October 2018

October 2018

Monday 01- Cloudy 86° | 72°

I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

Tuesday 02- Cloudy 88° | 69°

I did my stretches, exercised with the 10 and 20 pound dumbbells, punched the heavybag, and jogged over a mile with Cassie.

Wednesday 03- Thunderstorms 86° | 64°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile with Cassie.

Thursday 04- Clear 82° | 61°

I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

I swept the whole house, I did multiple loads of laundry and hung them all out to dry along with my bedding; I am pooped.

Family Game Night Julia 

Friday 05- Clear 82° | 63°
I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

I went to Twentynine to get supplies.

Saturday 06- Clear 84° | 62°
I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

Sunday 07- Clear 77° | 60°
I did my stretches, exercised with the 10 and 20 pound dumbbells, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

Monday 08- Clear 78° | 60°

I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

I went to Monday Night Football at the community center.

Tuesday 09- Clear 82° | 54°

I did my stretches. 

I went into town to get supplies and stopped off to get a flu shot.

Wednesday 10- Clear 81° | 53°

Feeling sick

Thursday 11- Thunderstorms 102° | 71°

Sick in bed working on editing book

Friday 12- Thunderstorms... rain in the evening into Saturday... 

Sick in bed working on editing book

Saturday 13- Thunderstorms... lots of rain.

Sick in bed working on editing book

Sunday 14- Clear 75° | 54°

Sick in bed working on editing book

Monday 15- Clear 66° | 50°

Feeling better went to CERT meeting but had to leave early due to itch in throat caused me to start coughing. I guess I wasn’t as well as I thought.

Tuesday 16 through Thursday 18

Stayed in bed working on editing book... finished the 3rd edit of the whole dang book.

Finished Chapter 35 in the history book- about overseas colonization and competition for empire.

Friday 19- Clear 79° | 59°

Feeling much better. I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile with Cassie. I don’t think I should have done the jogging quite yet because I felt the cold get worse.

Trying to get myself back on track and centered.

Finished Chapter 36 in the history book- about society, faith, and culture in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Practiced playing my guitar.

Saturday 20- Cloudy 82° | 55°

I did my stretches, and took Cassie for a walk.

Finished Chapter 37 in the history book- about the scientific revolution.

Listened to Astronomy Cast: Episode 499- The International Astronomical Union on naming. 

Sunday 21- Clear 82° | 60°

I did my stretches and exercised with the dumbbells, and took Cassie for a walk.

Finished Chapter 38 in the history book- about the enlightenment. 

Listened to Astronomy Cast: Episode 500- first half of episode talk about the history of astronomy.

Monday 22- Clear 82° | 60°

I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, hit on the heavybag for a few minutes, and took Cassie for a walk.

Finished Chapter 39 in the history book- about the American Revolution.

Listened to Astronomy Cast: Episode 500- second half of episode talk about the future of astronomy.

Tuesday 23- Clear 82° | 62°

I did my stretches, yoga, and took Cassie for a walk.

Finished Chapter 40 in the history book- about the French Revolution.

Listened to Astronomy Cast: Episode 501- water worlds..

Wednesday 24- Clear 84° | 61°

I did my stretches.

I spent most of the day cleaning the patio and getting everything ready for winter.

Thursday 25- Clear 86° | 57°

I did my stretches.

I did my laundry.

Finished Chapter 41 in the history book- about the Napoleonic era from 1799 to 1815.

Friday 26- Clear 87° | 59°

I did my stretches, worked out on the core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and took Cassie for a mile jog.

I sat down and went over the voting material... voted what and who I felt like voting for or against and will mail it out soon. 

Finished Chapter 42 in the history book- about restoration and reaction from 1815 to 1830

Started drawing where I left off years ago in my anatomy coloring book: organization of the body cell division/mitosis (and I thought mitosis was bad breath). Interphase Prophase Metaphase Anaphase Telophase. Watched some videos about mitosis at the Khan academy. 

Saturday 27- Clear 87° | 57°

I did my stretches and took Cassie out for a walk.

Finished Chapter 43 in the history book- about liberalism and revolution 1830-1850.

I cooked up some rice, picked up Stevie Villarreal and Chris, then headed on down to our community’s potluck. Stevie been living up in these parts for fifty some years, raised some kids and I believe it’s her first potluck. Our potluck has been going on more than twenty years now and it’s about time Stevie came for some of our outstanding grub. Speaking of which, I didn’t get the list of what the good desert folks brought and I’ll have to do it from memory... unfortunately I misplaced that to, but here it goes: Dyan Carroll cooked up some luscious lasagna, beets and apple crisps. Chris served a chili casserole and cookies. Yvonne’s yummy jello and cherry tarts hit the spot. Mack tossed a salad. Kip Fjeld whipped up some guacamole and chips. Jeff brought something that totally escapes me. Stevie came by with peach crisps. There was cupcakes, cookies, fruits, vegetables, and assorted other foods on the table that I can’t account for, but thanks to someone they were there waiting to be devoured by us denizens of the desert.

I drew in my anatomy coloring book: organization of the body tissues/epithelium- Four types: squamous, cuboidal, columnar, and pseudostratified columnar with cilia & goblet cells. Watched some videos about epithelium cells at the Khan academy. 

I finally found the time to visit my friend Ami Ven’s blog where she writes stories I’ve been reading of hers for many years.

I practiced my guitar.

Sunday 28- Cloudy 84° | 55°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile with Cassie.

Worked in the yard a bit.

Finished Chapter 44 and 45 in the history book- about liberalism and revolution 1830-1850/ romanticism in philosophy, literature, and the arts.

I drew in my anatomy coloring book: part one... organization of the body tissues/ Connective Tissue- areolar, adipose, dense regular fibrous tissue, dense irregular fibrous tissue. Watched some videos trying to understand all this.

Monday 29- Cloudy 81° | 59°

I did my stretches, exercised with the dumbbells, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

I cleaned up the front of the house moving 5 sheets of plywood to the back and tossing away a bunch of garbage; it doesn’t look like my house anymore... I wonder if my friends can find it now.

Finished Chapter 46 in the history book about- nationalism and the nation-state, 1860-1871.

I mailed in my ballot on my way to watch Monday Night Football at our community center and met some new people: Kay and Sherry who live in a red house on Mars.

I drew in my anatomy coloring book: part two... organization of the body tissues/ Connective Tissue- elastic, reticular. Supporting tissue cartilage: hyaline, elastic, and fibrocartilage. 

I practiced playing my guitar.

Tuesday 30- Clear 75° | 57°

I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench and jogged a mile with Cassie.

Finished Chapter 47 in the history book about- democracy, expansion, civil war, and reform in the United States, 1800-1920.

I took Cassie for an evening jog for a mile or so.

I practiced playing my guitar.

Wednesday 31- Cloudy 71° | 54°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile with Cassie.

I went to LabCorp to have a blood test... kinda fitting for Halloween ya think... 

Did some shopping at Stater Bros and WalMart... got gas and drove home.

Finished Chapter 47 in the history book about- politics in the age of progress, 1871-1914.

I got up enough nerve to get dressed and drive over to the Halloween Party over at our community’s old firehouse. The music was very loud, and my ears are still ring as I type this. There were bunches of young folks there dress up in all kinds of costumes. There was lots of dancing on the floor, flashing lights, and black lights glowing a kaleidoscope of many colors. Everyone was in good spirits and there wasn’t any trouble… I also behaved. It was so nice to see our center being used for people having a good time.

****************** October 2018 Poems *******************

I see moments of time sweep past me like raindrops carried away by windshield wipers on a dark rainy day: the water is gone but the windshield is still there...
~RD

********************************

September 2018

September 2018

Saturday 01- Clear 99° | 71°
I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

Sunday 02- Clear 96° | 73°

I did my stretches, yoga, and went for a mile jog with Cassie.
I got the very bad news this evening that my dear friend Judy Jackson had passed away on Saturday at 4:30PM. I had talked to my friend Saturday evening about Judy and her hedgehog about the same time. I thought this kinda interesting how these things happen. My friend brought up the subject about these little monkeys being pets. I said I doubt you could bring them into California being it is illegal and how I believe my friend Judy had to travel outside of California to get her hedgehog. I will dearly miss my free spirited Friend Judy and wrote a poem for her.

Monday 03- Clear 95° | 76°

I did my stretches...

Tuesday 04- Clear 96° | 73°

I did my stretches, worked out the the 10 and 20 pound dumbbells, and went for a mile jog. 

I went to the Star Pharmacy in JT to get my prescription fill and then went to WalMart to get a few supplies like dog food.

Me and Cassie went to Kjtel’s house to watch a two part series about Mark Twain. 

Wednesday 05- Clear 99° | 70°

I did my stretches, yoga, and jogged a mile.

Worked around the house cleaning up some stuff.

Kjtel came by with Bodie and we all went for a nice walk.

Thursday 06- Clear 100° | 68°

I did my stretches, core trainer, exercised on the weight bench, pounded on the heavybag for a spell, and went for a mile jog.

I wait for two deliveries that came later in the day. One was a new iPad 6 with pen, and the other was a Secura 9100MC 1800W Portable Induction Cooktop Countertop Burner.

I found mouse dropping in my house, so there’s a mouse in the house, bummer. I am borrowing my trailer guest’s two cats for a while to catch the little bandit.

Friday 07- Clear 104° | 78°

I did my stretches and went for a mile jog.

I tested out the induction stove and it didn’t work with my square-wave inverter, just to make sure it wasn’t a bad unit I connected it to my generator and it worked really good! I will have to get a sine-wave inverter now because I want to run everything off of solar electric. Prices have come down on those pure sine-wave inverter and the high price is one reason I never bought one before until now.

I played my guitar for a spell... I need to keep this up.

Saturday 08- Clear 107° | 78°

I did my stretches. Not feeling well. I think my allergies are flaring up and my right knee hurts.

Cleaned out the pool of dead insects that seem to commit mass suicide there lately. 

Sunday 09- Clear 105° | 72°
I did my stretches, but still not feeling well.

I worked on my book getting a few chapters edited.

Called up Bonnie and Larry to wish them a happy anniversary.

Monday 10- Clear 102° | 72°
Still not feeling well and now my knee hurts, but I did my stretches.

 We're having Monday Night Football at our community center. All are welcome to come. This Monday there will be 2 games being played otherwise we start at 5pm for the rest of the season. There will be hotdogs, chips & Dips, popcorn... bring whatever snacks you want to share. We have a pool room setup with a pinball machine, new pool sticks, and a very nice dartboard with a wall full of holes behind.

Tuesday 11- Clear 100° | 70°

I feel about the same as I did yesterday. I did my stretches.

I think I’ll have to layoff jogging for a short spell until my knee feels better.

I called my brother Kevin to wish him a happy birthday.

Wednesday 12- Clear 100° | 73°
I did my stretches, core trainer, worked out on the weight bench, and punched the heavybag for a spell.

Thursday 13- Clear 98° | 64°
I did my stretches.

Game Night!

Friday 14- Clear 102° | 71°
I did my stretches, exercised with the 10 and 20 LBS dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag and went for a short jog and walk with Cassie.

Saturday 15- Clear 100° | 66°
I did my stretches.

Sunday 16- Clear 100° | 73°
I did my stretches.

Monday 17- Clear 100° | 69°
I did my stretches and took Cassie for a morning walk.

LabCorp WalMart haircut gas Stater Bros Subway CERT Meeting

Tuesday 18- Clear 98° | 66°

I did my stretches, core trainer, exercised with the 10 and 20 LBS dumbbells and on the weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged half a mile and walked the other half with Cassie.

Wednesday 19- Clear 97° | 66°

I did my stretches and went for a walk with Cassie.

I finished chapter 34 in the history book. 

Thursday 20- Clear 95 | 70°

I did my stretches.

I went to the community’s Family Game Night.

Friday 21- Clear 99 | 70°

I did my stretches, core trainer, exercised on the weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

I did my laundry.

Saturday 22- Clear 98° | 70°

I did my stretches.

Sunday 23- Mostly sunny 99° | 73°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile with Cassie.

It’s Cassie’s Birthday... she is five years old today. She is my little princess <3 span="">

I took Cassie on her leash with me for a bike ride. Halfway into our ride she decided to go chase after a rabbit and I went the other way tumbling to the ground hard almost knocking the wind out of me. I scraped my right forearm, banged up my knee, and pulled a few muscles. I’ll probably be taking a rest for awhile before doing any exercises.

Monday 24 through Wednesday 26 

Down for the count and resting after yesterday’s fall.

Thursday 27- Clear 100° | 68°

I did my stretches and walked Cassie.

I went to Thursday Family Night at our community center. We sat around jawing and watching the football game... I didn’t know the Ram came back to LA!

Friday 28- Clear 99° | 70°

I did my stretches.

I went to Staters in Twentynine to get some supplies because I was running mighty low on them.

Saturday 29- Clear 93° | 75°

I did my stretches and took Cassie for a walk.

I went to potluck last Saturday. It was Chris’s birthday and we sang the Happy BirthDay song to her. I was handed a list at the end of potluck that was five pages long packed full of the most wonderfully delicious foods made by the most precious folks I know, so I’ll just narrow it down for ya: Chris baked cornbread and spicy meatballs, John Jacobsen squeezed some squash, Mack stirred some stir fry, Jeff slow cooked a sausage, Charles Lange and Cal Mayers brought their appetites and money, Yvonne Frances simmered almond green beans, Jennifer Decker shake up some snack mix, Dyan Carroll out did herself with Banana Split truffle- Kailua pork- corny macaroni- peach crisp- cauliflower with cheese, and snuck a banana bread loaf into my take home bag. Now that’s a thoughtful yummy surprise when I arrived home!

Sunday 30- Thunderstorms 93 | 73°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile with Cassie. I am feeling much better after the fall that knocked me out of commision for a week.

I hooked up the new sinewave inverter to see if it would power the Secura Portable Induction Cooktop Countertop Burner I bought earlier this month. It worked and I made my first cup of coffee on it. I disconnected the inverter and hooked the old one back up because I want to put in a fuse and a shutoff switch on it.

******************* September’s Poems ****************************

The heavens opened up
Tears of loss fell
A friend has rose
Beyond the veil
Beyond the reach of you and me
To be forever happy
In our memories
~RD

I believe we project our inner thoughts, cognitive and subliminal, with what we perceive is the norm according to our social beliefs and cultural upbringing upon the animate and inanimate: where some see a desert as a wasteland, others see a magnificent wilderness abundant with life. Where one sees an impoverished wretched individual, another sees a beautiful soul. We must become the gatekeeper of our thoughts: we are what we think we are and what we perceive others to be.
~RD

*****************************************

August 2018

August 2018

Most days in August I have spent editing on my book. I walk my Cassie everyday sometimes more... the fires in in the nearby hills....  I have neglected whole bunches of stuff... like this blog of mine.

Wednesday 01- mostly cloudy 108° | 86°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile. The pollutants in the air from the Idyllwild fire is making it hard to breathe. I think I’ll stop the heavy exercises until the air clears. 

I laid in the pool too long and got sunburned.

I fixed a few things around the house.

I went for an evening walk with Cassie, Kjtel, and Bodie her dog. We sat in her yard to watch a magnificent sunset I posted on FaceBook.

Thursday 02- lightning and thunder but little rain. 

I did my stretches.

My MacBook Air’s battery died or won’t charge... bummer, but as long as I leave it connected to AC it still runs. I’m going to look at getting a new battery for it.

Thursday's Game Night! Card games, chess, and I played 4 rounds of pool; we have new pool cues that are straight and true.

Friday 03- Clear 108° | 84°

I did my stretches.

Me and Cassie went over to Kjtel’s to watch the sunset and also watch episode 6 of New York a Documentary. 

I ordered a new battery for my MacBook Air and should arrive on the 8th

Saturday 04- Clear 109° | 84°

I did my stretches. Just too dang hot and still the particulates from the fire in Idyllwild permeate the air for the last week and a half making it hard to do my jogs and weights. 

Sunday 05- Clear 108° | 82°

I did my stretches and exercised inside with the 20lbs dumbbells.

Monday 06- Clear 109° | 77°

I did my stretches.

I gave Linda Harter a ride down to WalMart to get a battery for her turck and then I replaced it for her when we arrived at her house.

Tuesday 07- Clear 109° | 82°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

Wednesday 08- mostly cloudy 105° | 82°

My Birthday!

I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

Was on FaceBook thanking all the nice friends who posted Happy Birthday to me.

The battery replacement for my MacBook Air was delivered and I took the old one out and put the new one in... no problem. Had it up and running in 20 minutes.

My guest who is staying in my guest trailer took me out to Applebees for my birthday... we got stuffed! I was embarrassed by the waitress and busboys singing Happy Happy Happy Birthday! 

My childhood friend Larry Carlock called to wish me a happy birthday and we yammer on about the crazy things we did when we were young. 20 minutes into the call I smelled heavy smoke. We finished the call an hour later and I went outside to see a heavy layer of ash and smoke from the Holy Fire inundating our area here.

Thursday 09- cloudy 100° | 84°

I did my stretches.

I went to game night at the community center... only three of us showed up.

Friday 10- Thunderstorms 102° | 71°

I did my stretches.

I replaced the hard drive in my 2010 MacBook with a 128GB SSD drive after backing it all up and copying the OS and other files to the SSD.

Saturday 11- Cloudy 104° | 82°

I did my stretches.

I messed around with my computers today and did some extensive rewriting and editing of my book.

Sunday 12- Clear 104° | 82°

I did my stretches.

I drove down to Yucca Valley to do some shopping before I was to be at Space Cowboy Books for the poetry reading. I read two poems and I totally flobbed it up... I need to work on my delivery. Still I had a great time with the wonderful poets there.

Monday 13- Thunderstorms 105° | 79°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

Tuesday 14- Clear 105° | 79°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

Wednesday 15- Thunderstorms 102° | 80°

I did my stretches.

I drove my Chevy Spark down to Palm Springs (some 60 miles away) to get its 6 month service checkup. 

Thursday 16- Thunderstorms! it rained... more like a cloudburst. not too many did... it seemed to let loose in this one little area...

When I first saw the rain it was a white out and I ran to fetch the camera but by that time it had slowed up quite a bit...

I did my stretches.

I drove my truck instead of my car over to the community center for game night because I wasn’t sure if the roads were flooded or not. It seems that the only place that got any rain in our area was where my house is.

Friday 17- Clear 100° | 81°

I did my stretches, core trainer, and went for a mile jog.

Saturday 18- Clear 105° | 82°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

Me and Cassie walked over to Kjtel’s to watch another episode of the documentary about New York. She made a big salad for us to eat.

Sunday 19- Clear 109° | 84°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

Monday 20- Clear 106° | 84°

I did my stretches.

I went to our local CERT meeting at the Sizzler in Yucca Valley tonight. We received our certificate for completing The Standard Emergency Management Course... The Boy Scouts received their CERT Certificates.

Tuesday 21- Clear 105° | 82°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

Wednesday 22- Clear 102° | 81°

I did my stretches.

I went down to the San Bernardino county building in Joshua Tree to get my fingerprints taken for my county CERT badge.

Thursday 23- Clear 102° | 75°

I did my stretches and jogged over a mile.

Friday 24- Clear 102° | 72°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

Saturday 25- Clear 100° | 73°

I did my stretches, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

Saturday’s potluck was a 26 mile marathon of yummy delicious culinary delights. Substituting for Dyan was her Sister Elizabeth West jogging up with sticky chicken wings, a green bean casserole, and lemon custard pudding. Jeff narrowly missed the race with a carrot deluxe casserole. John Jacobsen made it to the 15 mile mark with his mac&cheese, followed closely by Mack with his tasty sausage pasta. Chris came bounding towards the finish line with her BQ beans, veggie stew and egg casserole. But it was Yvonne Frances who broke the ribbon crossing the finish line carrying her Zucchini with cheese Supreme Casserole. We all had a fun and wonderful time like we always do yammering and gulping down vast amounts of grub. 

Sunday 26- Clear 102° | 75°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

Monday 27- Clear 102° | 73°

I did my stretches, yoga, and jogged a little over a little over a mile.

Tuesday 28- Clear 98° | 68°

I did my stretches, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

Wednesday 29- Clear 100° | 73°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile with Cassie... it’s cooling down enough now to take Cassie with me on my morning jogs.

Thursday 30- Clear 102° | 71°

I did my stretches, yoga, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

I waited for UPS to deliver my new solar panels, the big brown truck came around 2-2:30. I checked all the panels for breakage and voltage... everything was fine.

Friday 31- Clear 102° | 73°

I did my stretches, exercised with the 10 and 20 pound dumbbells, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

I had a nice drive out to the far side of Landers to take photos of her property so she can put it up for sale.

**************** Stuff I wrote this month ****************

You are the Basketball and Life is the Hoop... Take careful aim and Swish through it  ;) 

~RD

Ships that sail out through the night beyond the starry skies, 

unbeknownst what treasures lie, fate thy sorrows cries.

Hold fast and hard ye weary sailormen, hold tight against the storm,

your life depends on skill and chance, to reach thy limits bourn.

To hell with all ye hipicates, be done for evermore.

Be done with all the pettiness, start your journey’s quest

To sail and breathe in the lust for life, to be one with the sea

But beware thy sullen handmaiden gathering threads of time, temptations beyond our sated breath, will bring you down with scorn.

So cast your lines, be free my friend, be free to sail upon the seas

Life be quick, beyond your grasp, in the flowing tides of time.

~RD

I can hear an orchestra from words written like notes on a staff... I see melodies of color vibrate from mouths of poets... the whole universe lit with flames pirouetting through a bright forest of verse and song.

~RD

Doubt, will eventually haunt you

Hate, will track you down

Bigotry, comes a knockin

Conceit, is at the door

Jealousy, seeps up from within

Greed, is all encompassing

Deceit, follows you around

Turn your mind away these vile emotions 

Be done with those who seek worshipers to manipulate

Begin a new paradigm

Create a better you

Learn to love yourself and others

Live in the moment and be at peace my friend

The past belongs only to those who want to live there

The future belongs to those who plan

~RD

******************************************************

July 2018

**************** July 2018 ****************

If I didn’t write it I take my Cassie for a walk everyday. I been really working on editing my book throughout the month of July; it’s over one hundred thousand words now :)

Sunday 01- Clear 102° | 71°
I did my stretches.

Called a few friends and family just to check in.

Monday 02- Clear 102° | 72°
I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile and a half.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/bdbXj6n6WFajEFEJ7 

Tuesday 03- Clear 102° | 75°
I did my stretches.

Wednesday 04-  102° | 70°
I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile and a half.

I could barely see the fireworks going off in the surrounding area to the south from my property. 

Thursday 05- Clear 104° | 31°
I did my stretches and jogged a mile and a half.

I went to my appointment at the Hi Desert Physical Therapy.
Game Night Every Thursday Night 6-9PM
Had lots of fun yammering away telling stories and playing pool

Friday 06- Cloudy 109° | 93°

I did my stretches.
I took Kelly to the drug store in JT. 

Me and Cassie went over to Kjtel’s to watch another episode of the documentary about New York.

Saturday 07- Thunderstorms 109° | 90°
I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile and a half.

Sunday 08- Thunderstorms 105° | 84°
I did my stretches.

I didn’t go to the Poetry reading this month because I feared the dirt roads would be washed out because of the storms.

Monday 09- Thunderstorms 107° | 84°
I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile and a half.

Tuesday 10- Cloudy 97° | 77°
I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

Cassie and I went to Katel’s for dinner and a movie... watched several episodes of Game of Thrones.

Wednesday 11- Lots of heavy rain! Thunderstorms 97° | 72°
I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile and a half.

I got back from my jog just as the rain started to fall, and fall it did all day long. Winters Road was flooded and cars were having trouble getting across the two feet of muddy water that we up here call Lake Lucille. During the height of the downpour Kjtel had to hurry outside in her pajamas with a shovel in tow to redirect the flood of water coming into her home.

I had to cancel my appointment with Hi Desert Physical Therapy because of the roads being washed out.

Thursday 12- Thunderstorms 96° | 82°
I did my stretches.

Stevie my neighbor called and we yapped for an hour catching up on stuff, and then she told me why she called; her computer was down. I got on my bike and rode on over only falling once in the slick mud at the bottom of the hill. I fixed her computer and was back home in 30 minutes.

Friday 13- Cloudy 100° | 80°
I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

Road maintenance came to repair our roads this afternoon...

Saturday 14- Cloudy 107° | 84°
I did my stretches.

Sunday 15- Cloudy 105° | 82°
I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

I went outside this evening to watch the MOON-VENUS CONJUNCTION.

Monday 16- Cloudy 102° | 71°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

Tuesday 17- Humid 105° | 87°
I did my stretches.

Wednesday 18- Thunderstorm 102° | 80°
I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

I drove to Twentynine to Hi Desert Physical Therapy. I stopped off at the post office and then Staters to get some supplies.

Thursday 19- Very humid 102° | 81°
I did my stretches.

Friday 20- much more humid 104° | 82°
I did my stretches.

Saturday 21- Bone sucking humid 97° | 81°
I did my stretches. Just too humid to do anything else.

Sunday 22- Still humid. Mostly sunny 105° | 80°
I did my stretches.

Monday 23- Mostly sunny 109° | 86°
I did my stretches, yoga and jogged a mile.
Cassie and me went over to Kjtel’s house to visit her and her dog Bodhi. 

Tuesday 24- Mostly sunny 114° | 88°
I did my stretches.

Cassie and me went to Kjtel’s to watch a few episodes of Game of Thrones.

Wednesday 25- Mostly sunny 113° | 89°

I did my stretches, yoga and jogged a mile.

I went to Twentynine Palms for my Hi Desert Physical Therapy session. I made a stop at Subway and Staters Bros.

Thursday 26- Mostly sunny 114° | 84°
I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.
Smoke from the fire in Idyllwild hit our area this evening. I heard the authorities caught the idiot who set the fires. If he is found guilty I can only hope he gets life in prison for all the damage and suffering he has caused... I can only imagine what the critters went through and the folks who live up there losing everything... up here it’s folks with breathing problems who are having trouble.
I went to Game Night at our Community and yakked my dang fool head off with others doing the same. Mac won pot at the end of the poker game with a devil of a hand. Folks were playing pool and pinball. Hot dogs, popcorn, and coffee were on hand to provide us what nourishment our bodies required.

Friday 27- Very bad smoke from the fires. Mostly sunny 111° | 87°
I did my stretches and exercised with the 10 and 20 pound dumbbells.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eNmWt1nkKehqynpA7

Saturday 28- Smoke 109° | 81°
I got up at the ungodly hour of 7:00AM and did my stretches.

I went down to take a CERT test to get my certification card: Introduction to ICS and NIMMS (IS100/IS700) DSW Certification class. I had a wonderful time. The instructor was magnificent and knowledgeable in her presentation. Seeing my friends Carl and Steve there brought back a flood of memories of the Lake Fire; manning Station 38, all the wonderful Firefighters, Cert personnel, and towns people who brought tons of food and other supplies. To me the memories of those 11 days I will cherish. What little part I played I am honored I was given the opportunity to have served together with other CERT members to make a difference.

After I successfully finished the test I drove to our community center for PotLuck!!!
We had a delightful potluck last Saturday. During the summer months we usually don’t get the big crowds of the other months. Folks are off on vacation or just staying home out of the heat. But a few diehards show up like family at Christmas. Pretty Patti baked a peanut butter pie that stuck to the roof of your mouth. Mack tossed up a salad. Kip slid in with chips and guacamole. Kim from China spooned out her sweet potato soup. Cal Mayers offered up his fruit plate. Jeff simmered a casserole. Chris created a barbecue beef with beans dish. Dyan Carroll was mighty happy to share with us her ham and cheese rollups and Coca Cola cake and I was mighty happy to eat it all!

Sunday 29- Smoke 105° | 82°
Dang, too much some to exercise, but I did my stretches.

I’ve been staying in the house most of the time messing around with my computers, cleaning or working on my book. This month has been very hard on my exercise routine because of the heat and humidity, and now the smoke from the fires in Idyllwild.

Monday 30- Smoke 108° | 86°
I did my stretches and lifted weights.

Me and Cassie went to Kjtel’s to watch more of Game of Thrones.

Tuesday 31- Smoke  and thunderstorms 107° | 86°
I did my stretches.

I drove to Yucca Valley for my appointment with Dr. Salhotra. I got gas, stopped at LabCorp to drop off a sample, I went to Subway and Staters, and then to see the Doc.
I found out I lost two of my childhood friends this month. I guess we lose more as we get older.

**************** Stuff I wrote this month ****************

I see lightning in skies, I see the stars riding the Moon above, I can see forever at a glance, and I stand here pondering how majestic and magical it all is to be alive
~RD

A photo of a young girl, an image from my past, a flood of memories awakens a distant time, from a different era. Falling like pitter patter of gentle rain to sprinkle patterns upon my brain. Friends appear from long ago, a reminisce of restless youth, casting rays of sunshine on my soul. I dwell, I ponder, and try to capture, the essence of what once was and finally meant to be, before these flee my aging memory.
Rest easy now lovely lass, pass your days in fields of rolling grass, high on yonder hill blowing dandelion seeds into the wind, free now to fly, set fire the lofty sky, with brilliant hues of blues, reds and greens.
This photo is how I will always remember you; young, vibrant with a whole future of possibilities ahead.
Be at peace my friend.
~RD

Yeah I know... I live in my imagination sometimes :)
Time ticks-tocks away second by second day by day and who's to say where it goes or why it doesn’t stay. Living in the moment, not living in the past, think about the future, all these things will pass. To seek a higher order, to lie upon the grass; smell the flowers, hear the birds sing with joy as we try to ponder with understanding a new reality yet to be revealed. We will come to the end of this journey and rest in peace we shall. But before we leave this Earth of ours and travel into the unknown, may we leave a little bit of ourselves behind, to say to those who follow, Hey I was here and stayed a while and left without any trouble.
~RD


I have friends who are either staunch Democrats or Republicans. Both argue about petty and trivial matters feeling only their way is right and no other missing the grander scope of the world.
I have devout religious friends of different faiths who bicker over dogma and which religion or God gets them into heaven while missing what faith is really all about.
These two groups I have mentioned have trouble finding common ground... some even hate each other with a passion I find very disturbing.
But I love each and every one of them. I believe many of you feel the same as I.Someday I hope there will arise an understanding, a consciousness, an awaking that we are all one, entangled together on this tiny beautiful planet along with other living creatures and that life is the most precious of all in this immense vacant universe.

~RD

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June 2018

June 2018

Friday 01- Clear 93° | 62°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged a mile.

Saturday 02 and Sunday 03 was kinda melancholy for me missing Barney.

Monday 04- Clear 105° | 75°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag, and jogged one mile.

I listened to two podcast episodes of Astronomy Cast: 474 predictions for 2018, and 475 fast radio bursts.

Tuesday 05- Scattered Clouds 100° | 71°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile and a half.

I asked my publisher/friend to delete “Upon Ashen Road” from Amazon. There didn’t seem to be any activity going on with paperback online. So, instead of letting it languish a slow death, I asked him to delete it and send me the latest .doc edit update he had. I told him I appreciated his past efforts on the book, but I felt it best if I continue on alone and leave him free to work on the many other projects he has; he agreed. I am going to retitle and rewrite the book in my free time. I received an email back from him along with the document for the book and a promise to delete it from Amazon. All is good.
Now I can rename “Upon Ashen Roads”, re-edit, and add on another 50 some thousand words to the book; kind of a do over.

I listened to one podcast episodes of Astronomy Cast: 476 the overview effect.

I finished cleaning out the dog pen. I fixed my front flat tire on the electric fat bike. While I was at it I put Slime in both tires and also fitted each with Mr Tuffy 4XL Fat Bike Tire Liner Tube Protector. I was outside the gate with the bike when Cassie whined at me wanted to go with. She jumped all over me with joy as I went back in to get her leash. She had a good run and the bike tested out okay.

I took the large binoculars out tonight to take in the magnificent canopy of stars overhead. I looked and found my favorite asteism: the coat hanger in Cygnus.

Wednesday 06- Clear 97° | 69°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile.
I drove the scooter to my mailbox to send out Cassie's dog license papers and my friend Tom’s birthday card only to came back home to find the card sitting on the kitchen table; I had mailed out an empty envelope!

Thursday 07- Clear 97° | 66°

I did my stretches, yoga, and ran a mile and a half.

I did the laundry. The dang hose broke sending a spray of water all over the place when I accidently knocked it with a box of canned dog food. I had no way to fix the fitting that burst, and so I had to use another hose I had laying around. That took two hours out of my day.

Friday 08- winds in the evening Clear 100° | 71°

I did my stretches.

I went through most of my books looking for ones to donate or give away. I need to clear out some not needed stuff. It is very hard to give up some of my favorite books though...

Took Cassie for another bike run, gosh how she likes to run. After Barney passed I’ve been spending more time with her because she seems to be moping around looking for him.

Saturday 09- windy Clear 100° | 73°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

I continued to work on cleaning out the junk I’ve collected throughout my life.

Sunday 10- Clear 95° | 66°

I did my stretched.

I went to the poetry reading at Space Cowboy Books and read a few poems in front of everyone there. I brought a bunch of books I cleaning out of my library that I’ll never be reading again and donated them.

Monday 11- Clear 102° | 69°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

Tuesday 12- Scattered Clouds 106° | 75°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

I continued to work on cleaning out the junk I’ve collected throughout my life.

Wednesday 13- Scattered Clouds 105° | 73°

I did my stretches.

I drove to the Physical Therapy place in Twentynine Palms to have my left shoulder/neck looked at... been bugging me for over a year with a slight pain.

Thursday 14- windy Scattered Clouds 104° | 70°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile and a half.

I listened to three podcast episodes of Astronomy Cast: 477, 478, and 479 .

Friday 15- windy Scattered Clouds 99° | 73°

I did my stretches.

Cassie and I went over to Kjtel’s house to watch a movie and eat blueberry pie.

Saturday 16- windy Clear 93° | 70°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile with Cassie.

Went into Yucca Valley with Kjtel for a massage and then we eat at this wonderful restaurant called Cali Greens Cafe just around the back of Starbucks.

Sunday 17- Clear 91° | 62°

I did my stretches.

I continued to work on cleaning out the junk I’ve collected throughout my life.

Monday 18- Clear 91° | 62°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile and a half.

Tuesday 19- Clear 100° | 69°

I did my stretches and took Cassie for a long walk before it got too hot.

I continued to rummage through my stuff to see what I should keep, give away, sell, or toss in the trash.

Wednesday 20- Clear 107° | 75°

I did my stretches.

I went for another physical therapy session for my neck muscle that’s been bothering me for a few years. I believe it happened in the Army when a steel beam fell and gave me a glancing blow on between the neck and the shoulder on my right side. Dang Army!

Thursday 21- Clear 109° | 75°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile and a half. I jumped in the pool afterwards to cool down.

Friday 22- Clear 109° | 80°  

I did my stretches and went for a mile jog.

My car has been warning me that its left rear tire was low. I had filled up all tires when I went for the poetry reading, but that left rear tire kept going low; imagine a car that tells you its tires are Low. I went into Joshua Tree and pulled into Garry's Tires to get the tire patched so my car would stop nagging at me. Chris was the only one there and working on this big old motorhome replacing all the old tires with new. I asked the lady there how long it’d be before Chris could get to my. She said about two hours. I said I have nothing else to do so I’ll just wait until he’s done. I guess Chris overheard and told me to back it up into the bay. It took him about ten minutes to fix the tire and remount it. I gave him a nice tip, paid the cashier twenty bucks and I was on my way to WalMart to pick up a few things.

Saturday 23- Windy Clear 106° | 80°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile and a half. I jumped in the pool afterwards to cool down.

I also listened to 2 Astronomy Cast podcasts: 480 and 481: Rockets parts 1&2.

I read in my history book part of chapter 27: New economy and expansion of Europe.

I worked on a laptop my trailer guest spilled water on and wouldn’t power on. I fixed her ChromeBook and it's running just fine now.

I took Cassie for a long evening walk.

Cassie and I went for a night run up the hill and back.

Sunday 24- Clear 102° | 72°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile and a half. Just like yesterday I again jumped in the pool afterwards to cool down. That ten foot pool only cost me $44 and was well worth the cost.

I finished reading chapter 27: A new economy and the expansion of Europe... in my history book.
I listened to Astronomy Cast Ep. 485: docking and refueling.

I took Cassie for a long evening walk.

After 3 weeks of editing and adding to Part One of my book “Ashen Roads” I merged Part Two that I had written last November. The book is now around one hundred thousand words or more.
Cassie and I went for a night run up the hill and back.

Monday 25- Clear 105° | 75°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile jog.

I read chapter 28: the Renaissance in Italy... in my history book.

I listened to Astronomy Cast Ep. 486: particle physics update, and Ep. 487: Dark Matter.

Cassie and I were invited over to Kjtel’s house for dinner and Episode 5 of the New York Documentary. We also took the dogs for a nice long walk at sunset; the sky colors were magnificent.

Tuesday 26- Clear 107° | 78°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile and a half.

I read chapter 29: the Renaissance in Northern Europe... in my history book.

I listened to Astronomy Cast Ep. 488: Dark Energy, Ep. 489: Black Hole Update, Ep. 490: What’s New with Supernovas,  Ep. 492: Comets, Asteroids and KBO’s, and Ep. 493: Mars update.

Took Cassie for a long walk in the desert at sunset; much cooler at this time.

Wednesday 27- Windy Clear 106° | 77°

I did my stretches and jogged a mile.

I went for my physical therapy session. Went shopping afterwards at Staters and Subway; I like their spicy Italian sub.

I went outside to see the full Moon and Saturn Conjunction.

Thursday 28- Clear 100° | 73°

I did my stretches, yoga, exercised with 10 and 20 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, punched the heavybag for 10 minutes, and jogged a mile and a half.
I read chapter 30: The Protestant Reformation... in my history book.
I took Cassie out for a really long walk in the evening.

Ep. 494: Icy Moons Update 2018, Ep. 495: Update on Asteroids & Prospects of Asteroid Mining, Ep. 496: Update on Stellar Populations (I, II, & III), Ep. 497: Update on Globular Clusters, and Ep. 498: Dwarf Galaxy Update.
Me and Cassie went for a night run up the hill and back.

Friday 29- Clear 100° | 80°

I got up early when it wasn’t very hot to do my stretches and jog a mile with my Cassie.

I gave Chris a ride to the post office in Joshua Tree to pick up a vital package she has been waiting for.

I started reading chapter 31 in my history book.

Took Cassie for a long evening walk.

Saturday 30- Clear 99° | 82°

I did my stretches, exercised with 10 lbs dumbbells, core trainer, weight bench, and jogged a mile and a half. I jumped in the pool to cool off when I was done with my exercises.

I finished reading chapter 31 in my history book.

It has been over the 20 years since our first potluck. I’ve seen many good folks come and go throughout the years. It’s nice to see friendly caring faces when I arrive each time. Kip Fjeld whipped up some guacamole with chips. Jeff Dongvillo cooked a beef and veggies casserole. Mack tossed up a salad. Cal Mayers brought his assorted fruits tray. Dyan Carroll and her Brother John cooked up a yummy lasagna, garlic bread, apple crisp and a bunch more. Chris VanNortrick made veggie meals for those who don’t eat meat. As usual, Yvonne Frances waltzed in at the last moment with watermelon and fresh corn. We all had a really nice time and maybe we’ll see y’all next potluck!

**************** Stuff I wrote this month ****************

Some people are just plain evil, not much you can do about that... I just try to stay my distance from them. Nobody's perfect, ain’t anyone normal, and not everyone has evil in them...
~RD

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