Good Weather

Winter has been great thus far: warm, sometimes sunny, and inviting for outdoor activities. I have been utilizing the pretty days to spend lots of time at Plate City which means I also get to hang out with our dog, Bear. He loves it when I am in the back yard, and he just can't get enough affection. I try but I can't keep him luved up. Not only do I have Bear, but on the east side is Smokey, another sweet pooch who is the size of a juvenile moose and wants attention. If I so much as speak to him, Bear gets jealous and goes a little pscycho. On the west side is Sam, an overgrown German Shepherd mix who is just as bad. If I catch Bear looking the other way, I will stick my hand over the fence and give him a quick touch. Once I got caught and it really hurt Bear's feelings.

Of late, however, we have been having days on end of rain. But that is OK; we need the moisture and it has to rain sometimes. Actually, I think drought conditions still exist in some parts of the state, and I noticed the other day driving over the bridge in Greenwood that the Yazoo River is really low. So low in fact that I believe one could wade across it right now if one had such a mind to. I have not such a mind to.

At this moment, I am in English Composition I class on the main campus at Moorhead, Mississippi. Yeah, I acquired a schedule change this time around and my days are now spit between two of our three remaining campuses. I miss being at the Greenwood Center everyday; the good people there tell me that they miss me also and it is not the same without me. I know that is true because no one is blowing an airhorn over there when I am gone. The Greenwood Center feels like home and there I feel free to be myself. Moorhead feels like a job, and I dare not let my personality show here. 

Only a mile or so away from my present classroom sit some catfish ponds that I have swum in the past and still have permission to swim whenever. Whenever is drawing near. My plan is to stroke these some after school in the near future. I did swim a pond on MLK Day in one of my standbys at Tackett Fish Farm. It was warm enough to swim Tuesday, but I received a call from the bank concerning my bank card that morning and that sort of sent me into a tizzy. Not only that, but it was raining sheep and goats, and although I love swimming in the rain, it is messy to do so in a catfish pond. To get that muddy and then show up for Masters Swim at DSU is problematic. Next week the forecast is for sunshine and warmth so I will figure out how to clean up for what I hope is a delicious double dip on one if not both of my days at the main campus.

All in all, I am off to a good start on my Chicot training. I am way way behind what the other ultra swimmers whom I read about are doing, but I have been down this road before and I know what it takes to get my body ready. Valley is still in the works, but I don't know if it will come to  pass or not. At least I have the hope of another shot at water once or twice per week. That would be huge if I can get in the extra work because if winter continues this way, the water temps will allow long, long swims by mid-March. April should have me going hours without a suit.

I have more plans for Plate City, but everything is on hold right now because the bank cancelled my card, and until I receive my new one, I am financially hamstrung. Sweet. Making changes at the gym always gives my motivation a shot in the arm. That motivation is running very high right now, so high that I am trying to reign myself in a little so as not to put myself at risk for injury. I must avoid injury at all costs.

In years past, I began the Friday swims in February. This year I have already swum one Friday and plan to go back tomorrow. I hope to be able to ramp up a bit fast with a bigger base under me than I have had in the past.