Last week, I went to a festival in downtown Akron. It was after work and a section of street was closed off on either end for shops and artwork. I met up with several people I knew and had some fun conversations. Had a bite to eat at a downtown deli, gave my opinion to a business-man who wanted to open a gourmet hotdog stand, bought some art (a decorative box), and saw someone on stilts. And in and among all that – I realized that I don’t like crowds.
Too much noise, too much distraction. There were several times when the press of people made me want to run – but, of course, that was impossible by the very nature of the problem.
I did okay and didn’t freak-out, but I’m once again glad that when I get home it’s just me and the cat. A little peace and quiet is kinda awesome.
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For lunch today, I took the Ladies from New York out to eat. Well, the Younger, anyway. The Elder was not up to lunch – though she was excited to be headed to the casino later that day. They both commented on how they nearly didn’t recognize me since I had gained so much weight since I last saw them. I thought perhaps they had noted that I’m sturdier because I’ve been exercising – but, no, they told me that it was just because I was getting older.
Ummmm… thanks? I guess I could have been a little cranky, but I know for certain that they didn’t mean anything negative by it. It was as straight-forward as they could have been.
Now, I’m a little softer around the middle than I would like, but I’m by no means heavy. So, I’m not going to let it get to me.
Lunch was nice – I had a sensible chicken sandwich and the Younger had a half rack of ribs.
Shrug.
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After lunch, I went home and got changed into my swim gear and went to the lake. There’s a small public beach at the park and I dropped off my bag on the sand and hit the water.
And it hit me right back. Coooooold. Worse than the pool, but of course not as cold as the Polar Bear Jump. I swam for a while, avoided the only other serious swimmer (in a wetsuit, no less), and took a short break to drink some clean water. I swam a bit longer and realized I was bored. So, I gathered up my gear and headed for home. I’m glad I went – apparently, I need the exercise – but I just wasn’t feeling it. I think it was that I didn’t really have much of a goal – just sort of swimming around. If there had been lane markers or some kind of final point to swim to, I think I would have done better. But, without a specific goal, I’m out of my element. I should have just kept an eye out for boats and swum across the lake.
And I could do it, too.