No More Travels!

My body told me emphatically first thing this morning, "No exercise at all today", and I'm trying to oblige. I have muscles that I didn't know I was exercising that are aching. Nothing really severe, but it's time for a time-out, for 24 hours at least. With all the muscle I'm building you would think I could gain weight. Muscle weighs more than fat, right? Well I have no fat to speak of (except maybe between the ears), and I've lost weight! I'm not getting on that scale again.

The MiFi is humming along at warp speeds. There are some things that I haven't figured out - it doesn't seem to work when I plug it into the wall, but only when I plug it into the USB port of the computer. Oh well, I can do that. I also think it is quirky about turning on and off, and the flashing light could get a little distracting, which was why I wanted to plug it into the wall in the first place. I'm not complaining though. I don't get this kind of connection except when I'm at my daughter's house using their broadband, so I'll baby it along.

I am several chapter from the end of the book, "The Hidden Life of Dogs" written by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, an anthropologist whose career spans nearly a half century. The book is not what I thought it would be. The author lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and studied wolves on Baffin Island (somewhere deep in Canada, is all I know about Baffin), and applied what she observed of pack behavior in a remote spot and from a small pack, to observing dogs who lived in her household for many years. These dogs mated, bore young, many of whom remained with her and gave her an opportunity to follow the lives of these animals and to know and understand their behavior, especially as it relates to their ancient wild ancestry.

Thomas has also written other books, including "The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture", "The Hidden Life of Deer: Lessons from the Natural World", and "The Old Way: The story of the First People", among many others.

I've found this book to be fascinating, as it gives a look at animals most of which we have removed so far from their natural state that they probably have only a distant memory of what is dog. I'm definitely going to try to find some of the author's other books.

I think I will attend Tai-Kwan-Do this evening, to see my little granddaughter with her class as they are taking "the belt test". If she passes she will get her second belt. I never was tempted to enroll any of my children in a martial arts class, as they found plenty of ways to fight with each other as it was. But in my granddaughter's case, it is amazing to see a child who is painfully shy around non-family members be so at home in the group of classmates and instructors, and to follow directions so well.

So far, other than to do my laundry, it's been a lazy-dazy day for me, but I'm surprisingly anxious to get back to my exercise program tomorrow.

I'm patiently (well, trying to be patient) searching for my ideal truck camper. I have the model in mind that I think would suit me, although I'm open to just about anything. I've just about decided on a truck camper (also called a cabover, slide-in, and pickup camper), although there will be some attributes that aren't what I'd like. I like the idea I don't have to carry my entire life with me but can pack up what I will need for a week, a month, or even 6 months, and take off into the wild blue yonder! I won't even have to unload it if I prefer not to - in fact, most campgrounds won't let you unload them. But I also hope to avoid campgrounds except to take on fresh water and dump the waste tanks, and I probably could do that without ever entering a campground.

I may turn 180 degrees from my current viewpoint, which is ok with me if I find something I think will work better for me. But let's face it - I probably won't be at this ten years from now, and actually a lot less. I don't want to invest money and effort into something I will have to worry about getting rid of in the future.