life in the old lane

This is a proof of life blog entry.
Love that sign.
I wasn’t brave enough to enter.
There might be explicit lyrics.

No worries about missing the bus.
Buses are like men…
If you miss one, another will be along soon.

It would have been a much better photo if I had taken it before getting on the escalator.
But my train was due in 2 minutes.
I know it takes 1 minute to get down that escalator if you just ride.
Running down escalators is not advisable at my age.

Tomorrow’s adventure: Go to Georgetown and collect my new camera.

Phone attached.

Alleys always interest me.

Another nice day as far as the weather is concerned.
The state of the republic is dire.
And getting worse by the day.

And Dolly Parton died.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise.
But it was.

On my morning stroll around the grounds, all the squirrels were bunched together and chattering like crazy.
I thought that they were objecting to my presence.
Shows you how self-centered I am!

I charge down the path and encounter a fluffy red fox.
If I’d been a little stealthier, there might be a photo.
But I wasn’t, and there isn’t.

The world is a little duller without Dolly.
Fly away home. Fly away home.

Another nice late summer day.
Nothing on my calendar except “clean medicine cabinet”.
A.I. said the medicine cabinet could wait until January.
Not going to argue with A.I.

So, I headed off to the bus stop. Where I went was left to the bus gods.
The bus gods selected Old Town Alexandria.

My usual Alexandria plan is to walk to the Potomac River from the Bus/Metro/Train Station.
And then figure out how to get home.
And I usually get food.
Or ice cream. 

No ice cream today.
Decided I could survive on food and beer.

Being Monday, some of the restaurants were closed.
And my favorite thrift shop was closed.

Wonder if CANADA geese will be taxed?
Goodness knows, I feel taxed.

Four buses, one subway, 4.25 miles today.
And most of those miles were on Alexandria’s very not-level brick sidewalks.
Those bricks add more than a little element of danger to old-woman walking.

My plan was to not take pictures of the flyovers that closed National Airport for 3 hours this morning.

Never mind that I opened my window and pushed back my screen.
Never mind that I cleaned the lens on the phone camera and manually set the focus.
Never mind that I deployed the binoculars.
Never mind that I dialed up the DCA tower.

Obviously, I did not intend to photograph a flyover today.

But it was still a nice day.
A very nice day.

Just checked on my starter husband.
He apparently owns a 5,000 sq ft house with a swimming pool and dock in North Carolina.
I am currently living in a 500 sq ft studio apartment in an old folks’ asylum.
I wish him all good things.
I wasn’t the greatest wife.
So, I am happy for him. Swimming pool and all.

And how did I get a bonus day?

According to my watch, I slept “Fair” last night.
I was awake 2 hours and 47 minutes when I was supposed to be sleeping.
During those 167 minutes, I was sure that when I got up it would be Sunday.
But surprise!
It was Saturday.
So, I consider today a bonus day.

Decided the old body was entitled to a day of rest – so just a little stroll around  The Asylum Grounds.

OK. The laundry room was free.
And every autumn, I wash my robe.
Close enough to autumn.

I am positive that this robe is my oldest garment. 
It was a wildly expensive purchase considering my finances at the time.
The robe represented hope that

A gentleman might need this in the morning.

Time passed, and a gentleman stayed for a lifetime of breakfasts.
However, he was a very proper gentleman who came fully equipped with his own robe and many sets of jammies. The robe became mine.

The dear man even took his jammies to Fiji! 

A finest kind day today.
A/C off.
Window open all day.
I have 3 windows but I can only open one.
I only have one room. So one’s enough.

Another purchase.
Amtrak from Sacramento Xmas Day to Chicago.
No money.
Just miles.

Parts missing: Kona to Sacramento, Chicago to DC.

Only 74 days to the midterms. I am not optimistic that anything will change. But we gotta try.

I love looking out of my dirty windows.

This morning I was grudgingly going out for a walk.
A neighbor had an untied shoe.
No problem for me to kneel, tie his shoe…
and get back up. 

The walk didn’t seem so tedious after that tiny interaction.

Another exciting day in the life of an old woman.
Strolled over to Target.
Absolutely nothing at Target that I wanted.
Nothing.
Zero.
Strolled back to The Asylum.

Bill Clinton is 80 years old today.

Carlton and I worked at Hot Springs National Park the summer and fall when Clinton first ran for president.
I think that would have been 1992.
Were Carlton and I even married then? 
I don’t think so.
That was a long, long time ago. 

Grateful to have made it this far.  It’s been a great trip. So far.

I refuse to accept responsibility for the dirty window.
The window is dirty on the outside.

I was feeling old and decrepit today.
Went to yoga class. In person.
That made me feel older and more decrepit.
Frank Beard – ZZ Top drummer – younger by a lot than I am died.
Still older and more decrepit.

But I found this email from Asylum Management strangely comforting.

Dear Residents,
Wondering about online banking but hesitant to try it?  Simply want to learn more about it?  If so, don’t miss Thursday’s “How to Online Bank”.
Thanks to our IT Department, Guest Speaker Iram Sikander, Vice President
Workplace Banking & Financial Empowerment Leader II at Truist Bank, will come in to help residents navigate their online banking apps and offer limited one on one assistance. 

Maybe I am not as decrepit as I thought I was. 
Happy trails Frank.

Midterms. 78 days. Never forget: 77 million people voted for 47. 

More purchases.
It’s only money. And miles.
Five hotel days in Santa Barbara.
Plane tickets from Santa Barbara to Kona on Halloween.
And for excitement: 31 minutes to change planes in SFO.

I am not any better looking.
I didn’t get any younger.
I appear to be on a spaceship.
A spaceship with a cat.
And coffee from a mug that doesn’t look too clean.

Guess that’s what AI has learned about me over the last three years.

Ok. Two things purchased for the trek to Kona.
Have a place to stay in Kona from Halloween to Xmas Eve.
A ticket to Santa Barbara on October 26.
The other parts are planned.
Not purchased.
Yet.

It really doesn’t speak well for the food here at The Asylum.
The Prayer Box is in one of the dining facilities.
Reminds me of one of my favorite cartoons.

It’s Saturday, and I am still sorta letting things slide.

Got four miles of walking in today.
Did some light reading.
Watched crows.
Thought about how to get to Hawai’i.

Thinking about flying to Santa Barbara. Stay in my usual hotel, eat at my usual restaurants. And read on my usual patio. Then head on to Kona for Halloween.

Last time I was in Santa Barbara, I was recovering from norovirus, which was bad. But I accidentally deprovisioned my phone, which was worse.  But I still like Santa Barbara.

Thought about turfing the blog writing over to AI. But what’s the fun in that?