Three Beautiful Things 10/05/16: Tire Repair a Walk in the Park, Photo Assignment Done, Bell's Night at Old Line

1.  While Hiram is on tour, the Deke has been staying with Molly and the kids and using the Diazes' Honda to get to work and back. The car picked up a nail and so AAA put the 50/50* spare on and the Deke took the Sube and I took the Honda because one of the hidden benefits of retirement is having the time to get family tires replaced without a hassle.

Okay.

So I shoehorned myself into the Honda and crept down to the Sunoco station, knowing that they wouldn't get to it for a few hours.

The question for me:  do I dare walk the two miles back to our apartment home, given the way my toe got so angry and swollen on Monday?

 Yes.

My toe felt fine this morning and I had learned what I thought was true: sometimes if the big toe gets crowded in a shoe that fits too tightly or is tied too tightly, it will rebel with swelling.

So, I made sure my shoes were not tied too tightly and I took off and walked home and then, a few hours later, having learned the Honda was ready, I walked back to the station.

As a precaution, I iced my right big toe about three times during the day.  (This is another hidden benefit of retirement that never makes it in the tv ads or the retirement brochures:  I have time to ice my toe.)

I walked about four miles today free of pain. The toe had settled down and stayed that way.  I am most grateful for the therapeutic powers of ice.

*This is what I call the temporary spare tire that comes with cars: when one of these tires is on, it's advised not to drive over 50 mph or for more than 50 miles.

2.  It was about 8:30 a.m. when I stared my walk back to our apartment home and I had brought my Nikon with me, thinking that the light was pretty good for taking some pictures that would meet the latest Sibling Photo Assignment.  I was right and, if you scroll down, you can see pictures I took on the Greenbelt Lake trail today and on Sunday.  (You can read about the assignment and click on links to my sisters' pictures, here.)

3.  Because things are tense and confusing throughout the Prince George's County Public School District and tense and confusing in the building where she works, the Deke decided to attend this evening's PTA meeting. Before the meeting, I picked the Deke up at school and we had a very relaxing dinner at the Old Line Bistro. There was a takeover of part of the tap list by Bell's Brewery of Kalamazoo and I didn't have to deliberate for even a second to order a Bell's Two Hearted Ale, one of the best beers made anywhere, and it tickled me that the Deke and I each got a complimentary beer glass from Bell's.

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