Approaching Weekend, Its Rainstorms and Depot Parkrun

This morning I woke up around three, but decided to return to bed after making a bathroom visit. Melissa paid a Dunkin Donuts visit to pick up some coffee and breakfast, something I really appreciate.

Now it's mid-afternoon on this Friday "May the First" be with you, and I'm sitting here at my dining room table Chromebook writing this entry.  It took them long enough to start their day's major league baseball schedule, but now it looks as if the solid-hitting Arizona Diamondbacks have just begun their road contest in northern Chicago against the Cubs  the MLB channel is doing a good job carrying the day's load of games.  Both teams have winning records so far, and are known for their hitting.  I enjoy watching them go through the innings.  Today I have a little more exercising to do before I settle down to rest before tomorrow morning's Depot Parkrun 5K near downtown, Gainesville. Looks like another pot of coffee is in the works for now.  Neither of t best behavior, even for picture-taking. The two of us didn't have any appointments or meetings planned for today, so I suppose we'll be taking it easy for a while.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be raining...even possibly storming...later on into the afternoon and evening.  Maybe some precipitation will help to counteract the drought and wildfire danger...or so I hope.  At the Parkrun...assuming it goes off well and the weather doesn't interfere..my overwhelming goal will be to walk it through to its prescribed finish (and stay on my best behavior).  Then at worst, at least tomorrow's story will be that I showed up and followed through to an extent... 

On this Sunday in my Life

 

This morning I skipped on rising hours before sunrise. Now it' early evening and all they want to talk about are drought-induced fires in the northern extreme of Gainesville.  Melissa and I will need to keep posted on events as they try to control the fires and keep them from threatening my home area.  If there are evacuation orders, then we will need to scramble to find suitable accommodations for ourselves and our dog Daisy.  Other than that, I have been a bit on the lazy side today, skimping on exercise.  My intention is to run in place for a little bit before finally calling it a day.  Earlier I was watching major league baseball games live on TV, and there's still one left between Atlanta and Philadelphia...the former with an excellent season win/loss record so far and the latter on an extended losing streak.  I often find it difficult to orient myself about the instant game graphics display, keeping up with who's at bat and where they are in the inning.  Maybe tonight it'll go better...I really don't care who wins. Having just eaten what I regard as the equivalent of my dinner, I'm done with the food until tomorrow morning. I think I'll brew a pot of flavored decaf coffee and enjoy the evening.  I wish that for you as well.  Well, if the Baseball Channel doesn't visually show tonight's Braves/Phillies, then Fox should do so on my "regular" YouTube TV, giving me a chance at a little intellectual brain activity.  As for you, have a great night...

Some Perspective About My Past in 1971

 It's Friday morning on what used to be a typical weekday.  55 years ago I would have been showing up in the ninth grade at Nova in Davie as the weather outside was transitioning to a stench of chronic Everglades fire smog.  Lobo's debut hit Me and You and a Dog Named Boo was getting its radio overplay...soon I would tire of hearing it.  I was fourteen and a half, thoroughly tired of having to go to school for  a year. After school I temporarily stood up to a bully leaving the bus one afternoon and go t a little beat down in a fist fight)The esxperience taught me what contemptible ghouls the unwelcome onlookers were who were staring at me in a circle.  The next morning I received some sympathy from busstop classmates for what I went through, and that creep Arnone laid off me, never to be a friend. Later that summer during the early 10th grade I would return to school more serious in my studies.  On prime time sitcom television, some new series like All in the Family and Mary Tyler Moore were starting their runs...my family became good fans.That fall "my" Miami Dolphins, coached by Don Shula, were good enough to make it to the Super Bowl...which they convincingly lost to Dallas. Overall, I was not a happy camper and tended to slip into daydreaming for much of my high school class time.  At home, my father would overdose me with talk of his dog racing betting strategies and philosophies. Still, I appreciated his efforts at weightlifting to the point of getting good at the bench press, pull-up, and standing press (I could lift up my own weight from the ground).   Growing up during this period was a confirmation of me not having an easy life. In my home neighborhood, my neighbors were raucous and out of control, loudly playing music deep into the night.  

Looking Forward to Day Ahead

 It's a little past 7:30 in the morning on the 16th, "Hump Day for the month of March, as we are passing through it.  I have further medical procedures lined up in the next few days, and chemotherapy infusion and an MRI figure into the picture.  I brewed the flavored decaf coffee and ran in place for my routine 8 minutes...now this blog article.  Were this still the ninth grade and 1971 for me, I guess I would have already begun to suffer the stench of the smog coming from the Everglades fires which that drought brought some 55 years ago.  Yesterday they ended that TPC tournament with an underspoken, anticlimactic short winning putt at the 18th hole by Cameron Young, who to his credit refused to kiss the trophy and kept a reserved, taciturn expression before the press afterwards.  As for how today will unwind, i'd like the donut drivethrough, some reading progress, study foreign languages, and exercise along with some temperance regarding eating.  And some more sleep should fit the bill as well.  I think I'll listen to some stuff from the late Jim Rohn, too. And see if I can't fit in some material from Andrew Huberman and Rob Dial...

Florida Governor Declares State Emergency with Wildfires

For the most part, I have been enjoying the relatively dry, warm spring we've had here in northern Florida...I qualify that remark because I've been suffering from seasonal respiratory allergies as well as a sensitive throat resulting from an earlier viral infection.  But I'm taking on these issues aggressively and feel that recovery is on the advance.  Although the weather is pleasant...especially with regard to the low humidity...there is a down-side to it all: increased probability of wildfires in this area...

Perhaps you've been watching the news lately and saw the pieces about forest fires in Seminole County, just north of Orlando.  In truth there are more than 100 wildfires going on now in Florida, covering around 120,000 acres...prompting our governor, Rick Scott, to declare a state of emergency.   From around Lake Okeechobee northward, the currents fires are spread throughout the state...there is one at Hidden Lake in my Alachua County now consuming about 140 acres and another in northeastern Marion County just to the south taking up 700 acres. The outlook right now for more fires seems ominous...especially seeing how our local 2017 rainfall level so far is about half that of the previous year.  Conditions are dry, little rainfall is in sight, and we may be headed for some rough times ahead.  So far it's enjoyable being outside, but should another fire break out in the vicinity...or even as far as a hundred miles away...and the wind happens to be blowing our way, then the air may turn into something noxious with the smoke and haze.  I'm hoping that won't be the case this year, but we'd better start seeing some more precipitation if we're going to avoid that unpleasant scenario...

Major Storm System Sweeps into North Florida Tomorrow

In advance of the cold front that will usher in relatively cold conditions this Friday, a large, intense storm system is sweeping eastward along the Gulf Coast...and northern Florida, including my hometown of Gainesville, is in its sights.  The storm, which contains a high probability of tornadoes and hail along with generally high winds and some much-needed rainfall, will pass through the Florida panhandle tonight and directly hit us sometime tomorrow morning.  As with other systems of this type, it will be very rough in some places and light in others...I'm hoping that Gainesville misses out on the tornadoes, hail, and strong wind gusts, but not the rain.  Although Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina have lately been devastated by runaway forest fires caused by chronic draught, we here in northern Florida have been suffering lately from a scarcity of rainfall, too. If we don't start to get more precipitation, we'll also eventually be in the news with our own wildfires...