Sunday January 9th 2022

Today was a transition weather day. It started bright and sunny with lots of wind and ended cloudy and a little gloomy. The temperature still managed to peak in the mid eighties.

My day started with a minor coffee catastrophe. I make coffee every morning in a single serve non Keurig drip coffee maker. The first thing I do is empty the filter from the previous days coffee before placing new coffee grounds in the filter basket. The next step is to fill the water reservoir, place the cup under the filter and turn the switch. Once in a while I forget to add coffee and get a cup of hot water, but the process has been repeated so many times that I could probably do it in my sleep. This morning for some reason I filled the water reservoir first then added fresh coffee and tuned on the machine. A few minutes passed and I did a few other breakfast prep tasks before I was ready to drink my coffee. I went to grab the cup from the coffee maker and it wasn’t there. My first assumption was I’d already grabbed it and had my first drink. I looked around for the cup and found it by the stove. Thinking it was proof I’d already started to drink my coffee, I picked it up for another sip except it was empty. Where did the coffee go? Looking back at the coffee maker I found a puddle of coffee all around its base. During my first year on the road I got tired of mopping up the water when I over filled the reservoir. I put the coffee maker on a small tray. Today the tray saved me from disaster. It was filled to the brim with coffee, but it hadn’t spread to the counter, floor or nearby furniture. Was this an omen for a bad day or a good day?

I spent most of the day watching the end of the regular season of football on TV. There were a couple of good games and a pointless one to watch. I managed to pull myself away for my regular walks around the park. Today I was rewarded by a view of a Gopher Tortoise. On past visits to this park, I’ve seen quite a few, but this year I hadn’t seen one until today. This tortoise was walking down the middle of the trail right toward me. It got within about twenty feet before it decided I might be a threat. I passed it about six or seven feet away while it froze in place.