blogs to write. There were also mundane things to do like restocking the fridge and washing clothes. But I did manage to walk, most days.

Day 16

The weather looked like this-all day.

Torrential tropical downpours. Most of the time in Florida, people don’t run from the rain. They just go about their business unless they’re really dressed up which seems to be rarely for most people around here. I’ve seen people grocery shopping in their bathing suits (Note to my friends in New England: Come on now, no snickering. How many times have you seen people shopping in their pajama pants in Market Basket?)

But today’s rain was torrential and did not let up. My cell phone woke us at six with a loud beeping sound, warning of possible severe flooding. I never signed up for these warnings, how did they find me? This GPS thing is getting scary. Big brother IS watching.

I didn’t walk today. But I had a walk in the bank. I took 2 walks in Steamboat on Memorial Day and did manage not to use it the following day as I was inspired in the Denver airport.

Day 17

I need new front brakes. Wouldn’t you know it? I just get home from vacation and get hit with an unexpected expense. I thought I had run away from all of this. But it’s okay, the guy who owns the Meineke shop in Boca Raton is a gregarious, jovial guy, fluent in Spanish and English, and he cuts us a deal along with the 50% sale on parts. It still costs $380 because we’re talking rotors too, but it could be worse. I am stranded there for an hour and a half so I decide to take my walk. A problem with walking in South Florida is, if you’re not on the beach, which is beautiful, you are walking along the roads which are crazy. Six lanes of traffic flying by, people passing on the right, no one using blinkers. It is unnerving to be walking along with traffic whizzing so close by.

One night I was sleeping in my bed when I was awoken by the terrible sound of screeching brakes, a crash and shattering glass. When I got up to look out the sliding glass doors, a car was on the sidewalk. So I try to get to the beach everyday, but as you know if you’ve been reading my blogs, there is a shoreline accessibility problem around these parts and I don’t have time to get to the Delray beach every day. So, I take my life in my hands and set out for a walk along this street:

I survived the walk, the road was not as bad as the one I live on. I actually found a side street and was able to wander through a quiet neighborhood. I even crossed some railroad tracks and as some of you know, I love the romance of trains.

When I got back to Meineke, I still had some time to kill. I caught up on my tweeting then read a great article in Travel & Leisure by Thomas Bellar. http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/love-hotel-style. For me, hotels are as romantic as trains. I love everything about them, the little shampoo bottles, the feeling of privacy, adventure and escape. And when your children aren’t traveling with you, there is nothing like the wild abandon of hotel sex. (Did I just say that?) I tweeted Thomas Bellar to tell him I loved his story. My car was ready and I was $380 poorer but the brakes are now working fine.

Days 17 & 18

Rich has been back to work since yesterday and I am writing up a storm. This walking blog is a lot of work. I have to take the walk, I have to download photos of the walk, I have to keep track of what day it is. Nineteen already, my how times flies. Then I have to write about the walk. But I am not complaining, not at all. I love writing. I love walking. It is miles and miles from crunching numbers in a cubicle. I just wish the beach in Boynton was like Yellowstone; “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of All the People.”

The last two days the walks have been the same. I still haven’t found the time to get to the beach in Delray. Our house/condo hunting has begun in earnest. We need to stop paying rent and we need to be closer to the beach. Not an easy task, that getting closer to the beach goal. Our housing budget is limited but we are sick of throwing money away on rent. I add checking the real estate listings to my daily list of things to do. In addition to all this, the temp agency called and I may be getting a job placement soon – another reason to walk locally and save  time.

But walking near my apartment is boring and the roads are crazy. I stick to circling around the complex. But there’s always a silver lining if you look for it. There are a couple of ponds, some interesting bird life, and a pool and tennis courts. I can actually get in two miles if I do the loop twice. Like everything in Florida, it is a large apartment complex.

View from the entrance to my apartment complex.

It’s rained every day since we’ve been back, but off and on and not as heavy as the first day. Still, it’s hard to tell which way the weather travels here. Back in NH, the weather always came from the west, especially in the summer. I could look out across the river and see the threatening skies approaching. Unless of course it was a nor’easter. Then the storm curled back around from the ocean to the east and really hit you.

I set out both days not knowing whether I’d get soaked or not, but it was warm out and didn’t really matter. I was not wearing my bathing suit.

Clearing skies to the East.

Threatening skies to the West.

I made it back to the apartment without getting soaked. I even found some flowers to photograph. They’re not quite the botanical gardens I walked through out West but then again they are quite pretty.

 

When I went to put my phone back in my pocket, I accidentally snapped a photo of the sidewalk. I love this pic. It has the look of Jasper Johns. I call it Serendipity.