Adjustments, Setbacks and Disappointments

It's been almost three weeks since my last post. That is a disappointment. I may not be brilliant or profound, but at least I can be consistent. I've failed at the last task. I know how it started. I had a goal to write four posts the first week of July. I wrote five, so I figured I was home-free. It was a false sense of security.

Let the excuses begin.

We've been through two heat waves since my last entry. As I've aged, I've noticed that the heat takes a higher toll on me--it really wipes me out. I lose all energy and any semblance of ambition.

I had a disappointing 4th of July. A family get-together was too rushed to be worth all the logistics of getting together. Also, I hate that people start setting off firecrackers days in advance--it freaks out Spike and makes evening walks difficult.

Almost two weeks ago, the third of four heat waves subsided; Jeff and I decided to resume our weekly hikes. We chose Collis P. Huntington State Park as listed in Doggin' Connecticut and recommended by a dog park friend. When we got a few blocks away from home, I realized that Jeff's book of maps wasn't in the car. We would have been fine but the main road to the park was closed.

We tried using the directions from Jeff's phone--they sent us around the park to what looked like a high end suburban cul-de-sac. We didn't find access to any hiking trail. We decided to return to Putnam Memorial State Park; on our way there we saw another entrance to the access road to Huntington Park.

We finally made it to Huntington at least an hour later than we planned. We picked up a trail map and headed out.

Unfortunately, the trails are color-coded but the map was not. I was staring at the map. trying to figure out where we were and not paying enough attention to where I was going. I fell, scraped both palms, my right elbow and my left knee.

I didn't cut our hike short because it took us so long to get there. But that was a mistake--my knee swelled up and I limped the rest of the way. And to top things off-- my knee is still bothering me.

Spike twisted his leg the other day--he could barely get down the front steps. Luckily, the vet prescribed an anti-inflammatory that did the trick. He's pretty much back to normal.

Finally, I've got the baseball blues. The Mets are in a losing streak and most of my positive thoughts have dissipated. I call it Mets misery.