Apologies for the late post. Things have been very busy around here lately, especially with the complications from hubby's ankle surgery (wound isn't healing; not a serious issue yet, but could be, so it requires weekly trips to Fargo to keep it taken care of).
Since we aren't camping this year, I've been trying to make sure I take Penny walking in the woods every weekend. It's been tough, though, because it's been way hotter than normal. And, just like a few summers ago, we are having a lot of days where wildfires in Canada blanket our area in smoke (I'd rather have the smoke than the fires)
And the ticks! Oh, lort. The ticks are SO bad.
I took her out to Rydell Wildlife Refuge last weekend, and I picked at least 100 ticks off her (not hyperbole!) She even had one try and bite into her eyelid.
The ticks are so bad, I even had one bite into me. Normally, I'm super diligent about doing tick-checks and get them all off me before any have a chance to dig in, but they overwhelmed me with their sheer numbers and I missed one...until I had my big fat allergic reaction to it.
When a tick bites me, it doesn't just itch, it burns like someone has laid a match on the bite spot. And it won't stop until the tick is gone. Once I remove the tick, the bite spot turns into a lump, like a mosquito bite. But it gets very firm and sticks around for a long time. I'm assuming it has something to do with my immune system walling off the tick spit or something.
So I try and make sure not to let any ticks bite me. They are impossible to avoid altogether, unless I stay out of the woods.
And that's not happening. I'll take my lumps (literally) as the price for an outdoor life.
This month's writing update.
I had plans to do Story A Day and even submitting some of the February stuff, but none of that happened. It wasn't even an issue of writer's block; I just didn't give it any of my time. I've just not been feeling it as a priority. Until I get into that mindset again ("writing is important"), I'm not going to get any writing done.
So we will have to see how June goes, and if I'm able to get myself to make writing a priority again.
What I'm reading this month.
Unlike writing, my reading went well in May. I read Never Whistle at Night, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., and I enjoyed it.
I generally prefer anthologies over novels because I prefer short stories and enjoy the "buffet" that a mixed-author anthology provides. This book was a perfect example of that because the stories ranged from "so literary as to be almost incomprehensible" to "good gory horror" to "weird horror with a heavy dose of comedy"...and everything in-between.
And this time, I didn't miss the book club that was meeting to discuss the book! Yay!
I enjoyed the discussion at the book club and decided to go ahead and try the next scheduled read: Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies, by Heather Fawcett.
Honestly, I thought I'd hate it. I don't care for books about the fae and I'm generally apprehensive about books with these sort of female protagonists because I'm afraid they will either be "cozy" or "romantic," neither of which I like.
And so far, I'm happy to say I was very wrong! I like the characters, the subject is keeping me engaged (even though it's the fae), and though a romance component does eventually develop, it's held at arm's length (if that makes sense) and more of an "it is what it is" rather than a swooning dance toward a happy ending.
(I know that makes little sense for those who haven't read the book. The main character and her "foil" have a long-term colleague relationship that she, as a hermit of sorts, is annoyed by. But she also sometimes enjoys it. And once it comes out that he loves her--blunt and with a sort-of marriage proposal--she regards it rather scientifically; she ponders it and realizes, "Oh, that's why I hate him so much and yet really enjoy his company. Somewhere along the line, I caught feelings for him, too. Well, I'm not marrying him. That's just dumb.")
I'm really enjoying reading it, and I'm looking forward to the next book club meeting! This book club tends to read more in the spec fic genre, so I think I'll have a good shot at enjoying the books for it.
What I'm learning this month/class report.
Remember when I was worried about my fall university class?
But my online class is two combined classes, a 460 and a 560, with
a class capacity of 40 between both...and I'm one of the eight
people signed up!
The situation has improved, but only slightly. There are now 13 people signed up for 460, and ONE signed up for 560.
I'm sure more people will sign up once it's closer to fall, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't cancel it, even with these low enrollment numbers.
As for my other "classes," most are the same. I'm still doing Duolingo and Dreaming in Spanish. I finished the Skill Success Spanish class I was doing, so now I'm trying a Spanish class through Udemy to replace it.
I'm still learning Java through Udemy, and full-stack developer through Codecademy. I'm still in Javascript at Codecademy, and I like it so much, I've added an Udemy Javascript course.
I'm still taking "The Complete Mindfulness & Meditation Training (MBSR+MBCT)" through Udemy.
I've also jumped back into the "Introduction to Biology" class at Udemy. I had been flip-flopping between it and the Biology at EdX (particularly since I got a free year subscription to EdX that allows me to earn certificates without paying extra), but I really dislike the way EdX courses are organized. I struggled and gave up on CS50 as well as the biology course I had started taking there. I'm just so over EdX.
I tend to do one lesson per day in each of my course/apps/programs, and it works out to be around an hour a day on learning. It' works out well, but we'll see how it goes once I go back to doing a regular university class in the fall.
This month's playlist. The ten songs I'm listening to on repeat.
This month's pondering/share/rant.
My favorite "exercise" has always been walking. When I can't walk in the woods, I walk on my treadmill. But I've struggled with something to keep the treadmill walking as interesting as walking in the woods.
Years ago, I tried to walk to music. That didn't work out because I tend to either lose focus on the walking by dancing (dangerous at my age) or by getting wrapped up in trying to "find a decent song." .
So then I started to try and use walking time to get through my massive "To be watched" movie list. That didn't work out because I never walk long enough to watch a whole movie. So I'd have to pause and return later, and then I would forget what was going on in the movie and have to rewind to get myself back up to speed. It was a pain.
Also, really good movies would cause me to lose focus. I almost busted out my front teeth when I fell of the treadmill while watching Train to Busan. The movie got to a suspensful part, and I held my breath...and forgot to keep walking.
So then I tried watching shows, either on streaming or live TV. That's okay, but if the epsiode is boring, it makes walking a chore.
So recently, I circled back to something I used to do a long time ago: watch walking videos, aka "Virtual Hikes."
I used to have an app on my phone that had videos of people filming the path ahead of them while they walked. Think "first-person shooter," but the protagonist is holding a camera and just filming the path they are walking. These videos included everything from walking in famous cities to remote wilderness locations. The app had 20 or so free ones, and required a subscription afterwards.
At some point, during one of my phone upgrades, I didn't bother installing/moving the app to the new phone. And that app is no longer available. There are a few other apps now, also subscription based, but I'm not interested in yet another subscription.
Instead, I've found several youTube channels that do the same thing, for free. I'm also happy to say that the production values are much better these days. My original app seemed like the people filming were using a camera strapped to them (early GoPro, maybe?), so there was occasionally some camera jostling when moving over rough terrain. Not so anymore. I don't know how they do it, but it seems like the cameras are on some sort of float system. There's no bouncing or jostling, just smooth walking.
My favorite videos are ones that involve walking through puddles because then you also get the "feedback" of the "splish, splish, splish" when you walk, as well as the visuals.
I'm toying with the idea of learning how to make these kinds of videos. I can't tell you how much it would improve my morale to be able to do a virtual walk through the summer trails of Turtle River State Park (and ALL my favorite North Dakota and Minnesota parks) in January when it's -40 outside.
That's it for this month. Until next month, Stay Spooky, my friends!
~~Here be monsters . . . and corgis.~~