i inspired myself?

 It was a beautiful day yesterday. Close to 80 and sunny. Not too much wind. 

In the morning I was on Sharon Uber duty taking her to Target to get a new phone, again. I swear that girl is a toddler the way she breaks things. We also went to Wegmans and got a fruit tart for Easter Dinner (bring dessert) and we bought flowers for the cemetery and delivered them. Hopefully mama likes her gladiolas.

Every time I'm out I have a working list in my head of what I need to buy if I'm at a place that sells it. Everyday I drive past the Auto Zone at the Five Points and say, they'll have it. But who the hell wants to navigate the Five Points to go to Auto Zone? It's an accident waiting to happen.

Yesterday after I finished my blog post I decided I would take my own hippie dippy advice and bite the bull by the horns. I don't need to navigate the Five Points in a car, I CAN WALK TO AUTO ZONE. So I did. As I was walking down there I thought to myself, my god, I'm going to start documenting little trips, like I did when I first started this 15 years ago.  Heaven help the poor readers. But school will be out in two weeks and I'll have no excuses for the entire summer.

There were enormous bees at Itaska and Alaska. They looked way too big to be carpenter bees, but they were zooming a wood fence, so maybe. I'm not sure what the residents are feeding them to make them grow so large.

@clever_devil_studios

As I walked down Broadway I saw this semi-goth couple coming towards me. I thought, I know these people. Not one single time have I met a person I knew walking down Broadway. It was a former student and his wife. They were headed back to Fountain Hill after walking to the Seven Sirens brewery. (I have still to go there. Angel, we need to do a southside craft brew pub crawl.) We talked for two minutes and parted company. 

I tend to buy my students publication to support them. This coloring book was actually done by his wife. It is a bit more naughty than I expected. When promoting my former student said the cover is the only thing they could show on social media. They were right.  

I waited for forever to cross the Five Points, and entered Auto Zone. I wanted two things. A decorative license plate for the front of my car because I removed the advertising one from the dealer, and the space for a front plate is ugly. And I also wanted a decal to put on my steering wheel to cover the KIA logo. It is hideous. The plate I can live without. I don't see it. That hideous logo stares at me the whole time I'm driving. It is a smack in the face to good design. If I knew someone with a Cricut I could do it myself.

Anyway, I walked in and it's dark. Sure you could see stuff but it looks like they were conserving energy. This is the third new store that's opened in the south side that doesn't light their store. I first noticed it at the Dollar General. I rarely go in there, and I can't go in the one in Fountain Hill. I cannot see. Then when they remodeled the old Ahart's, it became dark. At night, the lights are fantastic. And Auto Zone. I wonder if it has something to do with the demographics of the neighborhood. Is it a marketing choice?

Auto Zone didn't have what I wanted. No license plates, just really gaudy holders. And the decals were just as bad. Not my WASPy cup of tea.  So I left and walked home.

I fear I might have to go to Amazon. Ick. Or maybe Etsy.

Miles/Steps:  It's .6 miles one way, so I'm guessing a mile and a quarter?
Weather:        High seventies, sunny, warm. 

i got sunburn!

 If I got sunburn yesterday it can only mean one thing ... I was outside for more than five minutes. Woot. Woot.

Okay, it's really nothing to cheer about. But it was a positive step.

Other positive steps. I went to the cardiologist and she didn't yell at me about my weight or blood pressure. SCORE! Plus she did not increase my medications. SCORE!

I've gone consistently to the Reset Outdoors thing at the college. I think there is three left. We only went outside once. Oh well. But I got to bitch about my ungrateful sibling (subject: biggest stressor) so it was a SCORE! Although I don't believe in any of this touchy feely bullshit, talking about a PIA sister is really good for you. Did it change the situation. 100% no. Does my head still fell like it's going to pop off my neck. No. So lets call that a win.

Yesterday I went to a Reset Outdoors event at the college called "Narrative Medicine". It was part of NCC's Annual Humanities theme for 2024-2025 called Stories That Shape Us: Turn the Page, Connect, Engage!, explores cultural narratives that shape our understanding of the world. The keynote speaker was Dr. Yusef Salaam of the “The Exonerated Five”. There are events every month of which this was one. 

The Narrative Medicine event was billed as an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the humanities, arts, and social sciences into healthcare and well-being. And we'd get the nuts and bolts of well-being, why it matters, and how to nurture it in our lives. Then explore narrative medicine practices as a way to focus on our own self-care, and personal and collective resilience. It was four hours with Danish and a bagged lunch. Part of the Humanities series this year. It was held outside at the East40 Garden. The sun was bright, the clouds were few and the wind was a bit of a PIA.  

I get easily distracted. I went exploring the pottery area. These are piles of wood for wood firing.

It started at 10. People were still arriving at 10:30. I'm sorry, but that's rude. The first thing  we did was tell the story of our names. I hate these things because they always ask questions I don't have answers to. (BTW "I don't give a damn" is not an appropriate answer for the pronoun question. Honestly, call me anything, just not late for dinner.) I was excited because I actually knew!

The very large man in camo was 12.5 pounds at birth. Mom was 5'2".

Then we headed into the woods. We started with 5 minutes of silence. Then the walk leader Kelly, gave us information on the East 40 and some of the flora and fauna.  For instance, when this area was still a far, the farmer raised trees in this area for lumber. They are Norway spruce and straight as a board. They were 60 feet tall. If they were still used for lumber they would not have grown so large.

There are also bits and pieces of other native clay poetry on the trees. At one time they were the lyrics of a song. But time and wind has ripped many of them to the grown and shattered them. Including coming to and from the parking lot I went about 5000 steps. We might have been out an hour.

Cool twisted tree

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a native wildflower found growing in open woods and along roadsides in partial shade. Many parts, especially the rhizome, bleed a red-orange sap when cut.

We were told to put technology away. When I saw other people taking pictures of plants I took my camera out. Really, walk and NOT take pictures? And I only took five in a whole hour.

At the end everyone was talking about how much of a transformative experience it was. I clearly didn't drink the Kool-Aid. But it gave me something to write about today. 

Angel and I also signed up for one in May called East40 Poetry Rocks Forest Immersion. It's going to be another touchy, feely, hippie, dippy, granola event. Lead by artist in residence Anne Sipos and Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Guide Charles Thomas.  It's supposed to blend nature, poetry, and mindfulness. We have to bring an open mind (that's gonna be tough), a note book and writing utensils and something to sit on.  If I didn't buy what they were selling yesterday, it's gonna be a really tough sell for this. But it's only 2 hours. I made it thru 4. 

I just think if I keep throwing rocks at wellness maybe something will stick. But I doubt it.

I came home and had diner with Angel, then we went to see "The Bookstore" at Lehigh. When I finally looked at myself in a mirror my face was read. What the heck? Then I remembered ...sunburn. It was still red this morning.

UPDATE: Bonnie and I are going to the Tri-State walking festival. It's New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. I made hotel reservations in York, Maine today. We'll be a 19 minute walk from a lighthouse. Be still my heart. There were hotels with lighthouse views but they were like twice the price. Sigh. I can't justify that.

Miles/Steps:  almost 5K steps
Weather:        I forgot to look. I'm out of practice. It was sunny, warm—I'd say mid-60s—, and windy
Bathrooms:    L-4.5. It was composting. And they even had a moon on the door.
Wildlife:         Well I really did see many. A raptor above. But I heard at least 6 different bird songs, and a woodpecker.