Bears and Bikes and a Whole Year Passed
Wow! I’ve missed being in touch with y’all this past year. What a year it has been! I’ve moved, twice and I’ve not had a car for five months of that year. Now I am settled into my senior apartment that I absolutely adore. All the apartments are on ground level with a parking space ten feet away. We’re surrounded by forest, a gorgeous forest of all the autumn colors right now making for wonderful walks. Yet, I’m five minutes from the center of Farmville. My roomy apartment is high on the list of thankful things.
It’s been 44 years since I’ve lived in an apartment. All the weight of owning a house and maintaining it on my own, is gone. Thank goodness. I don’t have to struggle to pay $250 to Bagley Plumbing, South Hill VA for unclogging my kitchen sink (that fee took my breath away) ever again. If I have a problem, I’ll call maintenance. The grass looks beautiful, cut when needed and I didn’t have to push the mower to do it! Such pleasure. I, and my next door neighbors, all had flowers and veggies growing on our porches till summer ended.
I even interacted with the wildlife. A bear and her cub. Well, kinda. It was early spring while I headed out for my walk. Movement over to the right, next to the dumpster, caught my eye. OMG! Ten feet away! I gasped, but I was prepared. I lifted my brand-new whistle and blew! Just as I had been directed to do. A tiny tweet came out. I could barely hear it myself, let alone the bear. Mama bear looked up at me with an expression of “Tweet. That’s it? Tweet?” Then she just moseyed on up the road looking for a better source of food. I returned home postponing my walking hour til later in the day when wildlife is napping.
Enough of that. I’m nearly finished reading Turning Centuries by Ken Youngblood. Great memoir of his touring from the east coast to the west, making side trips along the way. Did I mention this was on a bicycle? Yep. It gave him time to reflect, remember, meet new people and have exciting experiences along the way. The title refers to riding for a hundred miles. I highly recommend it. The reading of it. But, who knows? Maybe I’ll buy a bicycle next.
