Eight more flights. 14,238 more miles flown, for a since-June total of 43,319. (Not counting all the extra miles flown because flight paths are not all point-to-point.) Hundreds more miles by train. Hundreds of miles driven. Taxis, hotels, AirBnbs, subways, buses, rental cars, a friend’s home.
New stories written here? Zero. Sorry. Really, I am. Any questions?
But besides missing out on my love of writing, and of spinning tales here, I can’t complain. Our visit to our college freshman was great. His room was clean (for our visit, at least, but I believe he really does keep up on it) and his laundry was done.
That beats the kid on my freshman-year dorm floor that would simply hide his piles of dirty clothes when his parents came to visit, but there was no way to hide the stink.
I also spent a weekend with my college friends. I hadn’t seen them all in six years, save for one who strays to my home town for his almost-annual dose of scuba diving and stone crab.
My other journeys will be the subject of future writings here, hopefully soon, while others have tales that will never be told... here, at least. (Nothing bad, I assure you, but just off-topic for our written adventures together here.)
I think I have only one more trip this year, before hibernating for the winter. I also do owe one friend in Upper Michigan a visit, postponed from June, but I think it will go much better in the spring… even though I’m tempted to walk the Mackinac Island Ice Bridge one day, despite the times I’ve been dissuaded from doing so. We’ll see. It’s a brutal walk, though.
It would have been ideal to visit my friend in Michigan during the middle of September, but those two (very busy) weeks at home were the only time that I was home for more than four or five days straight since June… until I arrived home for Halloween, and then it’s been a huge catch-up again on so many things, so many errands, so much sleep (which didn’t come easily, as the mind and body were still on their previous time zones and pace).
More upside of the last few months: I did a ton of walking, lots of it strenuous, to get back into that groove, wanting my body to reach mountain hiking status again. After so much pandemic couch potato-ism, even though I lost over 30 lbs during said Netflix watching, I still have more to do to get my body ready for the next Colorado 14er.
The downside? I’m now working on losing the 10-12 lbs I gained with so much travel (after losing the 30+ lbs). The food was good, and you only live once, ya know. But lose I will. I’m thinking of climbing the dual one-day challenge of Gray’s Peak and Torrey’s Peak next time!
With that said, I have some pending catch-up dinners with friends at home, too, now, so I guess I’ll be laying low on the carbs and dessert. The wine stays.
Happy to see you back, whether for good or just a while. Sometimes we just need to do what we want to and the introspection will come. By the way, thats a lot of air miles not to mention all the other miles. It sounds like you've been busy. lol