Settling In

I've come to accept that at least for the time being I am going to be here. And I have begun to settle in. I'm not so sure that it is the best thing to do, but as I see no other option it will have to do for now. 

I paid my son back the money he sent me to get here, and the small amount that he will accept for rent. He has some financial things that he is trying to accomplish, so I hope that it helps. I certainly don't want to put an obstacle in his way.

The biggest challenge for me right now is keeping busy so my mind doesn't squirrel cage on negative things. I have taken up baking again. I've made a few attempts at getting a sour dough starter to take. So far, I haven't been successful at it, but I can get store bought yeast to take hold and rise. Today I made some shortbread cookies. It's been years since I made cookies for my son and grandson. They aren't as excited about them as they were when they were four years old. But it gave me something to do. And the cookies aren't that bad. 

I have started walking again. But I'm afraid that very soon the southern summer will put a quick end to the habit. I guess I will have to take up swimming when that happens, though I'm not too keen to wear a bathing suit in public. I might have to be one of those early morning swimmers.

On my walk today, I was followed for quite a while by a butterfly. It flew around me while I stopped and pulled out my phone to snap a picture. Then it flew off on it's own after I thanked it for the snapshot. There are lots of birds here, and while I enjoy listening to music while I walk, I often go without it to hear them sing instead. Most of the birds that I saw in Washington were either crows or Steller's Jay. They caw, but I never heard them sing. I have missed the morning and evening symphonies that we get in the south. It's nice to hear them again.

We are living in a golf course community. The course is beautiful and well kept. It has paths for the carts, which I suppose all courses do. This morning I decided that it would be nice to see where the paths ended up. While the course was empty when I started out, I did encounter a few golfers along the way. They seemed surprised to see someone walking there. I do not play golf and thus have never been one to frequent the courses. I do not know the etiquette, other than you do not walk on the greens, which is common sense. So I don't know if I was breaking any social rules. I really hope that they were simply surprised because no one else does it. It would be a great place to walk, and there aren't many other great places here. As for learning the game...It's an expensive hobby and I am left-handed. I'm sure they make clubs for left-handed people, but it was an issue when I was in gym class in high school. And I have had no desire to pursue it since. If you know, please feel free to enlighten me. I really don't want to go around pissing people off just to take a walk.