Morning thoughts:
Yesterday
we got a heads up about today’s 40 Days of Lent challenge. Chris sent out an extra message that on
Thursday we’d be challenged to fast from two meals and pray during that
time. He also included this little
tidbit: this entire slate of challenges
is building to a full day fast on April 10th which is the beginning
of Holy Week.
It was easier to decide which two meals to skip than it was to settle
the enemy question from yesterday. I
told Kim that I was going with breakfast and lunch and planned on staying busy
and drinking lots of water. It would be too
difficult to sit in the camper at night without being able to grab a mandarin
orange, banana or popcorn. I jokingly told Kim that technically I should be
able to eat about one o’clock…my reasoning being that lunch is generally
considered to be a noontime event and when I cleared that time frame I’d
have fulfilled the challenge of skipping two meals and praying instead. But I’d already decided that I was not going
to eat until 5 to see how my resolve stacks up against a full day fasting
challenge. So to that end I took chili out of the freezer so neither of us
would be tempted to nibble as we were cooking supper tonight.
We’ll see how this goes…
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Evening
thoughts:
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Kim
was still walking when I returned from the hawk nest so I got on the bike and
rode the route that I had in mind for yesterday. I didn’t think about food
unless I went in the camper and saw the oranges so the best thing was to just
stay out of the camper. Temptation
avoided.
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Checked the trail cam cards. Over the last two days we had a coyote, a
raven, two cats, and not one, not two but three javelinas at one time. Well, actually there were two on camera and
just the ear of a third. It was right in front of the camera. If the video was longer than 15 seconds I’m
sure the third one would have wandered on in.
And another video caught a javelina coming right up to the camera
sniffing at it. That was a first.
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When
I returned from my ride I sat outside watching nature. There’s been more hummingbird action at the
feeders today. There had been a lull in
the action but they’re back chasing each other around. There are over 15
species that are either Arizona residents or migrators and the different
between them can be minute. I’ve seen
throat and head color but other than that they move too fast for me to
determine if they have an ear stripe, a large head or what shape their tails
are. That’s the kind of stuff that some of the people
on the Facebook Birding page know and I admire that. I take a picture because I see a bird not
necessarily because I know what kind of bird it is.
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Kim
walked 10.2 miles today…insane! I came
back from my ride to find him snoozing.
I guess getting less than 5 hours of sleep and walking over 10 miles
will make a man tired. He was really
close to just going to bed at 7 pm but knew this was going to be a perfect
imaging night so he pushed through the tiredness. He’s hobbling around though and the struggle
to stand was real.
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Contestant on Jeopardy: What Are The Odds for $1000, please.
Host: Mike Greer from
Colorado, who is staying at the same campground in Arizona as Kim n Karen
Bakker, says he grew up in this small town.
Contestant: Ahhh...Where is Charlevoix?
Host: Can you be more specific?
Contestant: Where is Charlevoix,
MI?
Tonight as Kim was setting up his scope a
couple walked over to see what he was doing.
I walked back to the camper for Kim’s phone and when I returned to the
telescope I was introduced to Mike and Bobbie Greer who have ties to Charlevoix. No
freakin’ way!! Mike lived in Charlevoix until he was 13. His dad was a chiropractor and in 1980 I
believe the family moved to Colorado. The
Greer family still has a cottage in Eastport but he said it’s actually located
off Old Dixie Hwy, the road being right across from the stone silo. Mike and Bobbie currently call Denver, CO,
home but are recently retired, wanted a change of scenery from the Colorado
winter and happened to head to the Picacho KOA at the exact time that we’re
here. What are the odds indeed!
We moved to Charlevoix in 1981 and his
family moved away in 1980 so we didn’t overlap but we certainly found common
ground. They’ve been to Charlevoix enough to know that the middle school he
attended is now the library, that the High School is out on Marion Center and
that the Villager Pub serves excellent whitefish. He told me some of what he remembers and I
told him of some of the changes.
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So both of us were successful in meeting the
challenge today. The key for me was
staying out of the camper and the weather certainly allowed for that. We’ll be home before the full day of fasting
occurs in April…hopefully the Michigan weather will be just as cooperative.
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Bike miles today: 98
Total miles: 990
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