Too long of a day?

I still have more to do tonight that, well at this point it all likely won’t get done. However a lot has gotten done. Packing in proper now, at least in stages. Was able to put the HF vertical antenna back up (I just needed the whip off of the top.) And was able to get out on the roof to get the forty foot fiberglass mast down, with its two meter and ten ninety antennas.

An afternoon conversation with my mom was nice. She has a lot of experience with walking, hiking, and trails in Arizona, and the same apps she used there, will be working for me as well. To start I’ll be looking for a State campground I think, something will nice amenities. At this point, roughing it will be the task of setting up my tent, cooking food without a microwave, and only having the screen time my solar panels allow.

I was able to hear the backstory on my cane. Actually, I may call it my walking stick, I think I like that better. I had bought it maybe for a dollar (or most likely was given it for free.) When my mothers fourth husband, found himself with an excess of possessions as he combined his into my mothers, then their home. I had thought he had used in a previous injury (I’m sure I asked and was told at the time, however that recollection is gone now.)

However, it ends up he was a collector of them, of sorts at least. The most my mom could recall was that in his previous house there had been a cane/umbrella holder behind his front door. Nothing special that she could recall, just a decorative pieces picked up off hand here and there. I wish I would have asked her that story earlier, as I’ve had this walking stick for about ten years and I had just ran into Dave a year or two ago at Virginia Coney Island, love that place.

I enjoy it more now, as I know (best believe?) he had chosen it at some point; something that had caught his eye, as it catches mine now. As I really do enjoy the practical stability it brings me, I find it always in hand, and as it is now blessed for my guidance, I shall use it to test the ground before me – and perhaps backhand an attacker?

Careful, our blessings can smite others if we use them inconsiderately!

What ever will I do with my time? Walk, and walk, and walk some more. Then, well I am bringing a few books, and the task of sorting them actually got a lot easier. If all of my books have been on my shelf this long and I haven’t read them, why carry them?

A few days later, I found myself picking off one or two though. I thought maybe I’d finally have time to dive into the Theology of the Body perhaps, or at least the starter book. Or the starter book to the starter book. Maybe I will grab that one. So far I have a stack ten to come with me.

Choosing a Bible was hard, I have over a dozen. There was as time when I would sit on my bed, studying a verse or chapter in each of the translations at the same time. Later I found software to do that for me, and actually a real nice Bible that is cross-referenced directly with the CCC. Okay, enough, not taking it, though it is a nice Bible. I picked my Ignatius RSC2CE, a simple Bible with no study material to speak of, simple.

Well, until yesterday; my load has been lightened even more. As I couldn’t take just a Bible I also have a book of Christian Prayer. I could hold both (with the RSV,) though it was a bit awkward. With the new Bible I received yesterday, only the Gospels and Acts, it fits perfectly in one hand, where I could use my cane in the other to walk. I will miss the letters I suppose, however I’ll read them a piece at a time in prayer. Don’t get too excited Father, I am bringing it… though my ribbons are still all over the place, I will try to figure them out when I find the time.

I’m starting to feel hopeful that everything will fit in, it looks like less now that I’ve packed some into my backpack. Tomorrow, I will get to clean out my car and begin loading it. I was going to wait until Tuesday, I guess I’m moving it up. I’m sure something else will pop up to do then.

And finally, a visit planned tomorrow night for a pair of friends I could not leave town without seeing first. Long day, short post.

Time to rest.