HABITAT

The morning’s dense fog dissipated around 1 PM, so I pulled a pair of jeans on – switched out my top, and went for a quick walk along the lower Pacific Way Trail.

Pacific Way Trail from 30th Ave. - 38th Ave from church parking lot; 1.18 mi. one way.

I like that my ‘size down’ jeans are sliding right up and over my hips without getting snagged on {love handles}: those are slowly shrinking (((Thank You, Lord!))) And they should stay shrunk since I’ll be spending less time burning up the highway, and eating along the road route, this year 😉

There are two main reasons I’ll be sticking closer to home this year: (1) I’m actively building community here, in Longview and surrounding 20-mile radius (2) the Social Security Administration is stealing $170/mo. dollars a month now that I am 65 … to pay for {benefits} already paid for, so the government can continue stealing earned income from retired people to fund DC’s War Chest Fund, fund the endless illegals’ illegal {benefits}, and cover junkies’ destructive behaviors which {handicaps} them and their children, thereby earning an undeserved share of the working people’s benefits: that stolen $170/mo. dollars was my traveling money: I earned it. Bob earned it; we worked for it with our blood, seat, and tears. IT IS MINE, and it is being stolen to cover a worthless automatically induced Social Security Medical Coverage (automatically deducted from our monthly income every paycheck of our working life, via FICA), that as we learned when Bob was in hospital dying, will not cover even the basic physician’s charges – even with Bob’s Social Security Medical Coverage, the hospital bills were staggering at half a million dollars, due AFTER the piddling Social Security Medical Benefits figured into the grand total!

I am sure that as 2022 progresses those greedy, deluded, DC bastards in their fenced off/heavily guarded political habitat, will think of more reasons to steal from those of us who have worked and paid for the crappy benefits we are “allowed” to receive – it is what it is; and I believe there is a special place in Hell's habitat reserved for the obamanite demonrats.

Justifiable rant aside, less time on the road means less on-the-road-eating … which means less fat accumulation in the love handles region of my body 😊

And I’m sinking roots into the Cowlitz region; which also requires sticking closer to home to explore those regions.

So, I went for a walk this afternoon, to tone my physical body and balance my emotions - my spirit is housed in this clay vessel; taking care of it, is my responsibility.

And viewed life unfolding, through the lens of my digital camera. It’s an old camera, but it is still functionable; and its video feature does a better job of zoom recording than the iphone.

Little fuzzy-wuzzy making its way in the big, noisy, world around it.

The weather predications on this fuzzy-wuzzy is '50-50', either way ...

Fuzzy-Wuzzie Weather Predications: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/wooly_worms_and_winter_weather_predictions

Muskrat gnawing on aquatic foliage.

Cohabitation among the wildlife ... people could take a lesson, and LEARN to live together dispite their obvious differences.

Watching the wildlife interaction, I hoped that Americans smarten up, reclaim/retake our great Nation back from the hate-filled/hate-fueled obamanite interlopers, and that the pride of American love reigns again in American hearts, and on American soil from coast to coast.

Surrounded by the soothing sounds of gently rippling water, birdsong twitters, throaty frog trills, questioning duck quacks, the crunch of gravel as bikes and hikers passed me – I thought to myself, “Despite all the DC insanity and outright DC theivery; right here/right now, it really is a wonderful world.”

Louis Armstrong – ‘What A Wonderful World’ song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nGKqH26xlg

MISTY MONDAY

I had to drive into town this morning to buy a postage stamp for my garden seed order; and to buy a skein of yarn to finish the lapghan I’m crafting as I design it – I won’t use the whole skein, but I can use the remaining yarn in another project 😉

It was misting. The street was damp, but not slick. I drove the backstreet into town to avoid the tire-eater steel plates across the highway.

Tire eater steel plates across highway at Baker's Corner; Ocean Beach Highway.

Steel plate bolts are literally pulling out of the highway ... and will puncture tires.

As I drove Pacific Way, I was hoping the mist would fade away as time slid away, and I could have a reasonably dry 2-mile-walk along the dike (I’m into a size smaller pair of jeans today – whoop-whoop!) …

… so, I drove to JoAnne’s first to get that skein of yarn; then backtracked to 30^th, stopping along the route to make an exam appointment (they can’t get me in until April); and top off the gas tank.

It was still misting as I nosed the Highlander for the Post office.

When I got to the Post office and asked for a stamp – I thought the teller misunderstood me; so, I repeated, “I only need one stamp”; he said. “That will be 58 cents.”

58 cents for one stamp – that is robbery.

But I want those seeds I’ve chosen and ordered: gardening is a full-body workout, and my food is my medicine (I deliberately choose medicinally beneficial food sources).

And, if I’m being totally honest, I like it when I hear, “You are looking good for someone your age” 😊

I’m not embarrassed to say … or to have others know … that I am 65 years old. And I agree – I do look fairly good for someone my age: I’m not a raving beauty, but I’m not a haggish looking crone, either 😉

Medicinal foods and daily exercises keep the whole body healthy, and puts pep in the step; so, I make sure to eat healthy (to keep body and brain functioning well) and to get out for a daily walk (fresh air, limber joints, and cartilage repair).

I’m also eating Supper later in the evening – I know that flies in the face of {scientific data}, but if I eat around 5 or 6 PM … I’m hungry again, and looking for a snack around 8 or 9 PM. So, I eat around 7 PM now. That myth about “drinking water curbs the hunger” is BS; all drinking 8+ cups of water, does for me, is make my stomach feel sloshy: a water-filled stomach will still demand something substantial to fill it, and stave off the late evening hunger prods (mine does anyway); so, I do what is best for ME – no one else is me … my stomach is my own. My stomach does not recognize general scientific hypothesis geared towards curbing a generalized public’s eating habits. I watch calorie intake. I exercise. I eat later in the evening. THIS is what works for ME.

I like the Pacific Way Trail because even though it is “in town”, it is countrified enough (ducks, deer, herons, muskrats, songbirds, turtles, otters, frogs, horses, ect.) to satisfy my country girl heart 😊

Pacific Way Trail from 30th Ave. - 38th Ave from church parking lot; 1.18 mi. one way.

Great Blue Heron with an abundance of chest-feather-plumage.

Great Blue Heron (internet picture).

Great Blue Heron: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/id

Ring-neck Duck pair.

Ring-Neck Duck; male (internet picture).

Ring-neck Duck; female (internet picture).

Ring-neck Ducks: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-necked_Duck/id

Hooded Merganser Ducks.

Hooded Merganser Duck; male (internet picture).

Hooded Merganser Duck; female (internet picture).

Hooded Merganser Ducks: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/id

Mallard Ducks.

Mallard Ducks; male (internet picture).

Mallard Ducks; female (internet picture).

Mallard Ducks: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/overview

Before I knew it, the turn-around point of my 2-mile morning walk had come sooner than expected: I didn’t feel that I had walked that distance that quickly, at all!

I guess time flew 😊

Those yellow road signs are posted on 38^th Avenue: time to backtrack to the parking lot on 30^th.

This French Drain adds a pleasant background sound.

The 'Honeycomb School' (Mint Valley Elementary on 38th) playground is quiet; recess is at noon, not 10 AM.

The morning was still misty with foggy dampness – but I walked my morning walk anyway: it wasn’t actually raining. My coat got damp, but it didn’t get soaked.

Driving towards home, on Pacific Way highway, I was nearly clipped by a flatbed truck coming around a blind bend of the road … dangerously hogging my side of the roadway.

Maybe a punctured tire driving the main highway, would have been a better gamble.

Stoner drivers are making WA State roads unsafe.

These close calls seem to be happening more and more frequently, now that there is a pot store on every corner of every city block.

When I got back home, I ate a tasty salad with diced duck eggs added to it; and worked out with my new kettlebell hand weight – I like it 😊

Health Benefits of Duck Eggs: https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-duck-eggs#1

Kettlebell Standing Abs Workout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6OiTjUszAY