It's A New Day

Newer Isn't Always Better

I've been going to yoga classes for a little over two months now, and invariably I say to myself as I walk out of the gym how much I love them. Sure, I'm walking a little gingerly as my muscles are fatigued from a good workout but they also feel long and loose. More importantly, they're stronger and more flexible too. With many of the positions, the instructor gives modifications ranging from beginners to advanced and I'm abandoning many of the beginner variations and moving on to more challenging ones. Heck, I can even do the pre-headstand one now, balancing on just my head and hands. Someday maybe I'll get my legs off my elbows and up in the air.

It's essentially the same people in class every Tuesday and Thursday...all women. We have the occasional man in the room, usually by accident or to retrieve some piece of equipment stored in there before he beats a hasty retreat.

That's what happened Thursday and it led to discussion about men and yoga. Melissa, who teaches the class, said she'd never had a man participate in a class. While yoga was developed in India by men, for men, it seems to a woman's discipline here in the U.S.

When someone mentioned that they had taught many of the yoga poses to their teenage son who now regularly does them to improve his flexibility for sports, I added that I'd just read an article about Broga, classes designed with men in mind. Apparently calling it "bro" takes some of the chick stigma away. Yoga offers a lot of health benefits, including stress relief, so if it takes modifying the name to make it more appealing to men, so be it.

From there the conversation on yoga class variations went downhill. It seems in some of the big cities you can attend Naked Yoga classes. That's right: yoga sans the yoga pants...and everything else. That's.just.wrong. Believe me, you get some "interesting" views of the anatomy of the person ahead of you as we're twisting ourselves into pretzels but at least they're covered by clothing. I don't want to even imagine what they would be like if all the participants were naked!

Then someone popped up and said they'd seen a segment on Good Morning America about karaoke yoga. There were big screens instead of mirrors and a DJ spinning pop tunes to which the participants sang along. I suppose it depends on what you're looking for out of a workout but I happen to like the New Age sounds of pan flutes and the sounds of the ocean that are played in my class. Dance music and badly-sung lyrics just wouldn't give much of a sense of calm and relaxation in my book.

I suppose some marketing guru is behind these spins on traditional yoga classes...an effort to bring in new members or hold old ones with something different. But from where I see it, newer isn't always better.

Rub-A-Dub

I'm deep in the spring cleaning mode, at least insofar as the outdoor space is concerned. It was a race yesterday to see who'd finish first...me scrubbing the screened enclosure or the sun disappearing over the horizon. I won but just barely.

And speaking of the screened enclosure, it left me shaking my head. I tackled the inside first. It takes longer because the support beams all face inside so there are two sides to wash on each one. You can wash eight or nine sections before you have to stop and replace the soapy water; it just gets too dirty. So after you've washed them and rinsed them, you'd think doing the outside would be a piece of cake. Screen is, after all, a lot of holes; how much dirt can the second side have? The answer is still quite a lot. I don't know how it happens but I saw the dirty water to prove it.

Today's chore was all the patio furniture and, as the picture says, it was yucky. We can thank all the pine trees in the area for that...if you can be thankful for the greenish-yellowish pollen it leaves all over everything. You just have to endure until the pollen subsides and then wash everything.

It would be nice if washing were as simple as turning the hose on it but it's not. That pollen has magical powers because even though it appears to be the consistency of talcum powder, it's deceptively clingy. I tried writing on the table with just my finger first and only part of it came off so I had to resort to a wet paper towel to get down to the white table underneath.

But all the tables are white now...along with the arms of the patio chairs and the background of the cushions that go on them. And everything else that was out there with them. I'm looking forward to meals on the patio again, enjoying fresh breezes and the new leaves on all the trees. I won't even think ugly thoughts about those pine trees with their six-inch sprigs of new growth that were responsible for all that pollen.

There are only two more rub-a-dub projects on my list to make the space ready for outdoor living. I'm looking forward to the weekend already.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

This is how I spent my day. Well, after being at the gym at 8am to sign up for April classes (you have to do it in person) and after giving the house a lick and a promise as far as cleaning is concerned. And before walking four miles, cooking supper, and collapsing on the couch after a nice hot shower. Yes...it was a busy day. I had planned to iron this evening but there just wasn't enough energy left.

But the pool deck is all clean and nice. It's an annual rite of spring, I suppose...one of the first in a line of tasks that need to be done once warmer weather arrives. I don't think I'm late getting to it as far as the calendar is concerned but spring-like weather arrived so early that the plants in the flower beds next to the pool deck are bigger than usual. That meant I had to be a little more careful but the trade-off is it was 82 degrees. I like that.

I can't, however, say that I like the mud bath I always get when I tackle this chore. There's a small path of pavers through the flower bed and it's a real challenge to get the spray to the edge of the 12" squares without going off the edge. Because when you go off the edge, the mud flies. I created more than one mud volcano but I also had more than one geyser too when the spray hits in the corners of each of those upright posts too. Imagine how dirty I would have been had there not been some of those geysers to wash me down every now and then. Long story short...it was a messy day.

The pool deck looks good though; wish I could say the same about the screen enclosure and the pool itself. A certain amount of that dirt dislodged by the power washer ended up on both. While that's part of the process, it feels a little like taking one step forward and two back. On the other hand, both were already on the list of things to clean now that spring is here. That's why the pool deck comes first. One thing's for sure...I won't be nearly as dirty as today when I finish those chores. Right now though I'm ready to crash.

Home

While the old blog suffered from a little neglect last week, my time was spent with family and friends. The weather was lousy but it didn't matter as we were inside laughing, reminiscing and just soaking up the face time. Sometimes you just need that. The time went by much too quickly but then it always does.

If there's any truth behind the phrase Last one to leave turn out the lights, they must be flickering in Illinois and Indiana. I'll swear every car that passed us as we motored down Interstate 65 had an Illinois or an Indiana tag; it must be spring break there this week. And pass us they did...they were in a hurry to get to the beach. Too bad; they should have slowed down to appreciate the dogwoods blooming in among the pines. The redbuds had been spectacular farther north but the dogwoods were having their day in Tennessee and northern Alabama.

Illinois also wins the contest for the most expensive gave. The best we could find when we stopped there was $3.97 a gallon for regular. Needless to say, there were stations that were over $4. I guess I'd be in a hurry to get away from there if I had to pay those prices too.

So we spent the day in get-life-back-together mode. Our freshly-fertilized grass is green and growing so Wayne gave it a haircut. I tackled a mountain of dirty clothes and an even dirtier car. And the pantry and fridge are restocked ready for another week. It was nice to get my miles in under a bright blue sky and sunshine.

Home feels pretty good.

That Will Get Your Heart Rate Up

We're on the road...and that means I'm getting my miles in on a hotel treadmill. I don't mind; I can fit it in around everything else we're trying to fit into the schedule.

So it was 9pm when I headed to the fitness room tonight. Not much demand tonight for fitness it seems as the room was dark when I arrived but the lights popped on automatically as I walked in the door. I settled into my stride and was soon lost in the music my iPod was serenading into my ears.

I'd been walking for almost three miles when suddenly the room was plunged into total darkness. All I could see was the bar of red numbers telling me how far and how long I'd walked. It was only an inch or so high so it wasn't much light but it glowed bright in the pitch black.

The first thought through my mind was that the hotel had lost power but then those red numbers registered in my brain. I wouldn't be seeing them if the power was out.

Now you should know I step it on out when I'm on the treadmill, legs pumping and arms swinging. There's no holding on for me so the next thought in my head was "Holy cow! How am I going to keep up when I can't see a thing?" I had visions of me flying off the back of the belt.

I leaned forward, feeling for the handrail and trying to remember where the "stop" button was on this unfamiliar machine when the lights came back on. Apparently I was in just the right place on the treadmill that the motion detector in the room wasn't sensing me. Believe me, I was moving, just not where the detector was pointed. Reaching for the "stop" button was enough to activate it.

I've got to say though, there was no problem getting my heart rate up there in this workout.

Grow, Grow, Grow

I'm an expert at spreading fertilizer now. OK...so maybe "expert" is a bit of a stretch but I am experienced now. We put the weed and feed down on Wednesday with Wayne doing the front yard and me doing the back. I was happily surprised when Wayne opened the first bag and poured it into our brand-spanking-new spreader...it was pink! I took that as an omen from the grass gods that I was supposed to be involved in the process of putting it on the lawn but then when I did, I understood why it was such a distinct color. So you could see where you've been. And so you could see where the irrigation system did a good job of dissolving it when we turned it on afterwards. One of Thursday's chores was to water in the spots that still had pink showing...along with destroy a few fire ant mounds that have already popped up.

And Wayne and I both swore the grass was absolutely greener the next morning. I suspect it was a figment of our imagination but it did make us feel like the hard work we'd done the day before was paying off already.

One of the things I noticed as I was trudging back and forth across the back yard trying to stay in a straight line was all the blueberries on the bush. It's covered with clusters like this. They're about the size of the end of your little finger but still quite green. Since this is only its second year, the bush is still quite low to the ground so the trick will be to keep the local wildlife from getting the blueberries before I do. This one is an early variety but there's a second bush next to it that's a later one; it's just starting to bloom.

There are still a lot of blooms in the lemon tree but not as many as a few weeks ago. When you walked by it then, the air was filled with the sweetest scent. I wasn't the only one who loved it; plenty of big, fat bumblebees were drawn to it too. Little bitty lemons are starting to set on where the blossoms once were. Most are smaller than the eraser on a pencil but these two must have been the very first to make the scene. They're about the size of a white grape. Best of all, there's no sign of scale so all my spraying and scrubbing seems to have done the trick.

Green growing things...it's one of the reasons this is my favorite time of year.

With Friends Like This, Who Needs Enemies

We had dinner out tonight...a rare treat for a Thursday evening. But our son Brad was in town and had time for dinner with Mom and Dad so we met up at the restaurant for a hug, some delicious Mexican food, and the chance to catch up in person on the latest in our lives. The time went much too quickly, but then it always does when we have a chance to be together.

As we were standing in the parking lot saying our goodbyes, I looked up to see this rather strange-looking car parked nearby. I'm sure it wasn't there when we arrived and my mind was still processing why it looked so odd when Wayne commented on it.

 

While Wayne and I were a bit puzzled by what we saw, Brad knew exactly what it was...someone was pulling a prank by wrapping rolls and rolls of Saran Wrap around a car. I didn't want to ask how he was so familiar with it; there are some things a Mother just doesn't need to know.

The wrapper was proficient. The clear plastic went round and round from hood to trunk, and then round and round from top to bottom the other direction. He/she either had an assistant or was adept at rolling the wrap under the car and then pulling it up before throwing it across the roof to the other side again. And he/she garnered style points too by incorporating the spent cardboard tubes into the design. They formed sleeves on the windshield wipers, were woven into the wheels and formed an artificial extension of the tail pipes in back. The red balloon was like a cherry on the top of this one-of-a-kind creation. Someone is in for a big surprise when they finish dinner or their shift at work.

And on the driver's window was a small note...something to the effect of King XXX - 2, Queen XXX - 1, referencing, I suppose, the fact that the King was now one-up on his lady friend. And it was signed I Love You. With friends like this, who needs enemies.

Closing the Book

Sometimes I read a story in the newspaper that just makes me heave a big sigh and go awwww. Today was one of them.

The story was about how the publisher of Encyclopaedia Britannica is ceasing production of the printed version of its reference books. It makes total sense really. In this digital age everyone scrolls through web sites instead of flipping through paper pages for the answers to their questions. The world has pretty much passed them by.

But that wasn't the case when I was growing up. We had the junior set...smaller books, fewer subjects and obviously a lower price. Still, it was great to be able to head to the bookcase and learn about something unfamiliar in the days before Internet connections put all that at your fingertips. And it was a godsend when we reached the point in school where school writing projects required us to cite sources. No need to go "all the way" to the library (six blocks max) when the answer was right in the living room. And better still if you had a friend who's parents had purchased World Book; you could trade info and each have two sources.

In some ways I'm a little surprised we had the encyclopedias. It's not that my parents were adverse to learned; that certainly wasn't the case. It's just that the books were sold by door-to-door salesmen and I can remember plenty of occasions where we either didn't answer when someone who appeared to be such a salesman came knocking or if we did, it was barely opened and only long enough for a polite We're not interested. Apparently that was a common reception as Encyclopaedia Britannica stopped its door-to-door sales quite some time ago.

It's not too late to thumb through the pages and read about some obscure topic, confident that you're getting accurate information...well, digitally anyway. The entire contents of Britannica.com are available free for one week starting March 14. I think I'll go research something...just for old time's sake.

Get Your Scrappy On

You know the saying...Spring is busting out all over? Right now it seems to apply to more than just the landscape as online scrapbooking classes are popping up everywhere. Here are a few you might be interested in:

Cute little Shimelle Laine is teaching a workshop titled The Hitchhiker's Guide to Scrapbooking" over at Two Peas in a Bucket. As Shimelle says, it's a class "designed to steer you in the right direction when you get into a scrapping slump, when you are drowning in a sea of scrapbook supplies and a plethora of photos, and are wishing things just came together easily." Man...do I ever need that! There are five chapters with video, printable PDF and a reference section with sketches, supply lists and the chance to drool over 42 of her pretty pages, all for $25. It's self-paced which means you can start whenever you want and work at your own speed. To sign up or get more information, check here.

And Shimelle is one of the fifteen instructors who'll be participating in the third go-round of True Scrap. This one is a little more pricey at $127 but there are some amazing teachers. The subjects cover everything from photography to stamping to using your Cricut machine and the materials is presented in video format. You can see the full line-up and class descriptions here.

If getting learning artsy techniques and getting messy is your thing, I can think of no one I'd rather learn that from than Tim Holtz. I've never taken one of his classes (although I haven't given up hope that some day I might) but I have watched him demonstrate techniques at trade shows on numerous occasions and he's a terrific teacher. He's able to break what seem to be complicated processes down to very doable steps with his clear instructions and now he's offering that online. Hurry though...class starts March 19. Check out the details here.

It hasn't seemed that long ago that including digital materials in class handouts for students to print and use in projects was revolutionary. That's all changing...one of the latest offerings from Big Picture Classes takes it a step farther and includes digital files for personal cutting machines. That would be Heidi Swapp's new class The Art of Observation. It's 12 weeks of observation assignments that you'll turn into layouts with some of Heidi's trademark creativity behind them in the form of video presentations and handouts. It's $99 and you can watch the video to learn more about it here.

Finally, Megan Hoeppner, Creative Editor at Creating Keepsakes, is leading a class focused on the relationships that are important in life. She has a variety of techniques to teach as you create an entire 12x12 album about your family and special friends and have some fun in the process. The cost on this one is $19.99 and there's a video preview here.

So many options you're sure to find one to fit your interest and budget.

Berry Good

It started two weeks ago. We were wandering through the produce section of Publix looking for apples when we spied the display of strawberries. The fact that they were so red and juicy looking would have made them irresistible on their own but they were on sale. Bonus! It didn't take long for us to load up the three containers needed for the promotional price and home with us they came. A bowl of fresh berries and a little whipped cream became the evening treat for the next several nights.

When the next weekend rolled around and we found ourselves back in Publix, it wasn't hard to add more strawberries to the basket. They were, after all, still at the same bargain price and we'd enjoyed them so much we were happy to have another round of them.

By yesterday's trip to the store, I was sure the sale price would be history but was pleasantly surprised to see that the sign over the strawberries read just the same as it had the last two trips. The article in our local paper said the mild winter had produced a bumper crop which, I'm sure, is why the cost has remained so low and the quality still so high. You guessed it...we loaded up again.

You'd think at this point I'd be trying to figure out new and different things to do with strawberries but that's not the case. We like them plain...sliced, no sugar, a little whipped cream. Oh, they're good in other forms, I agree, but when they're sweet and juicy like these have been, it's hard to want to fiddle with their natural goodness.

I'm not sure how long this bounty will last but we're going to enjoy it as long as we can.

A Really Big Boat

I suppose when the length of a sea-going vessel exceeds two football fields it ceases to be a boat and should be referred to as a ship...probably in the biggest letters possible. Whatever you want to call it, we went down to see it this afternoon.

The largest commercial ship to ever visit Pensacola arrived earlier this week and it's getting plenty of attention. Size is part of the reason...it's huge! I can't begin to fathom something that weights almost 56,000 tons.

The Eagle Sydney is an tanker that ferries crude oil from drilling platforms to the mainland but it's in our port for about ten days for some repairs. Looking at the sides of it as we walked the length of it from the public side of the dock, I told Wayne I'd want the rust spots fixed if I was on board but apparently the jobs include a new boiler system and some other odds and ends. That means dollars coming into our community through a port that has lost money every year we've lived here. It's a complicated situation but the recent efforts to recruit repair business like this on ships that service offshore rigs are meeting with success.

And that makes it interesting to see this behemoths when they come lumbering into port. While big, this one is kind of boring otherwise. Some of them have numerous booms that are both enormous and strangely shaped, partly because they lay pipeline on the Gulf's floor. One had this odd circular-shaped appendage that we finally figured out was a helipad.

Anchored on the public side of the dock was this old wooden sailing ship that was open for tours. We didn't do that but I was struck by the contrast between the two vessels in size, materials, age and purpose.

You can read more about the Eagle Sydney on the local paper's webpage, including some cool photos of the nighttime arrival. While Photo #10 has its faults, I do like the fact that you get some perspective of the ship's size when you see how it dwarfs the tug boats helping line it up for the pier.

Are We Smarter Than A Pool Pump?

That's the question of the day. And the answer? At this point I can only say I hope so.

The pool pump died last Friday night. It wasn't a surprise as it had been crying and complaining for a couple of weeks. We knew it was only a matter of time until it had to be replaced but since we just replaced an entire heating/air conditioning system less than a month ago, we were content to postpone another big cash outlay until the pump breathed its last breath. And it did.

There is a silver lining to this cloud, however; the local power company is offering a substantial rebate on the installation of certain energy efficient pumps. It's not the amazing deal we got with the hot water heater where the rebate and tax credit equaled the cost of the appliance but rebates are always a nice thing on something you're going to have to buy anyway. And the energy savings are appealing too. Wayne's licking his chops at the idea of the electric bill dropping again.

The pool people installed the new high-tech pump late yesterday and mounted this control panel on the side of the house above it.

The camera captured just one of the several screens that rotate through on the display, and when you push the Menu button, a whole tree of program options shows up that you scroll through with the arrow keys. There are multiple timers, multiple speeds, and multiple levels of flow. It's so smart it knows when the outside air temperature is getting close to freezing and turns itself on automatically.

With the old pump, all I had to do was open the box and flip the switch. It was either off or it was on. I have a lot to learn and so far all I've mastered is Stop/Resume.

The test is going to come this weekend when I have to change the time for daylight savings time. Me vs. the new pool pump...could be an interesting battle.

A New Location Every Day

The computer and I are spending a lot of time together these days what with all the family history research I've been doing. I've downloaded entire history books (love that so many of the older ones are now available as free ebooks), uploaded date and records, and edited numerous documents and images over the past several weeks. While buying a new computer last fall wasn't in the plans, it's wonderful to have the extra memory and faster processor this new baby provides.

One of the other things I'm enjoying is changing out the background behind all my icons. Who knows, maybe I could have done that on the old machine but I stuck with the basic blue Windows version that automatically loaded when the system came up. Windows 7, however, gave me a very colorful and relaxing landscape when we first fired it up and I was hooked.

Every couple of weeks I run out to the Microsoft site and download a new theme.  I'm partial to the landscapes and since they're mostly arranged by countries, it's like traveling so some beautiful location without ever leaving the comfort of my computer chair. Perhaps more importantly, it's free. And since it changes every day, I'm seeing lots of amazing scenery...like this one that's adorning my screen today:

Ah, yes...it's England for the new few weeks. They're all fresh and new so I still find myself saying Wow, that's a pretty picture! each evening when the screen rolls over to a new one. And when they've rotated through enough times that I'm bored with them, I go find something new.

Before England I was basking in the warm sun in Mexico. This beauty was one of my favorites:

It just makes you crave some chips and salsa or a margarita, doesn't it?

In addition to the beautiful pictures, the themes come with sounds as well so when the computer pops up those little dialogue boxes that require action on your part, it also plays a little sound to get your attention. The sounds are tied to the theme too so with Mexico it was horns. I swear it sounded like the first couple of notes from The Mexican Hat Dance. I half expected a mariachi band to appear in the corner of the screen. England is much more mellow.

There are plenty of theme choices of beautiful places for my virtual travel so I'm set for quite some time. I am, however, saving the Arctic for summer. I figure all those pictures of snow and ice will be a welcome sight in the heat and humidity of August. Like so many of the other places in the themes, I'm not likely to ever get there but I sure can enjoy the fantasy of visiting via my computer screen.

And So It Begins

The days of a dormant lawn and long days spent doing inside things are over...the grass is growing. That's both good and bad. I am always happy to put cold weather behind us (and hope it's there to stay) and welcome the return of all things green but with that come work. Lots of work.

Today's chore was aeration. My job is to locate all the sprinkler heads and mark them with a little blue flag so Wayne doesn't run over them with the aerator. That's the wagon-like thing he's pulling behind the mower. It's a cylinder with long spikes that go down in the lawn and pull out a small plug, making the ground softer and cutting into the grass to encourage it to grow. And looking at the amount of green it already  has, it's seems pretty encouraged.

Then Wayne set the mower down a notch lower than usual and gave the lawn it's spring haircut. Not only was he trying to pull out a lot of the old, dead blades but he was cutting some green too. I was kind of caught off-guard the other day when I looked at the front lawn and realized it looked shaggy. Not only is there green, it's tall green too.

And while he started mowing in the front, I was raking leaves in the back. See all those nice green trees in the picture? They're live oaks; they stay green all winter. It's a great morale booster in the dreary days of January to look out and see something green. There is a downside to that, however. They put out new green leaves right about now and the old ones turn brown and drop to the ground. That's right...not only can we rake leaves in the fall, we can do it in the spring as well. Lucky us.

Between the grass and leaves, we filled the bed of the pick-up AND took close to a dozen trips across the fairway where they can compost in the woods. The yard looked awesome when we finished. Well...there are still leaves in the flower beds but there's no point in cleaning those out until the trees stop dropping them. Still, it's nice to have such a big job out of the way and look out across the freshly-manicured green lawn.

One mowing down; an entire season to go.

Bits and Pieces

Here are some of the odd thoughts rolling around in my brain:

1. I got lost last night somewhere between West Virginia and Oklahoma. Well...virtually anyway. I was trying to determine if my great-grandmother was born in Virginia or West Virginia in an effort to learn more about my great-grandfather. The short answer is both; it was Virginia when she was born but where she lived became West Virginia that same year. And I basically got to all of that by working backwards from Oklahoma where I knew she had homesteaded when the Indian Territories were opened in the early 1900's. It's amazing how much real history I'm learning/re-learning in all family history stuff...and how much time I can sink into it.

2. Wayne wore three yellow shirts last week. That's at the top of my mind because I just ironed them. I'm pretty sure that's all the yellow shirts he owns. My theory is we had gray skies and rain all week so it was his subconscious way of finding a little sunshine. I, on the other hand, wore three pink shirts. Maybe it's my happy color.

3. Since Wayne cached on Saturday, our weekly grocery shopping wasn't done until Sunday. No big deal other than there are more bare places on the shelves in our over-shopped WalMart including the one where Soft Scrub normally lives. I wasn't too thrilled to choose a substitute but I must admit, cleaning the bathroom had a bit more interest this morning with a new product to try out. Just a bit...and the jury's still out on the result.

4. I've been researching fertilizers, weed and feed products and spreaders. It's hardly exciting but it is necessary since we decided not to renew the lawn care service we've had for probably the last 25 years. I'm not sure what they've been using for weed control the last few years but it didn't seem to be working. If we're going to have to treat weeds ourselves, we might as well save the money we were paying them. 

5. I complained loudly about the screaming ads J.C.Penney's aired a few weeks back so it only seems right that I should give them kudos on their new ad campaign. I'm not sure it will make me a customer but I do like the clean lines and simplicity of their new offerings. And I love the Target Color Changes Everythingcampaign where all the colorfully-dressed characters jump out of the hot-air balloon and run around to the tune of "Alouette." Such fun...I have to stop whatever I'm doing and watch. And it probably would make me a customer if I weren't already.

I warned you they were odd.

What's A Little Rain When You Have A Bluff to Rappel

I tried to get my buddy "Cache" to share his latest adventures on the caching trail but wasn't successful. There was this little thing called a KU basketball game on television tonight that had his attention so I'll attempt to do it on his behalf. It won't be the same, I'm sure, since I wasn't there to witness it first hand but he's had an interesting week.

He's been waiting for February 29 for weeks now, maybe months. You see he's been participating in a year-long cache challenge to find a cache on each of the 366 days of the year. You don't have to do them consecutively, just each calendar day. So if you found one on December 1 of any year, you've got that day covered. The website where you record you finds keeps track of the dates; you just have to figure out the ones that don't have a cache on them and go get one on those days.

Needless to say, he's been working on it throughout 2011. Some months he needed a bunch of them and some months he already had one on most days. When December 31 came and went, he was left with only once day on the list: February 29. So off he went that morning with some of his buddies and they spent the day caching down at Eglin, wrapping it up with a geocaching event at a restaurant in Crestview. He logged 32 finds that day, a fitting wrap-up to his year-long challenge and earned this special badge for finding a cache on Leap Day:

And while he and his cronies were all sitting around swapping caching stories, a bunch of them decided to meet up today to do a couple of harder-than-usual challenges...the kind it's always a good idea to have several extra sets of hands, or maybe brains. One of them involved lowering a long ladder down into a drainage pipe then walking way back into it to find the cache. I'd be thinking about what critters might already be there if it were me descending that ladder but then I don't geocache.

The second one was more of a challenge. It was located on the Red Rock Bluffs on Juniper Creek at the Blackwater State Forest. You know it's going to be difficult when they tell you to bring basic rappelling gear, a 75' rope and a magnetic long-reach tool. Let me be clear...Wayne is not a rock climber; fortunately for him, he didn't have to be. Among the group that met up to do these caches together was a father with two teen-aged boys, one of whom was more than happy to be strapped into a safety harness and hoisted to a spot in the middle of the bluff where the cache was stashed.

That little tiny face at the top of the bluff is Wayne, one of several men manning the rope to get this boy into position and back on the ground safe and sound. It looks like they were getting a break from the mostly-steady rain we've had the better part of the day.

The final exciting component of Wayne's day that on the way up to the location, Wayne had a very close sighting of a bald eagle. There are some in the area but they're pretty elusive so seeing one is rare. He and Old Blue were motoring down the highway when he saw something large in the road ahead. It was the eagle making an easy breakfast out of roadkill. Wayne said the eagle was huge compared to turkey vultures and other birds you usually see in those circumstances, and it was a pretty awesome to see his giant wings work to lift him up off the roadway.

There's an old adage about how neither rain nor sleet nor snow keep the postman from his appointed rounds; I think the same might be said of a geocacher in search of a coveted find.

Everything Old Is New Again

I bought a new pair of jeans the other day. There really wasn't much choice to the matter...the knee ripped out of the old ones and holes were forming just below the waistband where I grabbed them to pull them on. I suppose they can't last forever but I hated to let them go. They fit nice and had been washed so many times they were soft and comfortable. And since I live in jeans in the winter months, I needed to replace them.

Normally when I'm forced to shop for something I have to have, there's nothing to be found. I can't find my size or the styles are wrong. The fact that I'm not in love with shopping could have something to do with it but I seem to have the worst luck. Not this time, however; I carried four pairs of jeans back to the fitting room and I could have walked out with any one of them and been happy. I settled on the one that felt the most comfortable and left a happy camper.

That in itself was slightly amazing but what was an even bigger surprise was that all four pair of jeans that I tried on were bell bottoms. I didn't choose them for that feature; in fact, I didn't even notice it when I picked them up. I was just looking at size and color and trying to get several different brands to check the fit so it was a bit of a surprise to see the flare at the bottom of the leg as I tried them on. It just goes to show how up on fashion trends I am; apparently bell bottom jeans are the "in" thing.

It made me laugh though. I suspect those declaring them to be the latest trend and their avid followers are enjoying their first experience with bell bottoms. Me...I'm on the second go-round. I had plenty of bell bottomed trousers back in the day, the bigger the better. I specifically remember a red and gray plaid pair and another one that was navy blue with flowers on it. Don't let anyone tell you the 70's didn't have style...well, we were memorable anyway.

My new jeans are pretty comfortable although I still find it strange to deal with the extra fabric at the bottom. It just goes to show that everything old will have it's chance to be new again...just don't expect to see me in any tie-dye.

A Different Crowd

There's a new look at the little gym I go to. I'm up there twice a week for yoga class and again to hit the treadmill on rainy afternoons. Lately, that's been rather rather frequently as we've barely seen the sun in the last two weeks. It's a little family-run business...not one of those flashy national chains, but it's clean and the people are friendly.

And that's just where the new look comes in. Oh, the jocks are still there...the big, muscle-bound guys who grunt and grimace as they sling their giant weights around. They're on the treadmills too. Given the short haircuts, I'm guessing most of the jogging jocks are military guys who, like me, are trying to get their miles in without getting wet. They run; I walk.

But now right beside all of us are a bunch of gray-haired senior citizens...and a few blue-haired ones too. The Silver Sneakers are taking over.

What is Silver Sneakers, you ask? It's a program offered by some Medicare supplement plans to encourage their subscribers to become or remain physically active by working out at participating fitness clubs. The idea is that a healthy lifestyle will mean less medical problems and therefore less expenditures by the insurance companies. So the little gym signed up to participate, held an open house to acquaint local seniors with the program and is now filled with a bunch of sneaker-clad seniors.

This isn't meant to be a complaint; heck, I wear sneakers and qualify as a senior too. Some of them are really cute...like the little old man who was walking a few treadmills over from me the other day. I overheard him tell someone he was 80. He wasn't going very fast but he was motoring on. Good for him!

But the change at the gym is more than just the color of the hair...or lack thereof. The televisions in the cardio room are now tuned to Fox News or an old black-and-white movie channel instead of ESPN. And they're louder too. I couldn't help but notice that every senior went to get the disinfectant spray and cleaned the handles and controls on their machine when they finished. The non-seniors aren't always that considerate.

There's rain in the forecast again tomorrow and Saturday so it's likely I'll be back on the treadmill again soon. Me and the jocks and the Silver Sneakers.