July Sweeps - Day 519

Today's the Fourth of July, and without any kids around (they'd probably have wanted to go fishing anyway), I did what I always do, which is drive around, maybe getting a soda, hitting some stores, listening to music or an audiobook.

I had brought my laptop with me, though, in case I wanted to stop at a park or a . . . well, another park, and open it up and write something.  Which I may well end up doing.

Sit-ups Today: 111
Sit-ups In July: 411

A few days ago, I went on a hike, trying to get one in for June, and as I drove, I thought about maybe doing it again, going to the little box canyon not far away, where I'd gone twice this year already.  But first, I would stop at a 7-11 and get some soda, since I had brought some water, but it had already warmed up in the car (it's a hot day, only supposed to be 98 or 99, but it's 103 on the bank thermometer across from me).  Then I got the idea that, if I hiked up past the waterfall, there was that spring where the water comes out clean and cold, and I could just fill my water bottle up there, with water out of the stream.  That decided me.

There were a lot of families there, and some young people without much fat or clothes on them, and I did what I could to hike up the hill without complaint.  I don't know if this was the case the last time I came up here (I remember listening to a downloaded podcast, so who knows?), but I never lost a wi-fi signal during my whole hike, so I just listened to music on YouTube (having to hear the exact same unskippable fifteen second commercial over and over in between songs).

(here's a picture I took the last time I hiked there--I took a drink and suffered no ill effects--so I filled up my water bottle here, and am reusing the photo before I delete it--my phone claims it is full again)

There were people rappelling, hanging out by the water, basking in the sunshine, and walking their dogs, and I passed all of them, going farther than I ever had before, until I finally reached the end of the walking path (it did seem to continue, in a much more overgrown way, into the distance, but only as a deer trail from that point on), a half mile or so after not seeing any more people.  

It was not a hard hike, with the only steep stretch at the very beginning, and except for getting my shoes super dusty, it was barely a difficult task.

I came to the little park, sat down, and started both writing and blogging.  Eventually, however, a family arrived, and this little girl fell down behind me, and then pretended to get hurt, screaming for attention like she'd broken a femur.  And nobody did anything or said anything about it--they just ignored her outburst and let her wail, which she did, over and over until I finally had to gather my things and go back to the car, swearing and cutting my daily writing much shorter than I had intended.

Push-ups Today: 192
Push-ups In July: 493

Yes, I could have done some more writing later that night (and finished recording "Made Just For You," the Lara Demming story I'm publishing next), but hey, I dropped the ball.  Didn't do it.  Might never do it again.  Look away, kids, there's nothing to see here.

Words Today: 413
Words In July: 3853