Hi there, Dear Reader. It’s now almost noon (11:25 AM Eastern as I start this post on Thursday, October 29, 2020 here in New Hometown, Florida, and it’s shaping up to be a hot, humid day. Currently, the temperature is 85˚F (29˚C) under mostly sunny skies, but with humidity at 78% and the wind blowing from the south at 14 MPH (22 KM/H), the heat index is 95˚F (35˚C). The forecast for the day calls for partly sunny skies and a high of 88˚F (31˚C). That’s pretty summer-like; it does not feel like Halloween is only two days away!

As part of my newly established routine, I went for my morning walk a little over an hour ago. I normally try to go outside before 10 AM to avoid the heat and humidity, but I ate breakfast later than usual; I didn’t want to exert myself with only one cup of café con leche, so I showered, got dressed, and ate a bowl of cereal, a bowl of strawberries with Cool-Whip, and washed those down with a half-glass of orange juice. Once I finished this morning repast, I grabbed my phone, wallet, and house key, put on my Star Wars: Film Concert Series cap, and went for my morning constitutional.

I didn’t go farther than my usual hangout at the park; the temperature was probably in the low eighties, but there was a nice breeze blowing and there’s plenty of shade from trees along my route. And on the outward leg, the morning sun was at my back, so overall the temperature was warm, pleasant, and not at all uncomfortable.

I’m glad that I didn’t take any of my NaNoWriMo reference books with me, though. As nice as the weather was when I left the house at 10:25 AM, I didn’t choose the perfect time to go to the park; little did I know that today was also the day in which the landscapers mow the grass and tidy up the park. I was able to sit on one of “my” benches in relative peace for, oh, 10 minutes before two or three guys on riding mowers or wielding industrial-strength blowers started working close by, making an infernal racket as they went about their business.

 I stayed as long as I could stand the high-pitched whine of the blowers and the roaring of the riding mowers, but as the landscapers gradually moved closer to my park bench under the shade, the noise was just too much to bear. Plus, the sun was higher up in the sky, and the heat and humidity increased as well. I snapped a few quick pictures, then got up and walked back to the house.

Interlude

It’s now 12:15 PM Eastern; I had to take a break from writing so I could eat lunch (a small bowl of pasta topped with homemade beef stew). In my old life back in Miami, I didn’t usually have lunch; I used to have a big breakfast, then if I got hungry before dinner (which used to be served between 5 and 6 when Mom was still healthy and active), I’d either make myself a sandwich or eat Doritos, potato chips, or other junk food snacks.

 Here, we don’t have a set dinner hour where we sit down as a family, and often I eat dinner at what I call Spanish time: 9:30 – 10 PM. As a result, lunch is now very much a part of my daily routine.

My plans for today are to prepare myself for NaNoWriMo 2020, which starts this Sunday. So as soon as I post this, I am going to play one of my four albums with music from The War: A Ken Burns Film as background while I read from Dean Wesley Smith’s Writing Into the Dark: How to Write a Novel Without an Outline and a few other books in my library for reference. I am still a bit bamboozled by my decision to choose historical fiction as the genre for my NaNoWriMo project, but the die is cast, so I am now locked into The Tonic of Their Victory: A Novel of Normandy. So…like the college student I once was, I have to hit the books and study before November 1.

So, on that note I will take my leave of you, Dear Friend. I sincerely hope you are safe and healthy. I’ll see you later; until then, take care!