Hitting the Ground Running

A daypaddle Past Commander Paul Higbee and I

were able to enjoy together.

 

The last few days have been really busy, and it’s good to have the holiday bustle behind us to end its distraction. Besides pushing forward with 3-P-100, I’ve started programming waypoints for the trip. Time has allowed me to enter about a hundred waypoints a day, so I’m now at about 200 waypoints, which has gotten me to page 11 of 33 pages in the route plan. That’s a pretty long route plan for a day paddle.

There are a couple pluses here. Jean has added her encouragement and support. I’m grateful to her for that. I’ve really had to wrestle with the idea of going off and leaving her. We were always accustomed to doing everything together. Physical ailments have progressed and multiplied with age, so she’s no longer able to remain as active. That’s reason 358 of 10,000 why you do what you love while you’re young rather than waiting until you’re “ready” but too old to enjoy yourself. Having always been able to share our experiences makes doing them alone very lonely indeed. However, the other plus is that with her kestrel, pheasant, dove, six tropical birds, two squirrels, two cats, a watchdog on loan and a .38 special, in addition to whatever other wildlife the game warden carries through the door, I doubt she’ll even notice I’m gone. Well, back to it.