A Somewhat Productive Evening

Milestone Marker: I'm now 54. Sheesh.

I didn't go out. However, I did make some spaghetti. I'm letting it cool, and then I'm going to freeze it. I want to do that, clean the kitchen a little more, finish my grocery list, meditate, and go to bed. I need to get up early to get my driver's license renewed.

Zara almost gave me a heart attack this evening. I went outside, and the gate by the back door was open when I came in. I started looking for Zara, calling, "Zara! Zara! Zara!' but she was nowhere to be found. Then I looked outside for her and called her, but didn't see her. I went back inside and started calling her, and eventually she appeared at the top of the stairs, looking at me like "What??" Sigh of relief.

Someone on my LJ friends list, who is a Trump supporter, just deleted her journal. I wonder if she was getting flack for the election.

Abort

I had planned to go to the DMV this morning to renew my license. First I overslept, but I managed to pull myself together quickly. Then I couldn't find my checkbook. Found it, and was leaving, when I remembered that they want proof of address. I couldn't find anything appropriate, although I'm sure that I just got a utility bill. So I aborted the trip. My fool fault for not getting everything together last night. I'm sure that they will charge me more when I renew it, but oh well. Oh, it just occurred to me where the bill might be. Cleaning and organizing the kitchen has got to be one of the things that I do today.

At least I'm up and dressed.

I've decided to stay local to save time (and gas money). After I eat lunch and have a quick nap, I'm going to check out the forest preserve across the road from me. I plan to do some walking meditation.

"Nature Bath"

I drove over to Kickapoo Creek Park, which is across Old Route 66 from me--a three minute drive. I had never been there before. First, I parked by a picnic bench, but then saw some cars parked farther down, so I drove down the road. The parking lot said "Trail parking," which was promising. There was a road leading perpendicularly from the main road. I walked down it and saw a sign for a trail, so I went on the trail. It was mowed into prairie grass. No one else was around. I tried walking meditation. I didn't do great on the meditation, but I did listen to my feet on the grass, and some birds, and the traffic on the road outside the park. I came back, and decided to follow the road where it branched off. After walking for a while, I found myself in a little stand of pine trees, with the late afternoon light streaming through the trees. Lovely.

While I didn't do so well on the meditation, I did feel a lot of tension dissolve in my body. What do the Japanese call it--a "nature bath"? It felt like one.

I had thought about driving down the road to see if I could find the creek, but decided to leave something for next time. I should come over there more often; it couldn't be closer unless I lived in the park!