31 Jul: The last day of the birthday month! Up early for QQQ, and change the August blog title. We are not too exciting when all we do is eat, work, and hike. This AM we walked to City Market for decongestant. Ron walked again in the evening, but Cynthia is resting to prevent her allergy-driven sinus infection from turning into bronchitis and bronchial pneumonia.
30 Jul, Sunday: The morning trek began at ten AM, not quite so hot, but we did shorten our walk. It was fun to see several deer out and about, too. At four PM, the skies look like rain. Hmm. It drizzled a bit but the fround stayed dry. Wearing raincoats, we walked dry for 4.5 miles at seven. Total of 7 miles today.
29 Jul: After oatmealing and exercising, we bounded out the door (well, not really). We did walk 4.09 miles on our usual trek, but it was too hot. Ron rode to Walmart to fill an RX, and then we slept for two hours. (All that bounding wore us out.)
28 Jul: Woo-hoo! Here we are, up early, with plans to hike at 9:30. Ron tuned into the markets reaping rewards. Cynthia phoned her retina specialist in TX and negotiated for a new appointment in Durango on Tuesday, 10 days earlier. The pacemaker test is completed; now to exercise. Our new custom seat arrived, too. By the time activities were completed, it was too hot to walk. We will hike tonight. Cynthia is delighted to learn the name of our tenth great-grand, baby, due in November. Life is good! 5.07 Miles
29 Jul: After oatmealing and exercising, we bounded out the door (well, not really). We did walk 4.09 miles on our usual trek, but it was too hot. Ron rode to Walmart to fill an RX, and then we slept for two hours. (All that bounding wore us out.)
28 Jul: Woo-hoo! Here we are, up early, with plans to hike at 9:30. Ron tuned into the markets reaping rewards. Cynthia phoned her retina specialist in TX and negotiated for a new appointment in Durango on Tuesday, 10 days earlier. The pacemaker test is completed; now to exercise. Our new custom seat arrived, too. By the time activities were completed, it was too hot to walk. We will hike tonight. Cynthia is delighted to learn the name of our tenth great-grand, baby, due in November. Life is good! 5.07 Miles
27 Jul: Lunch at Boss Hogg’s with friends from Texas. 9.0 miles
26 Jul: Ron continued work on the MIT reunion and the markets. Our walk this evening was pleasant, not too hot at 7:45 PM. But we didn’t get far after chatting with Ann and her poodle, one of the many friends we enjoy in PS. 2.0 Miles.
25 Jul: This was a quiet, lazy day with ninety-degree temps that kept us indoors until time for our evening walk. 3.0 Miles
24 Jul: Early this morning, Cynthia called her retina specialist in Houston, who recommended she get checked. Ron was greatly surprised when a taxi for Durango showed up twenty minutes later. He grabbed his just-cooked oatmeal, a banana, and morning pills, and we were off to Durango to see the SW Eye Consultants, an hour's drive away. They worked us in, ran tests, and showed us fluid slides under the retina and news of bleeding behind the retina, all related to wet macular degeneration. This is all treatable. As bad news goes, this was wonderful. We have an appointment to see the retina specialist on August eleventh at one PM. Until then, we know nothing more. We walked a little way this evening with Cynthia in her new shoes. Her feet are much happier. Two miles.
23 Jul, Sunday: Cynthia reports seeing things, flashes of light. Ron again spent the day communicating with his MIT buddies until late when he walked to the boat ramp and returned after dark.
22 Jul: With our noses in our computers, we managed to do nothing else. Cynthia read two books. Ron typed messages and finally hiked at 7pm.
21 Jul: We skipped the morning walk and met David to hear about his extensive journey to Lea's ancestral areas. Cynthia decided to rest her feet since the new shoes should arrive before too long. Ron typed messages all afternoon and finally hiked late, returning after dark.
20 Jul: The morning heat was tough. We turned back before we reached the lake. By then, her feet were again hurting. David, one of the Lea YDNA participants, met us for dinner to discuss his research. Grandson Eric is in Guatemala on a mission assignment. 3.0 miles.
19 Jul: Ron is almost finished with the early MIT communications. We walked twice and enjoyed talking about skiing, fishing, and motorcycles with Mike. Cynthia again continued hiking morning and evening despite the painful blisters. 8.80 miles.
18 Jul: The internet has been sporadic, slowing Ron's progress on MIT correspondence. Cynthia has one month to wear the brace on her right hand; it will be removed slightly at a time. It is unlikely she will type much for a while. We received the sad news that MIT alum Carlton Sockwell suddenly passed away in April. He was Cynthia’s favorite of Ron’s MIT friends, an amazing, beloved math professor who continued to tutor students after retirement for thirty-five years. Cynthia continued hiking morning and evening despite the painful blisters on her feet. 8.5 miles
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| Happy Birthday from Zoe, Jack & his parents |
17 Jul: It always pays to think ahead. For some reason, perhaps our cluttered minds, we posted Aug instead of Jul! We walked 5.3 miles in AM at 8:30 before it got too hot, but this aggravated Cynthia's feet and blisters. After dinner at Boss Hogg’s, Ron walked an additional 4.25 miles.
16 Jul, Sunday: The high point of the birthday month of July is the 16th, the big day. Sadly, during the evening walk, Cynthia's feet blistered in the new shoes. 9.30 miles
15 Jul: We have added the Bates Eye Exercises (click here) to our daily regimen for the past three months. We also started SightCare supplements in concert with the exercises. Watch the video, then read the reviews. Ron is definitely seeing improvement with astigmatism. Cynthia’s vision has not yet improved, but she will continue the supplements to keep macular degeneration at bay. We have no side effects. And one more interesting piece of advice: it is good to change shoes frequently. We wear Hokas until they are worn out. Cynthia’s shoes had spread and flattened out, so her feet hurt. In addition, she wears Turf-Toe steel plates (Amazon) under custom orthotics for a bunion. The steel plate slid to the opposite side, not under the big toe. Yes, her feet hurt. Today, she changed the orthotics and turf toe steel plates to new Hoka shoes discovering she shoulda changed to new shoes months ago. 7.80 miles
14 Jul: Ron is making positive contact with many MIT alumni. We decided to stay in Pagosa Springs until after Labor Day. We can get the James Lea book off our computers to the publisher during this August. 8.5 miles.
13 Jul: We exercised, oatmealed, and Ron worked on his MIT organization while Cynthia did stretches. We ate at Boss Hoggs, then walked to City Market. Our evening walk was uneventful. 5.83 miles
12 Jul: After watching QQQ in vain, Ron finally did his exercises and ate. Now we can go walking again when it is not as "too hot" as it will be later. Excitement builds as we approach the precise "Happy Birthday." Cynthia did exercises for tight IT Band and then fell asleep. Now, it is time for the second walk. We met Justin and Madison close to the last turn. 9.2 miles
11 Jul: We walked again a little too late and too hot, but at least we walked. Cynthia met another family this evening because she was impressed that the woman rowed the boat forcefully onto the shore - but that meant that we arrived "home" after dark but still ahead of dark thirty. 8.9 miles
10 Jul: The best part of our daily hikes is that we meet the loveliest people, like Ray and Twyla from St. Louis, MO, who are staying at their son's house, helping him remodel it for rental (since his plans to relocate to Pagosa fell through). Ray suffered a heart attack at age 48, so they didn't need convincing about healthy eating and fitness. They return to STL tomorrow, so we won't be able to enjoy their company again here & now. We wish them a safe journey. 9.0 miles today.
9 Jul, Sunday: Happy Birthday, Rachel! Our morning walk to the boat dock (4.5 miles) began after 11:00 AM, translating to being HOT. We visited with Jim's extended family and his charming 97-year-old mother. Ron is focused on MIT correspondence. The mosquitoes were out in abundance tonight 8.5 miles
8 Jul: What fun visiting with Linda and Greg G. (3 G), who live overlooking the lake close to the boat dock. After that visit, we remembered several more about meeting them on prior visits. 9.0 miles.
7 Jul: Ron is on a roll, organizing a Burton Third MIT reunion for April 2024. Some of the more hilarious memories of dorm life: Students could not plug in appliances to cook in their rooms, so one clever guy used an iron to make toasted cheese sandwiches. The dorm rooms had single light bulb fixtures in the ceiling, so one duo shorted the electricity at the wall socket to turn off the electrical current and replaced the single bulb with a new ceiling fixture. Students invented "hall bowling" in 1963 by rolling a heavy metal gear the length of the hall, calling it a strike if the gear threw off sparks when it hit the radiator at the end of the hall. Oh, what fun! 9.0 miles.
6 Jul: We almost rested, but not quite. MIT DTYD 2024 is barreling full-steam ahead. We walked at 7:30 P.M, but only 3.33 miles to the lake and back. Now we will sleepzzzzz.
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| View from the boat dock |
5 Jul: Ron stayed up too late working on an unofficial MIT reunion event for Patriot's Day 2024 and sent a blind-CC invitational E-mail to 90 alumni. Significant progress has been made. Have you guessed we are tired? 9.0 miles!
4 Jul: Independence Day and Happy Birthday to Don. 9.2 miles
3 Jul: We arose a bit late and started our morning walk at about 10:45, which means that we were hot by the time we returned, so we continued straight to Boss Hog's for luncheon baked potatoes & salmon, this time without the kidney beans and tomato that were the suspects in Ron's stomach upset yesterday. We were also late beginning our evening walk, about 7:30+, so we had a chance to return before dark until we met a lovely couple by the lake, Suellen and Doug (doing his exercises) and Hank the dog. 8.54 miles
2 Jul, Sunday: Our first walk was lovely and cool, and our lunch at Boss Hog's seemed fine although Ron felt uncomfortably full after one big salad and 1.6 baked potatoes. His overfull feeling didn't go away, and by 6pm had turned into acute stomach pain. During our second walk, he stopped at a "Johnny on the Spot" to reduce the load on his stomach and threw up three times. That relieved the stomach pain only briefly, and before falling asleep, he threw up another three times. Ron likely had food poisoning from the salad bar. Yuk. 8.80 miles.
1 Jul: Birthday month begins. Sixteen days until the apex of the month. Love and Smooch. On our evening walk, we met Stumpy, a six or eight-point buck with antlers still in velvet. 7.45 miles
