Amazing!

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Up and at it and early this morning. I was awake at 10:00 and without the crutch of an alarm. I actually woke at 8:30 but decided I needed a little more sleep if it did not really feel like it at that moment. I am still a bit groggy though I usually am whatever the time I wake up. I like waking while it is still actually morning. I do not know what is different, maybe having many things to do before I head off on the trip inspired the early rise. If so, I need to start doing something otherwise similar which beckons me from slumber.

While I am at gunland, I may look for a .22 rifle. They might have a better selection and better prices. While at Wal-Mart yesterday, I looked at their Henry rifles. At $287 it was neither really high or low. At some of the other stores which offered bolt action .22 rifles, the prices were low but they did not carry a stainless barrel and only had junk stocks (plastic). Online I was able to get a price of $241 for the Henry rifle and a little less for a wood stock stainless barreled Savage bolt action .22, if I would have to drive 30 miles for either of those (it pays to drive). If I can even split the difference at gunland, I may do just that. If nothing else, I think gunland is going to be my new go to gun store for ammunition and reloading bits so it is always good to start such a relationship with a bit of a nod. I do not know if that is just a guy thing, but it is a guy thing for sure.

My mother just called and needs my mailing address. It sounds like she was in the field. No, not hunting, or even fishing. Though she used to fish, I think she has stopped doing so. After the last back surgery and perhaps before, she retired her pole. She used to have one of us kids or her last husband to go fishing with. Now that she is alone, there is no one to help. Mostly she just needs a hand on some of the banks and to help carry everything. I wish she could have found a regular fishing partner, she used to enjoy it. Anyway, I mean in the farm field. Doing what, I do not know. But she was coming to a turn, or as she put it, the end of a row. Crazy woman. But she loves that stuff, if she does it rarely. She can drive just about anything. Back in the day, I watched her back a big rig like a pro. Yes, we are hicks. :p

Time passes so quickly now, unless I have something I really want to do come up. It is good to be doing more as time whizzes by now. If it is only ten things a day which get done, tended, or handled otherwise, it is good. I sat frozen, in Iowa, for months at a time. Nothing was done and I lived as if partially frozen in a dead land. With few things to do that did not require long drives and crowds, with only a few good neighbors surrounded otherwise by former inner city thugs, and with a state that was trying to put out the "No fun shall be had by peasants!" sign, it was difficult to become enthused. Though nothing is perfect, being able to throw a rock and hit something new, interesting, fun, wet, outdoorsman like, or all the above has switched my gears. Though the arid climate may have something to do with it too.

It is time to get a shower, make a few calls, check on the baby, and get going. I was just checking to see if YOU are awake. Unless you consider me a baby, which I might grant, but then I know how That baby is doing. I need changed, a bottle, and some tlc. That's what I need. Oh well, I will stick with a self shower and some water.

On a side note, since being here my personal grooming has taken leaps and bounds in the right direction. Though my teeth did not mind (literally, no cavities in... a long time, and some that formed even self corrected), my feet and other parts suffered a bit (dry thick skinned feet, troublesome all about), I have been taking much greater care here. I brush between 3 and 5 times a day, the moisturizing has brought my feet into compliance (along with wearing shoes and socks and often twice daily showers), and my nails (feet and hands) get trimmed quite regularly. I do not know why, but my new level of care is excellent. I even, other than the half experiment, shave at least every other day or so. The one thing that is lacking, a bit, is proper nourishment. The regular heavy milk diet, added fruits and fruit juices, and such might help a bit, but. At least that is short term. That, I suppose, my body can tolerate for the year or so until I can buy a house and begin proper food work again. Eating out, even fast food, adds up but microwave food is, well, the cardboard it came in might be the tastiest part.