At the Rusnik Campground, my quarter shower was a quarter well spent. Ironically, in the shower was a Victoria's Secret body and scrub available for anyones use. So, before I put the quarter in the shower slot, I put the scrub on - all over - then put my quarter in, to start the water to rinse off. The problem was, it took the first half of my quarter for the water to heat up. The quarter would give you five minutes of water, and half of that time was cold water. No biggie, as I was able to rinse off with a touch of warm water and was successful with my quarter shower. I could have put another quarter in, but somehow seemed proud to only have used one quarter. I thought I had done well, until John informed me that he had not only showered for a quarter, but got his clothes washed in the shower at the same time. He won that one. Somehow, when I told David of this quarter shower phenomenon, he told me it was probably time to reassess myself. "Is this what your life has gotten to?", he said, like that's a bad thing. Okay, I'll re-access, I agreed, knowing he's just trying to put things in some kind of perspective. Life is simple out here, for the most part. But I'll re-access to see how far off the beaten path I've gone. I really don't want to know. So I'll put my head back down in the sand.
I'm moving through Massachusetts toward Boston proper. Malden is the stopping point today. A motel is in my future later on. I enjoy the campground life, but sometimes sleeping on a picnic table gets old. It wasn't bad last night really, but the big dog at the tent site next to mine kept barking all night long. There's lots of noises it heard, and barked at all of them. Did I mention a motel in my future today?
As the day has progressed, there's been multiple terrain changes. Small two lane road, to a bit of hill/mountain work, then now to a 4 lane divided "real" highway, with the feel of an interstate. I95 is a stones throw from here, but they are very similar in looks. Except Route 1 is legal for me to be on. And this is when it happens.....cars going too fast to realize what I'm doing, and call the police to say they are concerned about me, and maybe the baby in my cart. Sure enough, a policeman turns his lights on and pulls me over. He immediately sees what I'm doing, and just says someone called that was "concerned " about me, and he wanted to check on me. He did not ask for my license, but simply asked about my route and duration of my trip. All's well, and I'm on my way again. Wow, that's a thick accent he had.
The ups and downs will slow me a bit today, but I'm listening to an audiobook, I Am Pilgrim, by Terry Hayes. It's a Thriller, and I'm enjoying it. Keeps me engaged. I finished The Great Courses on Conflict Management, and found it very useful for personal and work situations. I like how they reiterate "it's not Conflict Resolution, it's Conflict Management " because conflict is often not ever resolved, it's only managed. My takeaway? To relearn and practice new techniques, as we generally learn our conflict management skills as a child from our surroundings. And those are not always worthwhile methods as an adult. As I continue to listen while I walk/run, I can certainly work on myself to be the best "me". Which is just like yoga, a lifelong journey.
Back to the road, and my book,
Cyndi
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