February 4, 2024
I woke up at 12:30 a.m. I wrote my blog until 4 a.m. and went back to sleep. I woke again at 6:30 a.m. when Angel woke up. We made our beds and went over to Christopher’s. I greeted Christopher and made hot lime water. I didn’t make a smoothie since I still had yesterday’s. We all got ready to go to Lake Somerville for the day. When I was ready to go, I sat down and prayed my thanksgivings and gratitudes:
- I am grateful for days off. Thank you for adventure days. .
- I am grateful for sunshine. Thank you for its life giving, heart warming rays.
- I am grateful for Little Bit. Thank you for a wonderful go dog.
- I am grateful for water. Thank you for hydration and play.
We arrived at Somerville Lake around 9 a.m. It was a really windy day but it was sunny and beautiful. Christopher steered the boat to a channel that lead to Nails Creek and Flag Pond. It was a lot less windy in the channel and I was excited to explore new territory. We rode all the way up to Flag Pond but we could not get to the pond. There was no access to it, just 3 culverts that allowed water from the pond to flow into the channel. There were a bunch of people fishing at the culverts and catching a lot of white bass. We got out and I walked with Angel out onto a strip of land that went out into Flag pond. I took pictures of plants to put on iNaturalist and enjoyed the walk. I really wanted to hike the trail that goes around the pond but Christopher didn’t want to and it would have taken me at least an hour to make it all the way around. I didn’t want to make him wait that long.
Angel and I walked back to the boat and we road back down the channel to Nails Creek. We passed a few people fishing as we motored up the creek and went as far as we could until we came to a dead tree blocked us from going any further. We turned around and headed back. I knew there was a hiking trail not to far from the creek and I was itching to hike it. I love hiking and moving my body. Sitting in a boat is great but it doesn’t give me a natural high like hiking does, unless it’s a paddle boat or kayak. I was craving to get my heart rate up.
We stopped on shore at one point and I went exploring. I took pictures of plants and came across a hog skull. I found a beautiful meadow and then a clear water swamp that I waded around in since I had my waders on. I would have found the hiking trail but it was quite a ways away from the place we stopped. When I made it back to the boat Christopher showed me where he had found some gourds. I was thrilled about that and took a broken one home to plant the seeds.
We got back in the boat and went a little farther down the creek until we came to a big hill. Christopher pulled onto the shore, Angel and I climbed the hill together while Christopher went to another spot to climb up. We had to wrestle our way through a bunch of briar and yaupon on the climb but once we got to the top we had an amazing view and then we came across the hiking trail. I was happy to see the hiking trail and when I looked at the map I could see that it wasn’t very far to the boat ramp that we launched from. I looked around and hollered for Christopher to let him know I was hiking the rest of the way back. There was no way I was not going to do that hike. While searching for Christopher I came across an ammo box. I opened it up and it was a geocache. How fun! I signed my name and took a picture. Then I saw Christopher walking down by the creek. I hollered at him but I wasn’t sure he could hear me. I motioned to my phone that I would call him. I sent him a text and called him. He didn’t want us to split up but nothing was stopping me from hiking the rest of the way and I said it was a short distance and would be fine.
I was in heaven hiking back to the boat ramp. Angel and I saw a lot of fresh water springs and I took pictures of plants. We arrived back at the boat ramp just as Christopher was motoring up in the boat. Perfect timing! We got the boat loaded up and headed home.
At home, I checked on the cat I am pet sitting. She hissed at me and seemed to be doing good. I went outside and gave the ducks fresh water and sat practicing Amazing Grace on my harmonica. I’ve been losing my singing voice, (though it seems to be coming back) so I thought it would be fun to play the harmonica rather than sing for the next time I’m signed up to sing at church on February 18. Amazing Grace was easy to learn and after I got it down pretty good, I did a suduko puzzle until it was almost time to take Angel to Awanas. I quickly made a yummy salad and after I finished eating it, we headed to town.
I called my sister and talked to her on the drive. We had a great conversation, I dropped Angel off at Awanas and came back home. I took a shower and hung out with Christopher until it was time to pick up Angel. On the drive, I called the owner of the cat I’m pet sitting to update home on how she is doing and to see how he was doing. He is in the hospital for congestive heart failure but thinks he will be coming home tomorrow, which is great news. Next, I called my son Shawn and we had a good talk. I picked up Angel from Awanas and made a quick stop at the grocery store before heading home.
When we arrived home, I loaded my cleaning supplies in the back of the truck to be ready to clean houses tomorrow morning. I strained my back and leg lifting the bin I have full of cleaning supplies up into the back of the pickup. Discouraged, I gimped to the banana hut and went to bed. I laid in bed, relaxing and wrote my blog for a couple of hours. Then I put on a sleep meditation and fell asleep around 9:30 p.m.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I dearly appreciate you.
Love,
Victoria