Hello again, Dear Reader. It’s now early evening here in New Hometown, Florida. It’s definitely going to be a rainy night; right now the temperature is 72˚F (22˚C) under mostly cloudy skies. With humidity at 91% and the wind blowing from (almost) due north at 7 MPH (12 KM/H), the feels-like temperature is also 72˚F (22˚C). As noted above, the forecast for the night calls for rain showers and a low of 72˚F (22˚C).
Apparently, we had some rain showers earlier in the afternoon. The sky was cloudy most of the day, so the light streaming through my Venetian blinds was dim and gray-tinted. If I weren’t hard of hearing I might have heard the falling of the rain outside. I can hear that sound fine during a torrential downpour; I heard it many times at my mom’s – and briefly mine – townhouse, which The Caregive dubbed “the Pad” in happier and more romantic times. I’d sit on the living room couch for hours and watch the rain turn our patio into a veritable swimming pool. The hissing of the falling rain was loud, especially when the water fell in torrents and splattered loudly on the leaves of my mother’s many potted plants and on the hard concrete floor of the patio.
Of course, when it’s just light rain, I can’t hear it fall. So sometimes – like today – we can have a passing shower overhead, and unless the blinds are a bit more open and I’m looking out the window, I won’t know about it until after the fact.
That’s what happened today. I did, as advertised, put on my windbreaker – a Star Wars in Concert one that The Caregiver bought for me when we went to see Star Wars: A New Hope at Ruth Eckerd Hall in December 2018. I also wore the matching cap she got me on that occasion, partly because she still likes me to look decent when I go out, but mostly because I am a Star Wars fan. And, yes, I went to my favorite spot in the neighborhood – the park.
I originally planned to stay outside for at least 30 minutes; when I go to the park I like to sit on a bench and…just try to enjoy being outside. I don’t meditate or pray or try to commune with the elements, I just look around at my surroundings and take in the view. I also look at my text messages and look at stuff on Facebook, and I also take pictures of things that catch my attention.
Well, the benches at the park were moist from the shower that fell earlier, so I had nowhere to sit and rest for a spell, so I decided to snap a few photos – not of people, though – and then walked back to the house. The whole excursion probably wasn’t more than 15 minutes long, and it was incredibly lonely – in my old neighborhood, at least, I had friends I often stopped to visit if they happened to be watering their yards or walking around the Big Block adjacent to East Wind Lake.
Still, I got out of the house and got a bit of exercise and fresh air.
That counts for something, right?
Well, it’s been one weird day; that accidental $500 donation to the Democratic challenger to the incumbent Republican member of Congress who represents my area added a bit of unnecessary stress earlier, but thankfully ActBlue is going to refund it. I’m still not thrilled about how the ActBlue site is designed, but at least they responded to my complaints and didn’t keep my money. The $11 I did donate they can keep. I really want the district where I live to flip to blue, although that’s not likely to happen, since my area is pretty much a Republican stronghold.
So, Dear Reader, I think I’ll just wrap this post up. I don’t have much in the way of news – besides what I’ve already told you, and this is my third post after all. Stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.
© 2020 Alex Diaz-Granados
A Certain Point of View, Too 
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