Thursday, March 16…Bingo (Jacob Sartorius)

8:30 a.m…The small group Zoom meeting with the class I’m taking at church was scheduled for 8:50 a.m. which means it was 5:50 a.m. here.  Not my favorite time of day but wanting to see this through I went to bed at 9:30 last night to give myself the best chance to make it happen.  Awake and up by 5:20 which gave me enough time to clear the cobwebs out of my head before getting before the camera.  I’m glad I did it, but I think there’s a nap in my future.

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   Since I was done with the Zoom meeting around 6:30 and the sky was getting lighter, I decided to walk…try my metronome app idea. Turned the volume down as low as I could get it, started walking and adjusted the speed as I went to get it right for my stride. It didn’t take long to conclude that walking with a constant tick…tick…tick playing in my ears might not be much different than putting two songs on repeat for an entire hour.  But it did provide a consistent rhythm with which to pace myself so it accomplished that goal. My time this morning was 55:31…better than yesterday but still not below last year’s Shamrock time.  Don’t know how I was able to make these short legs walk a 5K in under 53 minutes last year; getting under an hour this year will be acceptable.

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   I was back to camp at 7:45, just as Kim was getting ready to walk. However, the credit union had called when I was walking…they had received all necessary paperwork from the dealership and needed to go over the final details with us before sending the money; Kim put his walk on hold a bit. Got everything that involved us taken care of so now the truck is ours…well, our and the credit union’s.  Let the truck payments begin!!

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   Saw the Nutt Rd. water pump get switched on while on my walk today. I know there’s a network of canals around the perimeter of most orchards; I have no idea how long it’ll take for the canals to fill but the way the water was flowing it shouldn’t be too long. Not sure about the canals closer to the campground.  There’s a different pump to fill those. I’ve always assumed that all the pecan orchards around here belong to the same farm, but I saw two trucks the other day with two different farm names on them driving around here.   So maybe not one big happy orchard.

   It rained all day yesterday and the puddles/ditches that were evaporating are filled up again.  But I don’t know that the rain was enough to impact the orchards. 

Evening Update:

   Today we took the time to do some grocery shopping. Usually, I stop to get small stuff when I’m out on the bike. Bungi cords and saddlebags do the trick.  Today’s trip required a bit more than saddlebags would hold.  May have bought too much because the fridge and freezer are packed but it’s good to have choices.

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   Took a quick bike ride to Marana when we got back from grocery shopping.  We planned on riding in the Saguaro National Park area but due to time constraints decided to ride out by the burrowing owls instead and then head back to camp. We were fortunate to see two groups of owls but as we rode slowly along, it became obvious to me that owl reconnaissance is best done in the truck.  First, the truck is higher so it’s easier to spot the little owls…today they were on the far side of the second canal.  A little height would have made for a quicker identification and therefore, a quicker stop.  And second, the truck is quieter. I muted my radio so that wouldn’t be a factor but there’s nothing to do about the sound of the bike. It is what it is and it’s not quiet. I know that the owls are used to traffic noise because there were vehicles around on both days but a motorcycle, especially Kim’s, isn’t exactly a stealth machine. 

   I sent the grandkiddos pictures of the burrowing owls but there was nothing to give these tiny birds any kind of size reference.  They could have been giant owls for what the picture shows. But I told them to imagine a bag of chocolate chips…that’s about how tall they are.  Then I told them that if they removed half of the chips from the bag, then that’s about how much they weigh. That should be a good enough size reference. 😎   

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   Thursday night Bingo up at the clubhouse tonight.  Audra made sure that it was known to all campers and several people said they’d be there.  Only two of us showed up, a woman named Jolene and me.  And of course, Audra was there but she was the caller.  It’s a quarter a card, then a dollar a card for the blackout round at the end. Instead of 10 rounds, we played five and let the winnings accrue for the blackout round…then it was winner take all.  And I was the first to say “Bingo!” so I was the lucky winner. Most of what I won was money that I had put in because I played 3 cards every round and Jolene only played two.  No matter…it was enjoyable, and I added a few quarters to my laundry money.

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40 Days of Lent challenge: Sit in silence for 15 minutes.  This one was easy to do…after my walk when Kim got on the phone, I headed outside. I read the daily scripture that accompanies the challenge and then just sat and enjoyed my surroundings…the warm air, the sun, the rocking chair, and the sound of the birds. And if the chair had a headrest I would have dozed off.   


  

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