Hi Darlin’,
So glad I put almost everything away last night! Though it wasn’t raining when I got up, it arrived just after I fed the horses and made breakfast. It was quite windy, and poured for a long time, and the field is now a soggy mess. I’m really worried about whether or not I’m going to be able to get out of here in the morning! A motor home on the other end (which I though was higher ground closer to the road) got stuck, and needed two pickup trucks to pull it out. If I hadn’t already been hooked up to the trailer I would have offered to help, but I figured they would call a tow truck, but they never did. I hope I’M not calling a tow truck tomorrow! It cleared up late in the afternoon, but then another shower just went by, and even more might come through, so tomorrow might be a busier day than I already had planned! So I spent most of the day reading, then watching a little TV, just the way I like to spend a rainy Sunday, and working on a little more OTL stuff with Anita this evening. We’ve just about wrapped up the T-shirt design with all the sponsors, though we’re still waiting for possibly one more. That’s it, though, that was my day. Not much to it today! Heading off for my shower and bed, keeping my fingers crossed the ground isn’t as soft as I’m afraid it might be. There are some puddles around, don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing! They actually keep this campground closed during the wet months because it gets so bad in here, I’m just hoping it drains well and dries up overnight! We’ll see! On that fine note, I’ll say good night, sweetie! Love you!
Saturday, January 15, 2022 – Ride and Rest Day
Hi Sweetie,
Slept late again, though I woke up a few times during the night, don’t know why. Did some work on the OTL stuff again, then decided to see how my back was really doing, so I saddled up Flash to take him for a ride on about the only other “trail” that’s on the map that I can reach, Road 10. Had to do the same boring stretch along the road until we reached it, pass through a gate, then we had a nice long grassy straight-away between pastures for awhile. Ran into a couple of quail hunters with a pretty GSH, chatted for a moment before we went on. There was one very short stretch that got mildly interesting because it had cypress copses on either side, but then just opened up into cow pasture again. At one point, Lola apparently disturbed a snake, she was a ways ahead of me, and I saw it strike at her, but it missed her by a mile. I’m not sure she even saw it! The other week at Picayune she actually stepped on one that was uncurling to get out of our way, but we were moving so fast, it never knew what hit it. I’m more worried about gators, though I didn’t see any here, but I’m going to be so busy in the coming weeks, I’m not sure I’ll be able to take her with me, and I know they’re a bit more strict about dogs on the trail at Dupuis, though I’m hoping I can take her occasionally. It was a nice ride, though, we got in a lot of gaiting and cantering, and thankfully, my back handled it all very well, even without me taking any aspirin, so I’ll be ready to get to work next week! Got a call from Anita from the OTL this evening, they went out and worked on the trails today, said they were in the worst shape she’d ever seen them, which I guess shouldn’t be too surprising since we skipped last year, and apparently the guy who used to maintain the trails passed away last year as well, so we’ve got our work cut out for us! Actually looking forward to it, it seems like I’ve wasted so much time sitting around here. Weather is supposed to turn bad tomorrow, so I went ahead and put most stuff away, hooked up the truck so the ground would stay dry under it, brought the awning most of the way in because they’re calling for high winds and rain, then settled down for the evening. Heading to bed here shortly, so good night, babe! Love you!
Friday, January 14, 2022 – Another Rest Day
Hi Babe,
Had a good night sleep, and woke up late, but feeling a lot better this morning! Still a little twinge, so I’m taking it easy again today, just worried if I twist wrong again it will flare up. Didn’t take any aspirin and still felt pretty good. Chores were a bit easier, and I spent most of the day in one of my chairs instead of in bed, so I’m hoping tomorrow I’ll feel good enough to go riding. Flash gathered quite a flock of feather fans around him today, looked like a regular pied piper! I spent the day putting together the sponsor logos and designing the back of this year’s OTL T-shirt, evidently someone else was going to do it but dropped the ball, so Anita asked me if I was able to, and of course I said yes. Apparently it’s been a major problem for some other folks, but honestly, it was nothing for me, I had it put together in no time. The hardest part has been waiting for all the sponsors to get confirmed, and they still might add another one or two over the weekend, but it takes no time at all for me to add them. I think the problem is that most of these folks are old school, not particularly good on a computer, but even I’m using an old Paint program and it’s still taking me no time at all. Anyway, it was a pretty relaxing day, a quiet evening, and now I’m ready for shower and bed. Love you, darlin’! Good night!
Thursday, January 13, 2022 – Big Time Rest Day
Hey Darlin’,
Slept late this morning, felt a little better, at least until I started moving, still struggling with back pain. Barely managed to feed the horses and throw the frisbee for Lola, but I had to make her put it in my hand because it hurt too much to bend over. She’s so smart, she had that figured out very quickly! After that, I went straight back to bed, because as comfortable as my chairs might be, I think the bed was a better idea. Yesterday I took some time release acetaminophen, which helped just a little, but then I looked at the bottle and saw they had expired in Nov. 2013! Then I found a bottle of practically full aspirin, and even that had an expiration of April 2021, but at least that seemed to work a lot better. So I spent the day in bed taking aspirin, reading, and napping. Around 5:00, my camping neighbor actually came over and knocked on the door to see if I was all right, since they hadn’t seen me around all day! How thoughtful was that! I swear, the country song is right, most people are good. I felt a little better, managed to feed the horses and play with Lola for a few minutes, then had some dinner and settled down for the evening, watching a new British limited series called The Stranger. Skipped my shower last night, but taking one tonight, then off to bed shortly. Had a few more sign ups for the OTL today, things are looking promising for good numbers this year! Hope that makes everybody happy and not overwhelmed! Makes me happy, seems like I’m getting the job done! Good night, my sweet! Love you!
Wednesday, January 12, 2022 – Slow Day, Hurt My Back
Hi Sweetie,
Slept late this morning, did my chores, and had hoped to take a ride on Flash today, but somehow I managed to twist my back and now I can hardly move. Don’t know if it’s from Apollo’s wild ride yesterday or something else I did thing morning. Just one of those things, where it seems okay and then suddenly some muscle collapses and it’s excruciating! Took some painkillers and spent most of the day in a chair on the computer, though I thought maybe some stretching might help so I did an hour of my Egoscue exercises, sorry to say I’m sure they made it worse, I could barely move after that. Oh, well! We’ll see how I feel in the morning. Lola spent the evening in my lap, probably knows I’m not feeling well, but I’m not sure have a sixty pound dog in my lap helped much. I put some ice on it, that helped. Not much else went on today, pretty boring day, actually. I know you hate to hear that! But that’s okay, starting next week I’ll be going non-stop for a month, so I’m grateful for the down time this week. Heading off the bed soon, so good night, babe! Love you!
Tuesday, January 11, 2022 – Short Ride on Apollo, Then OTL Work
Hi Babe,
A great night sleep and a morning full of computer work, then I saddled up Apollo for a long overdue ride. I had planned to take the last long trail I could reach out here, but decided that a shorter ride was better, because he’s such a slug these days, so I headed through a gate that was supposed to be a “trail” but was nothing more than an access to the multitude of cow pastures out here. We followed it about as far as we could, and yes, we got to go through a stretch of cows and the many babies, but it was really a boring ride. Might have been more interesting if I actually had a job to do out here, but just walking through a cow pasture isn’t much of a ride. When we got toward the end, though, it seemed as if Apollo got the scent of something more alarming, maybe a panther? We are kind of in panther country out here. In any event, he kept stopping and shying and it was getting rather annoying, so rather than go through another field that was full of cows, I decided to head back. Well, Apollo took that as a sign to bonkers on me, and he took off at a gallop like he hasn’t done in years! It caught me by surprise, and I couldn’t get him to stop, so I just grabbed the horn and hung on, figuring he’s wear himself out before long. You know I’ve never trusted his gallop, since he always tends to make sudden sideways moves and I usually end up on the ground, and these days, that seems a lot farther than it used to be! Well, once I got myself in control, I was able to finallly get him to slow down as we approached, but I was pretty nervous for a minute there! He was still a bit antsy, but at least he behaved himself the rest of the way home. It was only about an hour, but it was enough. This place is really boring, I can’t wait to get back on some real trails. I think it’s going to be a LONG week here, which is an unusual feeling for me, most of the time it goes by so fast! So now there’s only one more trail that I can take, and I’ll do that on Flash, then I’m going to let them rest until we get to Dupuis next week, where I expect to run them both ragged, hopefully. Flash is getting restless, he ran around the paddock like a mad horse when we got back, which I’m glad about because he’s been a bit sluggish lately, too. The rest of the afternoon was mostly me doing a bunch of messaging to folks who had indicated an interest in the ride but who weren’t on my mailing list, hopefully that will stir some more interest. Pretty boring day, actually. Then I watched a very funny short series on Prime called Jean-Claude Van Johnson, which literally made me laugh out loud more than I can remember any series doing in a VERY long time! The self-effacing and “inside the entertainment industry” pokes at himself were hysterical, almost melodramatic. I wish there were a lot more episodes, it was very clever! So now I’m ready for shower and bed, and a bit more reading. Good night, my darling! Love you!
Monday, January 10, 2022 – More Relaxed Day
Hi Babe,
Slept nice and late this morning, did my basic chores, then decided to take a drive over to Okaloacoochee State Forest, which is on the west side of Dinner Island Ranch. I wanted to see what the horse camp looked like over there, to see if I could fit in it okay, and what the trails are like. Half considering moving over there, since riding is so limited here because of all the cattle guards with no bypass gate. I went down a long but good limestone road to what’s called Hunt Camp #2, where they had recently built four nice big stalls. There are only four official sites, but other than one small tree on Site 4, they’re all wide open, so no real shade. The trails look nice, grassy and well-mowed, not a lot of them, but more than where I am now. The only water is a hand pump, though water came out immediately when I pumped it, so that’s a drawback. I had spoken to a man name John the other day and he said he could arrange for me to fill up my tank at the ranger station, and I actually ran into him doing some work nearby, they were putting in a few more sites just up the road. A very nice young guy. He even appreciated my suggestion about getting a solar pump on a hydrant, said he’d bring it up at their next meeting. Seems they’re doing their best to upgrade the place. Anyway, I don’t think I’ll bother moving this time, but would be a good place to try next time I’m in the area. Got back to camp and spent most of the afternoon on the computer. It was very humid today, supposed to rain but never did, but ten degrees cooler tomorrow, so I think I’ll take Apollo for a ride, there’s one trail I think I can get to for a shorter ride, might as well make the most of it. Otherwise, a relatively lazy day, which felt needed after the last few busy days. Settled down as usual, about to head for the shower and bed. Good night, sweetheart! Love you!
Sunday, January 9, 2022 – Busy Puttering Day
Hi Sweetie!
Fortunately, I woke up still in the mood to putter today, so I got busy right after breakfast with all kinds of little odd jobs that needed doing. I started with patching the sheets that Lola ripped, I had to get the sewing box out of the attic and used patches that are probably from the 60’s, but they still worked! I put up a hook for a tie-back for the curtain in the bedroom, put a better hook in the shower caddy, hung up some pictures that I’ve been meaning to do for ages (like two from Goethe 2020!), fixed the trailer jack again, Pistol’s friend actually stripped the bolt on it the other day, so I had to put a washer in it to fill the gap, hopefully that will solve the problem of intermittent power and occasional sparks! I changed the batteries in the recliner chair power, not convinced two 9Vs are enough, they’re struggling, and probably won’t last long. Put epoxy on the handle of the sliding window in the living room, that had come off again awhile back, though the one in the kitchen seems to be okay from my last repair. Sewed a velcro tie back onto a solar cable, just a bunch of little stuff that needed doing. Felt like it was a pretty productive day! Lola spent the day sleeping in the gravity chairs outside, it was a beautiful day. It would have been too hot out in the field normally, but it was overcast and windy all day, so the temp was perfect. A cool front is coming through tomorrow, so it’s going to be a gorgeous week. Just wish I had better trails to take advantage of it! Finished off the afternoon with a lovely bacon-wrapped filet, a couple of hours of TV and now I’m ready for shower and bed. Good night, my darling! Love you!
Saturday, January 8, 2022 – Busy Computer Day
Hi Darlin’,
Woke up refreshed and ready to tackle a whole lot of puttering jobs today, but then when I got on the computer to send out an email for the OTL first, I realized I had more problems with my mailing list than I thought, so I spent the day sorting that out, just finishing up at 9:00 pm! Got a couple of more registrations and another volunteer today, so it was productive even if it wasn’t what I started out the day planning to do. Spent the whole day in my chair working, except one short trip over to the hunt check station to fill up my tank with water for the horses. I drained as much as I could out of tank into the trailer before that, since that was more potable water, the stuff here definitely has that Florida well-water smell to it. It would have been very warm today, but there was a lovely breeze that kept it down a bit. Sorry that the horses are out in full sun, with only one tiny scrawny tree that doesn’t help much, but at least they have a lot of room to roam around now. Forgot to take pictures of the new site, I need to remember to do that tomorrow. Not really much else to report today, just that the mailing list is now as accurate as I can make it, I did get a mailing out, plus some others to old addresses that were messed up, so hopefully that will help get more sign-ups, though frankly, I’m quite pleased that we’re this far along with still more than a month to go. Judging by what I heard at the meeting last night, I think we’re going to have a LOT more people than they may be ready for, but we’ll just have to rise to the challenge! Looking forward to getting to Dupuis at getting the ball rolling. Anyway, I’ll soon be done with my Sleepytime tea and my French lesson, and off to shower and bed! Speaking of, Miss Lola somehow, while I was gone yesterday, managed to move the bar stool I put in front of the bedroom steps, got around the wastebasket I had ON the steps, pulled the partition apart and crawled in. If that wasn’t bad enough, she ruffled up the bed so hard she actually ripped my sheets! And they weren’t that old, I think I just bought them last year, so they were certainly not threadbare. Needless to say, she was in the doghouse last night, and now I’ve got sheets to repair or replace, which WAS on my putter list until I got on the computer. Maybe tomorrow! Good night, babe! Love you!
Friday, January 7, 2022 – Second Anniversary of Remembrance, Lunch with Brothers
Hi Sweetie,
Hard to believe another year without you has flown by! I had a super busy, so I haven’t had as much time for remembrance as I would have liked, but maybe tomorrow, I have no real plans. Got up at the crack of dawn and started packing up, since the new resident of this site showed up yesterday, and managed to get everything packed moved and unpacked again in less than two hours. That included setting up a whole new, much bigger paddock for the horses, with lots of fresh grass to munch on. They’re pretty much ignoring the crappy coastal I bought at the nursery in Naples. I had to take two runs at getting in the driveway in this new field camping area, big ditches on either side of the entrance, almost didn’t make it, but finally managed it. Changed my clothes and headed out to Okeechobee, where I filled up three propane tanks and got a bag of horse feed, then stopped at the feed store for six bales of hay, somewhat better quality than I have, but not much. We’ll see how they like that. Finally arrived at Indianwood Country Club where we all agreed to meet for lunch, and amazingly, brother Jeff was the first to arrive! We went in and got a table at the Outpost Grille, a nice little place overlooking the golf course. Brother Glenn and wife Dena arrived shortly afterward, and we had a very nice lunch, Mahi-Mahi sandwich for me! Not a bad reunion, probably won’t see Glenn again for awhile, though, I’m not making that nearly four hour round trip just for a meal, and he’ll be gone by the time I get closer. Stopped at Walmart for fuel and a few groceries, and got back to camp just before the sun went down, long day today! Lola made friends with big chocolate lab named Riley a few sites away, they romped for a bit. Then my new friend from Rochester came by and we chatted for a couple of hours, much in common! Finally settled down to do a little OTL work, got another rider signed up today. Had my Sleeptime tea tonight, I’ve been missing that, now I’m headed for shower and bed, though I still have a French lesson to do. I love you, my darling, and I miss you, but all my thoughts of you bring smiles to my face, not tears to my eyes, which I know you appreciate. I miss your off-the-wall take on things, I miss hearing about your vivid dreams, I miss the other half of this conversation we started in 1986, I miss you washing dished for me (sorry, couldn’t help myself on that one!), I miss your hugs and kisses, of course. Carry on with your exploration of the undiscovered country, I’ll be along before you know it! Love you!