Life in the dog days.

This morning was a tough one again. I did drag myself out of bed, after messing with the snooze button on the alarm and the reserve alarm clocks for nearly two hours. I am not as sore today, and that early shower helped wake me up and ease the now minor calf pain. I hear it is supposed to get to 90 F or rain, maybe both since it is Iowa, so today is a day of minor activities. I was going to go fishing, but I think I will go train for wall climbing instead. Though I think I will go out and look for some fishing gear and a lantern. If I can find a solid multi-fuel lantern in my price range, I would be quite pleased. I plan to have one or two of those in my camping inventory.

I went to mass. Neither of our priests could make it today, though the reason was not given. One of the sisters provided the service. I had never seen that done before, so it goes into my memory book. I feel sort of lucky here at this church. Not only do I feel I am at the right place for me religiously, but I also get along with our priests, nuns, and parishioners. I have been planning to take each of the avowed out for a dinner or lunch and conversation one or two at a time. I would like to know them better, maybe learn a thing or two, and just thank them for their work with a meal. If I was not a bachelor and could keep the place a little more kempt, I would probably invite them over here. I could put out a much better meal than I can afford at a restaurant, with larger amounts of food, potentially for a larger group, and tailor it to their likes. A wife might be able to assist in this, eventually. I would also like to have some of the leading laity and their families for such meals. I know little about how the church runs, yet I believe I want to know and should know more.

I tried an experiment today. Instead of adding mayo to the tuna for my sandwich, I just drained the tuna and put it on the bread then added spring lettuce. It was actually pretty good. That makes lunches even that much simpler. I am trying to simplify where I can, cut calories and gunk where feasible, and yet I am not interested in becoming a food “granola” either. Oh, I weighed in today. It seems, without eating abnormal amounts and while doing a lot more work and walking, I have gained 15 pounds since Thursday. I wonder if drinking a lot of water would do that? I think I am still about to drop a pant waist size, so I am not sure why the scale is being so rude. Actually, I do not care about the weight, it is the size, shape, and condition that I am interested in. I will probably never be 240 with a 31” waist again, or even that strong, but I could trim up a bit. And, being 6’4” sort of allows me to look thinner than I actually am. What a cheat, but I’ll take it.