Fappy Hourth

I went to Twin Rivers at 6:00 am on Independence Day. The pool was mine, all mine. John was absent, the lifeguards don't get there until 7:00 to start cleaning, and Karen even unlocked the outside gate for me. Blessed day. I did a 2,100 meter straight swim. We won't mention the time, but it was the longest continual swim I have made since starting back the last week of May. I thank the good Lord above for every swim.

Oddly, besides swimming, I had an appointment to show the 172 acres in Carroll County my siblings and I are trying to sell. That has been a struggle in itself. Along with losing both parents, it has taken some time for me to emotionally let go of the land. The property has been in the family for 54 years and the memories there are thicker than sand. Good, all of them good.

While the potential land buyer and I were cruising about in the side-by-side (I think that's what they call these hunting vehicles), my eyes began to itch. What else is new. I have had that since I was a boy. Over the years it got worse until it would peak on Mother's Day each year and then gradually decline. Joyfully, my allergies have improved the last couple of years until the symptoms consisted merely of sneezing, eye watering, and only a little itching. Independence Day, however, was another matter.

By the time I arrived at Hillbilly Heaven, I knew I was in trouble. My eyes were sending a steady stream of tears down my face. I wanted to rip my eyelids off. Washing my eyes out with water helped for only a few minutes. Then the suffer fest was on for the rest of the day. I left early and when I got home, my face was swollen around my eyes. This morning, a quick look in the mirror revealed that some swelling remains along with some discoloration. I look like I've been in a fist fight. What the heck?

Maybe I'm allergic to Carroll County now. Maybe that's a good thing. I slept in and did not swim. Not yet anyway. Maybe later. I am sort of itching to get outside and lift some weights (pun intended). First my wife and I are going to make a trip to Pontotoc to pick up some weights. Yeah, this Market Place on Facebook is going to drive me to poverty. Plate City is coming along marvelously. I'll tell you about it sometime.