The Years To Remember

Valentino Family Forest Preserve - Newest tract donated to the RPA.   Monday 6/12/23 I finally made decisions on what I'm taking to the Alps in terms of luggage - one medium checked bag and a small rolling carry on that fits under the seat. My hiking boots are taking up so much space but I'm committed to not over packing which I usually manage to do. In the middle of dealing with about a hundred trip details, my friend Dale texted about setting up a yoga retreat trip to Mexico in February. I had to call her and tell her I have no bandwidth to deal with another thing. I trust her to set everything up and just tell me what to pay. Thank goodness she agreed to do all the planning on that. The new building is going up slowly at the town beach. Tuesday 6/13/23 Today I went on a hike with the Mates a short distance up the Plateau from home. It was a nice hike, but I'm finding all the mosquito bites I didn't feel at the time. Or maybe I got them in my own garden when AJ and Ge

 Thursday 6/8/23 📷: Theresa The Quebec wildfire smoke in the air started clearing up late this afternoon, after I finished my bike ride. I really had a hard time getting out, but I pushed myself to do a quick 10 miles. At the turnoff for home I figured that I'm out, I'm feeling stronger, I'll just keep going and get in 15 miles. I think the HIIT workout I've added each morning is making me stronger - and a good thing as I haven't hiked elevation in 2 weeks. I took a photo of the haze near the lake the other morning and it wasn't  too bad. You can still see blue sky. For the past two days you couldn't tell if it was sunny or not and the sky was grey/orange/white.  Hazy day on the lake. I returned the backpack I bought because it was too big and heavy to carry across the Atlantic. I'll just use my old one and perhaps pack and release it along with my older underwear and a few shirts. That will make more room for souvenirs in my luggage. I also returned a

 Sunday 6/4/23 In 2 weeks I'll be heading to JFK for my flight to Geneva. This trip has been in the planning stage for so long, I can hardly believe it's time to start organizing equipment and details. I ordered a new day pack for hiking and some Smartwool shirts as well. I've been checking the weather in Chamonix and it looks very wet and slightly warm, so I'll have to pack a variety of layers. It's getting real. Even the deer are desperate for water. In meantime I've been carefully tending the garden. It desperately needs rain so I can stop watering day after day. At least the 80 -90 degree heat has stopped. Monday 6/5/23 After weighing the pros and cons, I popped over to Walgreens and got the bivalent booster. Then I got out for a brisk walk before any side effects kicked in. I think I got all of them by the time I got home so I took to the couch for the rest of the day. The headache was the worst, but I felt the fatigue and aches all over.  The house is comp