Here it is 2025 and almost the end of January and I haven’t posted in a while. I’m going to try and post directly to WordPress instead of using Word then transferring the file. I liked using Word when there was a template to use but the new version seems to have dropped that capability.

OK…I posted a picture…that’s good. In case you’re wondering what’s in the picture, it is a face made out of stuff I find on my morning walks. Today, the face was very different. It was painted brown. The tree where the face exists sits next to a bench. Apparently, those that maintain the walking/biking trail stained the bench and used a bit to add a little color to the face. 

The face is on my “turn around” tree which is 2 miles from home. Every day, except Friday, I walk to the turn around tree and head back for a 4-mile walk. Hopefully, this exercise will allow me to live longer. 

I love living in Tucson. The temperature at 9 this morning was a bit over 50 degrees (F). I light jacket was all that was required. On the way home I saw a pretty bird in a tree. I don’t know birds, but he looked a little like a bandit.

When I’m walking, I pick up litter using a Harbor Freight Pickup Tool. I carry shopping bags from our local Safeway store. Also, I carry soft beef flavored treats for the four-footed friends I see along the way. I know their names, but I rarely know the names of the people walking them. I listen to podcasts, too. I have a set of “open ear” headphones that transfer sound through bones. I listen to NPR News (as depressing as it has been lately), and SCIFRI (which isn’t only on Fridays now). I also listen to other NPR podcasts such as: NPR Politics, Consider This, and The Best of Car Talk, and many others including: 99% Invisible, Cabinet of Curiosities, Al Franken, Apple News, Big Picture Science, BrainStuff, Cautionary Tales, Cognitive Dissonance, The Constant, Creature Feature, Criminal, The Daily, Freakonomics, Freethought Radio, … I’d better stop now. the list goes on and I’m down to the Fs. 

That’s a lot of podcasts. I have to listen to them at at least 1.5X speed to get through them. I also have a couple of mainly music podcasts such as Vinyl on Chrome. Those, I have to listen to at 1X, of course. 

So, I’m walking, picking up trash, decorating the path, listening to podcasts, and feeding dogs. I’m also thinking about what I’m going to write in my blog. I always think about it but by the time I’m home, eat my lunch, and bathe, I usually forget about the blog and fix something, or finish a project, or watch YouTube videos.

Today, I decided to write a blog just before bed…good night all.