February 2025 - Rain and a Paddle

We got rain, finally, in February. It wasn’t the entire month, but we had several decent storms pass through. Unfortunately, that did bring flooding and mudslides to the areas that had been hit by the fires in January, but none of that really impacted me. During the worst of the rain, they let us work from home, which was a nice bonus. 

And the last Saturday in the month, I went out paddle boarding again. I’ve only been out one other time since I hurt my shoulder almost two years ago now. This time, my shoulder bothered me less than it had the time before, which I was very thankful for. I’ve got to figure out when I can go more frequently because it was nice to be out on the water again. The water was chilly that day, but the temps were warm enough that it was a very nice day. And hardly any wind. It was nice to be out with the friend who got me into it. Good time catching up with her.

July 2024 - A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That

(Just a quick note:  If you are landed here because of a comment I left on your book blog, you might be more interested in my review blog, Carstairs Considers.  But you are very welcome to stick around here, too.)

July was a month of a little of this, a little of that.  Nothing major happened, but I did several fun things.

The first weekend I went paddleboarding for the first time since I hurt my shoulder in May of 2023.  It still bothered me a little, mostly in an "I'm not used to this way" not in a "I'm going to be injured again" way.  And it stopped as soon as I got off the water.  I haven't made it back out again, mainly because I haven't wanted to buy passes again quite yet.  I'll probably do that in the spring.  I'm hoping to make it out a time or two before then.

The second weekend, I went to support a friend who was preaching at his church.  This is the first who hosts game day, and much of the group are his friends from church.  The result was plenty of people I know there, which was fun.  We went out to lunch afterwards, and it was the weekend of game day, so we spent a lot of time together that weekend.

I also went down to Santa Monica in July to enjoy the beach and some cooler weather, which was nice.

And I attended the launch party for Ellen Byron's new series, which is set in the California Gold Country.

As you can see, it was a full month even if nothing big happened. 

On Board with Paddle Boarding

(Just a quick note:  If you are landed here because of a comment I left on your book blog, you might be more interested in my review blog, Carstairs Considers.  But you are very welcome to stick around here, too.)

I don't think I've talked about paddle boarding much here.  I might have mentioned it last year when my friend Ginger first invited me to join her just about a year ago.  I loved it.  Not that I'm surprised.  I've always loved the water, and often wished to do something like that.  I went with her again last fall, then a couple of times in the spring.

But here was my problem.  I wanted to be able to go more often, and she had other friends who liked going as well.  So, I bought my own.  I arrived just before Memorial Day, and I've been out on it every weekend since.

There's a lake about 30 minutes from my front door, and that's where I've taken it so far.  I do a loop of the lake, which takes about an hour if you are paddling steadily, or longer if you take some breaks to enjoy it.  I bought the parking and launch passes, so I'm set for the year.

So far, I'm more of a sit down paddle boarder, although last weekend, I did kneel most of the time I was out there.  My lack of balance comes into play when I try to stand.  I really only did it once, but I wound up in the water pretty quickly.  Others, I've gotten half way up and started to wobble, so I went back down.  We'll see if I wind up standing more or not.  I'm more interested in the paddling and being on the water than in standing.  I want to have something in my life that is just fun and I'm not trying to get better at.