Oh, what a beautiful morning

Mornings like this are what living in the Middle of Nowhere are all about.

The temperature is pleasantly cool, a layer of fog has settled in close to the ground but the sun is high and bright over the mountain and there's not a cloud in the sky. As the day goes on, the temperature will rise, the breezes will pick up and the humidity will decrease.

Sounds like the perfect day to work in the yard, or maybe – maybe – start rebuilding one of the dry rock walls that line either side of the driveway.

I don't put it on my resume that I know how to build dry rock walls, by the way. It's really not something I'd like to do more than once every 10 years or so.

The Spousal Equivalent and I collected every last one of the rocks, from creekbeds, from our property and from friends and neighbors who wanted to get rid of rocks. We had a neighbor till up the soil, then we smoothed it out and started planting rocks, one by one, fitting them together like puzzle pieces. We planted perennials in the area between the driveway and the rocks, which have mostly thrived. I'm disappointed with the dianthus, and will probably rip all of it out this year and replace it with hostas, which are plentiful and do very well.

Over the years, though, the chipmunks have moved in to the walls and parts of both sides have shifted. So it's time for a rebuild.

When we built it the first time, I counted working on it as my daily exercise, which got me out of the habit of running and lifting weights. I'm not making that mistake this time. The daily walk/run and regular weight training come first; I can't afford to let those habits lapse. I need to find ways to add activity to my routine, not replace one for another.

The dog bite is doing well; Neosporin is a wonderful thing. My left arm, the one that got the tetanus injected into it, hurt much more yesterday than it did the first two days. I hope that's nothing to worry about.

Not much more to talk about this morning; I want to go outside and play!