February 2024

Weather: Mid 60's and no wind.

Exercise: 4.0 miles on the Greenway with Teddi. She went lame again. We turned around at the two-mile mark. By the time we got close to the Airbnb she was limping so badly that I picked her up and carried her for a short distance up hill, maybe fifty feet. Then I had to put her down. She hobbled the rest of the way. I don't know what to do at this point.

Weather: 700 and sunny, light wind. Chamber of Commerce weather.

Exercise: 4.5 miles on the Greenway without Teddi. She's still walking with a limp. I think I've got to give her a couple of weeks off. She's gonna hate it. So am I.

Musing

Getting to travel to Charlotte, NC tomorrow to visit Dawn, James and our grand-daughters, Ava and Allie. Hoping to get to know them better Conversely, hoping they get to know us better. We are the mysterious third set of grandparents that they see once yearly. That's some thick ice to break.

Children grow up so fast, and then they know everything. That lasts for a few years. Then they start to wonder about the back story and they learn that it isn't all pretty and tied up in a neat little bow. I want them to feel comfortable asking me the tough questions. I want to be available for it. I want to be alive to give them answers, even if those answers do not fit the narrative.

" Life is a sun of all your choices." Albert Camus

Weather: 50's and a slight wind

Exercise: None. Drove to Charlotte to hang out at Dawn's.

Musing

The girls are wonderful. Ava is finally getting old enough to venture a relationship with us. Tentative, but starting to show a higher comfort level. Well, mainly with Jill, because Jill puts in the gentle work that is required. Which is a good thing because that's the goal. I'm still a bit scary for Ava, but less so. Allie will come along later, I hope. She is still too young, and she is surgically attached to James. She did show interest in Teddi, though. Hanging on the ottoman with one hand in front of James' chair and reaching her other hand out to touch Teddi's back.

Weather: upper 40's. Sunny and windy-

Exercise: 4.5 walk on the Greenway sans Teddi. I am giving her the week off to heal. Although I get a more vigorous walk and I get deeper into my thoughts I would forgo both to have her with me.

Stoic Prompt Week 6 (2024)

Do my outbursts ever make things better?

Weather: Sunny. about 50° with a light wind.

Exercise: Walked about 4. 0 miles. Some on the Greenway with Teddi, until she started to favor her left leg. Made sure she was leashed the whole way. Turned right around and brought her back.

Then I grabbed my tactical pack and went down to the pavilion on the River Walk to sit and read, listen to some music and smoke a cigar. I sat so long that a huge, long necked bird, not sure what kind, landed in the tree between the water and me. It climbed up from the lower branches with some difficulty, struggling to weave its way up through the tightly woven stems, working its way to a large nest and perching on it until I stood up about an hour later. It was only about twenty feet from me. The tree grew up the slope of the bank near the water. Her nest, while fairly high in the tree, was right at eye level with me. I sat at edge of the public pavilion on a manmade stone wall resting my feet on some pavers placed on the next level and watched the bind watch me.

When I stood, she half flapped her wings, but did not abandon the rest. I quietly packed my things and moved under the shelter's roof and put the pack on my back so as not to disturb her. The I made my way back to the Airbnb.

Weather: Sunny. Around 60° with a light wind. Perfectly lovely and wonderful and deliciously boring.

Exercise: 4.0-mile walk.

Reflection

A republic if you can keep it.

Weather: overcast. about 70° with no wind The humidity is starting to pick up some

Exercise: 3.0 miles on the Greenway with Teddi. No sign of discomfort, but a little shy about that left leg.

Observation

White dog sure has good taste

Weather: low 70's with a moderate wind under overcast skies

Exercise: 4.5 miles on the Greenway. I really boogied today. Left Teddi back at the Airbnb.

Musing

Jill made her normal Saturday sojourn today. She traveled to a trail head about twenty-five miles Northeast of North Augusta, South Carolina. Her first destination took her down a rural country road that slowly turned into a one lane track. She got spooked and did her version of a Y-turn. That means, according to her report, that it took her several drive to reverse, back-and-forth gear selections, while she turned the wheels ever so slightly. The good news is that she did not go off the road. I would not have been any help stuck in the Airbnb. Ultimately, she made it to a walking trail so she could get in a short hike.

Weather: 60° and light rain. Very little wind in North Augusta. About 80° in Naples, Florida.

Exercise: None. Flying to Naples, Fl. Today. I spend the week with Auntie Jeanne. Hope to see Aunt Ann, too.

The part about no exercise turns out to be untrue. Atlanta has a very large airport. I suspect I walked for about 1.5 miles.

Reflection

Pull down the shades – Let’s assume we’re moving.

Weather: Hot. 80° and really windy. Sun was Florida strong.

Exercise: 4.0 miles. Walked toward the beach. Not all the way, but through some cool old neighborhoods and back.

Weather: Sunny and 70° in Naples Florida. Surprisingly windy.

Exercise: walked 4.0 miles through the old Naples neighborhoods again.

Weather: low 70's and sunny. Light winds

Exercise: 4.0 miles through the same neighborhood.

Musing

These are grand old homes. Many are being rehabbed and gated with elaborate electric swinging iron entryways for vehicles to access their luxury compounds. Jeanne says it's a fifty-year-old neighborhood. This morning, I stopped in front one of houses currently being rehabbed to take a photo. Three luxury SUV's with blacked out windows pulled up and parked across the street while I was framing a shot.

A fellow in is forties popped out of the lead vehicle and said," Hey, how are you doing?
I took my photo and slipped my phone into my pocket.
"Fine how are you doing?"
"Living the dream."
I said," Yes, you are."
He pondered my answer for a moment and laughed, then said, "Have a good day."
"You, too.'' And I kept walking.

Some of the homes are more open, still accessible from the street, providing a less restrictive “us vs. THEM" sort of vibe.

Weather: Sunny and in the high 70's. Light wind.
Exercise: None.

Stoic Prompt Week 7 (2024)

How can I do a better job listening to the little voice inside me?

Weather: Sunny and around 80° in Naples, Fl. - light wind

Exercise: 4.0 mile walk through same neighborhood,

-Dinner with Aunt Ann, Aunt Jeanne and Jeanne's nephew Corry and his wife Micheline at the Collier’s Reserve Country club.

Weather: Sunny and in the upper 70's in Naples, but only in the upper 50's in North Augusta.

Exercise: Schlepping through Atlanta's airport. Plenty of time to walk, rather than take the train between concourses.

Weather: mid-50's and overcast. Light wind in North Augusta, SC.

Exercise: 4.5 miles on the Greenway with Teddi. Kept her leashed with the exception of a couple of detours we take off the path down to a stream and then up to a soccer field. She favored her left leg a little at the end.

Reflection

At least Churchill was confident

Weather: Partly Sunny. Mid 40's in the morning.

Exercise: 4.0 miles on the Greenway sans Teddi.

Weather: 60° and sunny. Light wind

Exercise: 3.0 miles with Teddi.

-Total disaster. A water feed tube to our ice maker in our Colchester home burst. It caused major damage to our finished basement. G.W. Savage has a crew in there ripping out dry wall and ceiling tiles. Gonna be very expensive. Stay tuned.

Weather: 60° and sunny. Light wind

Exercise: 4.5 miles sans Teddi.

Weather: 60° and sunny. Light wind

Exercise: 2.5 miles with Teddi. Left leg acting up again. Slow walked back. Let her walk off leash. This happens consistently off leash now.

Weather: 65° and sunny with a moderate wind: shorts weather.

Exercise: 4.5 miles on the Greenway sans Teddi.

Stoic Prompt Week 8 (2024)

Am I happy with my portion at the banquet of life?

Weather: 60° and sunny. No wind.

Exercise: 4.5 miles on the Greenway.

Musing

-I’ve spent the last few days transcribing my 1983 Legislative Journal. It's a slog, but very rewarding. I am so lucky that Dr. Robert Egbert, my senior year PolySci professor, told me to write a journal in lieu of doing the coursework in his spring 1983 State and Local Governments class. Beside creating a record of that intense time, it allowed me to make sense of what I was going through in real-time. This will resonate with anyone who writes a journal or keeps a diary.

I am surprised how little my thinking has changed since those six months of straight-out action in 1983. It does not take a crystal ball to observe and predict some outcomes. Some of the things I believed might happen have come to pass. For example, our current reality is that a minority faction has gained control of the Republican party. Or, predicting that as state governments further reduce financial support for their respective University systems, the more a college education would become unattainable for financially strapped students. I testified to this effect before the Appropriations Committee in the spring of 1983. One more: my belief that the inter-state banking push during the early 1980's would result in a few institutions controlling all of the do-rae-me. 'Too big to fail' comes to mind. Although the term did not exist in 1983.

Weather: 73° and sunny. Light wind.

Exercise: 2.5 Miles with Teddi on the Greenway on her leash. A little limping, but not much.

Reflection

The Center will Hold

Weather: Overcast and 78° with very little wind.

Exercise: 4.0 mile walk with Teddi on a leash. No noticeable limp today.

Weather: 55° and overcast with a light wind.

Exercise: 1.0 mile walk with Teddi to grab an SD card from Victor. There are photos of Teddi on it from a couple of days ago.

Musing

Victor and I talked about the history of postwar Eastern Europe for about two hours. He surprised me with his antisemitism, when suddenly, he declared that all of Europe feels the same way that he does about the Jews. I stopped him right there, letting him know that many members of my family are Jewish. That put a pall on the conversation. I left soon thereafter with the SD card.

I suspect the current situation in Gaza gives him the courage to venture down this ancient and familiar road. Victor is of the generation of grandsons to the men in the Romanian intelligentsia who allied themselves to Hitler, until displaced by the communists after the war.

I will not be visiting again with Victor.