Shedding my Fears

The weekend was over. It was time to get back into work mode. I was up at 5:30am after a decent night’s sleep. It looked like another lovely day in the offing. The sky was clear and the temperature quite mild. It was around 60 degrees. The day’s temperature promised to flirt with the season’s high. 85 degrees was said to be within reach.

Like any other work day, I completed my exercises before slipping out with Ykraps. We took a leisurely walk in part because of the stellar weather. It was most comfortable. I knew right then that this would be yet another BM’er day making it four in a row. That might be a record!

Coffee, internet and meditation went well. I finished all of my pre-run activities just prior to 6:30am. I ran in shorts and a long sleeved wicking shirt. I was quite comfortable. Like many days past, my hamstring loosened as the run went along. I know that I’m healing. I almost took the four mile turn without thinking. That means my mind is on the run – not on the pain. But I corrected the route and held it to three miles. If things hold as they are, I’ll switch back to my usual four miles this coming weekend.

I was back home by 7:05am. Without much hesitation, I began preparing my lunch and breakfast. For lunch I made a plain vegetable salad containing celery, cucumber, and tomato. And along with it, a fruit medley and mixed nuts. For breakfast I fried two large farm fresh chicken eggs – extra crispy.

Bella was up snuggling with her momma when I headed up for a shower. I delivered Mindy’s coffee then too. I shared just how lovely it was outdoors. Everyone was up & downstairs by the time I returned ready for work. Wasn’t sure what Mindy had planned for the first official day of family summer break, if anything. I drove off in the BM’er just as planned. It was a fun drive into work.

It was a busy morning at the office. It didn’t help that my peer was off. We were bustling with activity. I forced myself to leave for a lunch break around 1:30pm. I went to Home Depot hoping to get the things I really wanted to get on Sunday. That’s when it dawned on me that I drove the BM’er. Oops!

Despite driving the BM’er, I still picked up three man-made stepping stones for the purpose of providing a transition from the lawn into the flower beds, and more specifically access to the hose bibs. I placed them at the foot of the passenger seat. Back to work.


The afternoon went fine and fast. Mindy alerted me that the new TV stand we ordered online from Target arrived this afternoon. One of her high school peeps is the local UPS driver. She coaxed him into carrying the two extremely heavy boxes into the house. That was good news. We placed the order Thursday AM with an expected ship date of five business days. They beat the pants off that!

The day was over before I knew it. It was time to head for home. Mindy told me that we were having hot wings for dinner. That sounded good. So, after walking Ykraps we all sat down for dinner. As usual, Bella asked that we place our bones on a separate plate just for her to gnaw on. She’s something else. After cleaning up the rather small dinner mess (we used paper plates) I took to watering the back yard flower beds. I noticed too how quickly the lawn was drying out. But the first warm dry streak always puts extra strain on the lawn.

After I finished watering the flowers I retreated to the house where I started tying up some loose ends in email. Around 8pm Mindy hollered for me telling me that neighbor Crissy wanted to tell me something. I made my way to the deck where the two of them were holding court all the while over seeing the children. Crissy told me that she spotted two suspicious looking men hanging out by my shed last night around 12:30am. They set off the security light but eventually meandered off into the woods. That left a pit in my stomach after having it broken into three years prior almost to the day. I was not pleased. Just the night before, while congregating on the bridge, neighbor Scott mentioned that a handful of neighborhood sheds had recently been broken into. In each case, it was a house abutting the woods. I was angry and agitated. And even though I have some of the most secure locking devices available, I also know that if someone wants in my shed bad enough they can get in. Same goes for your house, for that matter. Considering our immediate options, Mindy and I collectively decided that the best thing we could do for the time being was to move the tractor and mower into the garage. So, we did.

I also promised to be vigilant about getting up a time or two through the night just to scope out the yard. Crissy apologized for not calling the police. But realistically, they would’ve been gone anyhow. As we talked, we noticed neighbors David, Becky, and Warren sitting out on their deck. Eventually, they decided to come sit with us on ours. They brought along their drinks and some Citronella candles. The mosquitoes were out and aggressive!

We stayed out on the deck for quite a while chatting up a storm. David shared stories about his 200+ mile bike trip down to Portsmouth & back. We called it a night around 9:30pm. We agreed to do this more often. We’re blessed to have so many great neighbors. I failed to mention, that Mindy enjoyed her first two glasses of wine in about three weeks. She was feeling rather randy.