Summer potpourri

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Sky, clouds, water, boulevard

Yesterday, Steve and I walked on a beautiful Saturday from downtown Bellingham to Fairhaven and back along Boulevard Park. There were so many people out and about that I was hoping that summer this year will be just like this for many weekends to come. We saw myriad dogs (which of course Steve loves to pet with permission from their owners) and the most crowded Farmers' Market I've seen in awhile. The weather was, as you can see from the picture, incredibly beautiful. The high for the day was 70°F, with a light breeze. It was the first time since my February fall that I've gone all the way to Fairhaven without any need to stop or slow down. After a bit more than five miles, I took an ibuprofen because I could feel my right leg beginning to complain, but within a few minutes, no more pain of any sort. I'm happy to learn than I can now accomplish enough exercise to continue to get better, but I'm not going to push it; what's the point?

It's been a wonderful week, which included a new (to me) walk on the Padilla Bay estuary near Anacortes on Tuesday, a flat, interesting trail on a dike, with mudflats on one side, and farmland on the other. Lots of birds and other wildlife kept it lively. This was an easy hike with the Senior Trailblazers. Then on Wednesday I took my usual yoga class, with a substitute teacher but still lovely, and Thursday I did my usual volunteer work at the Senior Center. I've grown quite fond of the other volunteers, mostly women.

My fellow volunteers

This picture includes the Volunteer Coordinator Melody (at the table, fourth from  the left, sitting in front of me), but the others are all volunteers who receive a free lunch at the end of the shift. Here, we are all set up and ready to open the doors at 11:30am. Until they stop serving lunch at 12:30, we are busy serving coffee, tea, and then taking trays to the kitchen and finally putting the tables and chairs back into storage. The Senior Center serves lunch five days a week for $6 or whatever one can afford. I am usually very tired by the end and grateful that another shift is done. But I wouldn't trade it for anything; I get more thanks and compliments during this period than I do for the entire rest of the week. Not exactly fun, but definitely worthwhile. We served around 125 seniors on Thursday.

Summer has never been my favorite time of the year, but that might be changing as we continue to enjoy mild temperatures. I keep reading about the rest of the country, especially the Midwest, getting slammed with extraordinarily hot and humid weather. Although I have windows open throughout our apartment, it hasn't been really warm yet, and a cool breeze helps as well. That will change, however, during July and August, I fear. But then we will return to our normal mild and delightful weather. I don't see any reason to go anywhere else during the summer months. I do, however, sometimes tire of the endless days of rain and cloudy overcast skies during the winter months. My waterproof shoes and raincoats help immeasurably.

Abundant flowers and lush greenery

Of course, all this wonderful weather gives us plenty of beautiful vegetation and many happy gardeners. I saw this pink flower that I couldn't identify. Maybe one of my readers knows what it is. In any event, I am really pleased to know that others are also enjoying the days and weeks of perfection. It helps not to keep up with the political news, also. I read the headlines and my fellow bloggers posts, and that's about it for current events.

And in a few minutes, I'll get up out of bed and close my laptop and look forward to whatever is in store for me today. John, of course, will be coming to get me so we can make our way to Fairhaven to our favorite breakfast spot. For the first time this season, I'll be wearing shorts, since it's been forecast to be our first 75°F day. I will probably go out for a nice three-mile walk later in the day, if it doesn't feel too hot for me. I hope you will have a wonderful day and week ahead, dear friends. Life is too short to concentrate on the bad stuff, so I'm just not going to. Until we meet again next week, dear friends, I wish you all good things.