Dan's surprise birthday party

Let’s go walking / this is your life

There’s no better time to pick up where I left off! Winter and spring passes and I’ve not been walking with a purpose as I used to. I was doing pretty well before that. Everyday with a couple of thousands steps as recommended.

Then the stray dogs show up. At first it was a big black one. It remained at a safe distance. Then there were the two of them, they were just hungry I guess.
I saw them topple a neighbor’s garbage bin and make off with a trash bag. One morning I saw three of them and they followed me for a while.
I walked faster and faster until I was practically running all the way home.

In case you wonder why, I was bitten by a dog once as a child on a moonless night. It was not a ferocious attack but enough to instill irrational fear in me for the rest of my life.
Then there was once when I was surrounded by a pack of dogs. They gathered ‘round, sniffing me like I was a piece a meat.
One of them even marked its territory on my right leg! I was terrified and remained frozen until they went away.
As you can tell I have no intention to add another episode in my encounter with the stray.

Today is Monday. There’s no better day to start something afresh! It's the first day of the week and I’m rearing to go.
I’ll take the first step of the thousands. But this time I’m taking my walking stick along just in case.

a new routine

For the next thirty days I have to get up at six, and hopefully get to bed before eleven.
I'm on a new route, a winding country road and at 6:45 am there aren’t many cars out there. I spotted Rooster for the first time on this lonely stretch of road. A sign that advertise “Wings'N Things” posted by the road and on top of the roof. It must be a Southern thing for it certainly do not look like a place that will offer you coffee.

I have no sense of direction and often find myself lost somewhere. On the returning route when I was at a T junction and not knowing if I should turn to the left or the right, I spotted Rooster on my far left and that’s where I should be heading. It was the only building on that stretch of the road.

It would have been a leisure drive if not for the driver behind me. I was driving at the speed limit and he was breathing down my neck, it made me really nervous. Aren’t we supposed to drive at the speed limit? Or should we drive five or ten miles above the limit? I think I’ll check the driving book and have my cup of coffee at the same time.