Last Words for Tuesday, October 27, 2020: Another Walk in the Neighborhood in a Warm Florida Evening

Hi (again), Dear Reader. Well, here in New Hometown, Florida it is 6:44 PM Eastern, and it is starting to get dark outside. Currently, the temperature is 83˚F (28˚C) under mostly sunny skies (although that “sunny” thing is relative since sunset is only a few minutes away). With humidity at 69% and the wind blowing from the east southeast at 11 MPH (17 KM/H), the heat index is 89˚F (32˚C). The forecast for tonight has changed a tad since we last talked; it calls for mostly cloudy skies and a low of 75˚F (24˚C) and rain in the overnight hours.

I went for my second walk of the day sometime after 5:34 PM Eastern; it was still hot and humid then, but the sun was fairly low in the sky and the heat was tolerable. I took a bottle of water from the pantry and drank from it during my stroll. When I drained it – and I did that relatively fast because I didn’t want to walk through the neighborhood with a plastic bottle in hand – I tossed the empty container into a nearby trash can.

As I did this morning, I walked past “my” park and walked two-thirds of a mile away from the house, then walked right back. Again, because the wind was at my back on the “outward” leg of my constitutional, I got to my “Stop” point within 10 minutes of leaving the house. The return trip took a few minutes more – partly because I was walking into the wind, but mostly because my legs were getting a bit tired. Ah, the price of nearly five years’ of leading a rather sedentary life.

I didn’t get as much reading done for The Tonic of Their Victory as I would have liked. If I had not gone for my stroll through the neighborhood, yeah, sure. I could have sat on the living room couch and read from James Holland’s Normandy ’44, a book that I bought last year because 2019 was the 75^th anniversary of D-Day and the liberation of France. I did read part of a chapter that is relevant to the plot of my novel, so it’s not like I didn’t do any reading at all. Tomorrow I will read more.

I’m tired, my friend. I wake up early on weekdays because that’s the routine for almost everyone here. This morning I woke up around 5 AM, and even though I could have slept for another hour (I mean, no one forces me to wake up early…I just do), I just couldn’t relax and fall asleep again. That, and the two walks I took today have made me drowsy. Fresh air, the heat, and moderate exercise have that effect on me, after all, especially since it’s been a long time since I had gone for long walks on a regular basis.

And on that note, Dear Reader, this is where you and I must part company, at least until tomorrow. I’ll probably go watch something on the one cable-connected TV set (the one in the Florida room) and try to stay awake till dinner. After that, I plan to go to bed and catch some sorely-needed Z’s. So, wherever you may be, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.