Rainbow Dragon's Lair

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 10:

Power Builder: - taking a break to heal minor injuries
1000 Calf Raises: Day 10
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 13.6 km
wellness workouts:

Calf is still not 100% but back seems fine. I need to get back to doing something more, but maybe not Power Builder just yet. Will think on this.

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 131,653
story-a-week challenge: 38 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 38 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 574,816
deficit: ?

French: Fluenz

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 32
Consecutive days of French study: 1424
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 20
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: Not much.

I want to do all the things! But there are not enough hours in a day.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 11:

Power Builder: - taking a break to heal minor injuries
1000 Calf Raises: Day 11
yoga:
meditation:
running: 6K
hiking: 13.4 km
wellness workouts:

Started my run with the OSRB group. But none of the other faster runners came out this night. The folks who were out said they would be going very slowly, so I decided to do an extra km and catch up with them on the way back. But they were not as slow as they had predicted. I saw no one on the return trip, and they did not even wait around at our gathering place for my return. Pfft. The good news is that I ran 6K at a decent pace and my calf twinged not at all.

The guy who organizes the group wants to do a trail run next week. (We normally run along an off-road paved trail. For this run he wants to do a dirt trail through a local conservation area.) I am all for trail running. Trail running is my jam. But instead of joining the proposed trail at the trail head (which is the closest access to the trail from our meet-up location) he is insisting the group will first run three blocks north and then access the trail via a road which leads right up to the front gate of the home of Uber Creep (the person who stalked me for 3 years and cost me my job, my home, and my community). Uber Creep f'ed over my entire life (and received not so much as a wrist slap for having done so--the crown attorney could not be bothered to prosecute the case and dropped the chargers against Uber Creep, in spite of the fact that he was a known repeat offender). And now the OSRB guy is organizing a run which involves running 500 metres down the road that is the only access to Uber Creep's house, literally running right up to the front gate of UC's house, and then returning the same way. In spite of the fact that his proposed route omits 850 metres of the trail he says he wants to run. And in spite of the fact that I have told him repeatedly I do not want to run up to the front gate of Uber Creep's house, and I have told him why.

OSRB guy actually said to me, "I have accessed the trail at that location many times and I've never seen anything untoward happening on that property."

Duh. A guy driving along his own driveway who the OSRB guy has never met isn't going to be noteworthy to him!

Feels like this guy is being deliberately obtuse to me. Also overly controlling. We're supposed to be a group of "running buddies". Not a dictatorship. If someone in your buddy group is saying, "I am 100% NOT comfortable with taking the route you have proposed. Could we run this alternate route that still takes us to the same place but avoids running right up to the front gate of my stalker's house instead?" would you not at least consider the route they have proposed?

This guy will not. So it looks like I'll be doing next week's trail run solo.
Sad.

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 131,653
story-a-week challenge: 38 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 38 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 576,840
deficit: ?

French: Fluenz

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 33
Consecutive days of French study: 1425
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 21
Consecutive days of SOOT: 1
Consecutive days of GBOT: 1

Move-in progress: Moved some things around to better organize my office space. (So that I can better access my work things easily without storing them in piles on the floor. Win!)

 

[JCU]

I am so sorry OSRB guy is pushing like that. I hope your solo run goes well and that his dictatorship doesn't make things any more difficult.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @JCU . My solo run will be great. I enjoy trail running alone or in a group. I had just hoped that a local running group that bills itself as "running buddies" and claims its mission is to be welcoming to everyone and make it easier for members to find running buddies who are at a similar pace and fitness level would actually be welcoming to everyone and make it easier for members to find running buddies who are at a similar pace and fitness level. But it turns out the group is in fact being controlled by one person who feels the need to decide for everyone else both the route and the pace of every outing, and who refuses to consider input and concerns from other group members.

This guy (and his followers) are in the habit of starting every run with a brisk walk, and then progressing to a slow jog, as a "warm up". Which is fine. But they then stop and do static stretching for 5-10 minutes before starting the run proper. Static stretching is the opposite of warming up! It decreases your heart rate, decreases blood flow to your muscles (relative to the active moving you were doing before), decreases your temperature (precipitously so if you're doing it outside in colder ambient temperatures) and completely reverses the benefits of the actual warm up you just did beforehand. Static stretching before a workout is also contraindicated by modern exercise science. When I raised these concerns with the guy who is attempting to control everything, he completely discounted them. "This is what I was taught, so this is what I'm going to do," he told me.

Okay. Whatever. I've been a competitive runner for decades (including competing nationally and internationally), I've trained with multiple different highly knowledgeable coaches, I'm a certified and experienced fitness instructor, and I do my own secondary research into current sports and exercise science (including reading the actual research papers whenever possible, not just the sound bites). But what do I know? In any case, I'm not interested in controlling other people. If they still want to stop and stretch in the middle of their run, after I explained to them why I (and other people knowledgeable in current exercise science) don't advise it, that's fine. We're all adults. This is why I've been separating from the group part way through the run. They stop to stretch. I do not. I run an extra km instead, and then meet up with them again on the return journey. Which is all fine.

What's less fine is that I am not the only person in the group who doesn't want to stretch in the middle of the run. All of the other runners I have met thus far who are capable of running at my speed also do not want the stretch stop. Yet the controlling guy is trying to pressure them into doing it.

Last week a new person came out. I was running with her for the warm-up. In spite of trying to run slowly, we were still a bit out ahead of everyone else. As we approached the stretching spot I explained to the new person that everyone else was going to stop and stretch at the building up ahead, but that I was going to keep going and pick up my pace. She said that she also preferred to keep going and to pick up the pace. So that is what we did. But as soon as we passed the stretching stop, the controlling guy started calling out to the new person, calling her name over and over, saying, "We're going to stop here. We stop here to stretch." He made it sound like she was doing something wrong by not stopping. The new person ran back to him, they had a brief exchange, and then she decided to continue on with me. I could tell she was a bit off put by the situation though.

Anyhow... I'm just going to keep doing my thing, doing what works for me, and following the exercise science as best I understand it. Everyone else can also do what they want. (The controlling guy isn't trying to control me. He figured out pretty quickly that wasn't going to fly. I'm just sore about him dismissing my concerns re: running up to the front gate of my stalker's house. Just because one doesn't share or understand another person's concerns doesn't mean those concerns aren't valid.)

 

[NancyTree]

Ough, doesn't sound really welcoming or open.. I agree you should keep doing your thing.

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Yeah, that guy sounds very uncool. It really isn't that difficult to take care of others in your group and avoid their LITERAL STALKER.
Honestly, without meaning to cause offense to any men, he just sounds like such a specific type of man :')
Needs to be the boss, he hasn't experienced it so it can't possibly be true, he thinks he's right so why ever change his mind when new evidence arises...

I hope this dude doesn't cause trouble for you, and that you can find proper running buddies in the group.
You deserve to feel safe when going out for a run. You deserve to feel safe everywhere.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Sorry for your trouble with that guy, hugs. Hope you still have ways to do fun, safe , un-controlled group runs!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

@NancyTree @Maegaranthelas @PetiteSheWolf thank you.

I'm not worried about there being any trouble. I just thought I had found a group that would help me to find suitable running buddies in my new neighbourhood, and it's looking now as if it's not going to be so useful for that. But we'll see. For now I'm going to keep showing up to the meet-ups. New people do show up from time to time, and my being there and not kowtowing to the dictatorship of one individual shows them that that's a possibility. My being there has already enabled others in the group to say, "You know what? I'm not going to stop and do static stretching in the middle of the run either. That's not right for me," and, "Seven minutes a kilometre is too slow for me. I'm better conditioned than that," and make those choices for themselves and still have someone to run with. And if it means that some nights I show up and say hello to everyone and then as soon as we start running I'm on my own, that's okay. The meet-up location is only 650 metres from my home. So it's not much of an inconvenience to go there. And most of the people who do show up are friendly. If all I'm getting out of attending the group runs is a few minutes of checking in with friendly people, asking them how they're doing and telling them how I'm doing before ultimately doing a solo run, that's okay. It's still overall a positive experience.

The one guy really pushed my buttons by completely discounting my concerns re: running up to the front gate of Uber Creep's house. It reminded me far too much of the crown attorney refusing to take UC's crimes against me--and against at least one other woman that we know of--seriously enough to actually prosecute them. It reminded me far too much of the two male police officers who responded the third time I had to call the police out to my home in the middle of the night because I'd caught UC hunkered down on my front porch, spying in through my bedroom window, who actually criticized me because my "whole front porch was in darkness." At 2AM. Yeah. The police actually victim-blamed me. But I don't need to allow the arseholes of this world to spoil my interactions with good people.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 12:

Power Builder: - taking a break to heal minor injuries
1000 Calf Raises: Day 12
yoga: 10 min.
meditation: 5 min.
running:
hiking: 10.6 km
wellness workouts:

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 131,653
story-a-week challenge: 38 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 38 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 578,864
deficit: ?

French: Fluenz

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 34
Consecutive days of French study: 1426
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 22
Consecutive days of SOOT: 2
Consecutive days of GBOT: 2

Move-in progress: Nothing. Went to bed good and early.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 13:

Power Builder: - taking a break to heal minor injuries
1000 Calf Raises: Day 13
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 12.5 km
wellness workouts:

writing: short story
new fiction words: 2104
fiction YTD: 133,757
story-a-week challenge: 39 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 39 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 580,888
deficit: ?

French: Fluenz, CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 35
Consecutive days of French study: 1427
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 23
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: Did some moving things into the right general areas, filling up storage spaces without organizing them properly. Which I don't like to do. It will result in the apartment looking put together sooner, but mean it takes me a lot longer to actually organize things the way I want. It was necessary this day though, as my landlord's property manager had messaged me to say the maintenance guy was coming around to do some repairs. She at least told me the day before in this case, but wrote, "I'm not sure exactly at what time."

Landlords here aren't required to tell a tenant "exactly at what time" they or their agents will be visiting the unit. But they are required to make a reasonable effort to inform the tenant in advance of the time of entry. (Because of the "reasonable effort" clause, there is no hard and fast rule on the length of time window the landlord must specify. Most professional contractors will give a window of 4 hours, so it is generally considered "reasonable" for the landlord to inform their tenants of this same 4 hour window. On the other hand, it is not acceptable for the landlord to just say "sometime during the day".) I wrote back to the property manager asking her, "Do you have a ballpark time for when [the maintenance guy] is going to be here?" Her reply: "Unfortunately I don't."

In other words, the whole "I'm not sure exactly at what time" line was total bullshit. These people are not making any effort whatsoever to respect my legal right to notice of entry. I want the work to get done though. So I told her I would allow the guy entry after noon. This effectively gave him an 8 hour window in which he could show up. (Landlords and their agents are not allowed inside a tenant's private unit after 8PM or before 8AM.) It also meant I had to spend a good chunk of my morning:

• clearing everything out of my hallway--since the maintenance guy was supposedly coming to fix the washing machine, which lives in what should be a closet in the hallway
• clearing everything out of the refrigerator door shelves on one side and cramming these items onto the already crowded main shelves in my refrigerator (which has precious little useful space since the landlord installed a refrigerator with a chilled water dispenser and automatic ice-maker in a location where these features cannot possibly function because there is no water supply to the unit)--since the maintenance guy was supposedly coming to fix the refrigerator door which isn't hung properly and therefore isn't closing properly
• hauling my big cooler out of storage (which required me to largely unpack and then repack a rather large closet) in case I needed to empty my freezer--because it should be a frost-free model but is building up ice at an alarming rate, and the maintenance guy is supposed to be fixing that too
• ensuring that all of my radiators are accessible--since the shut off valve on every single one of them is stuck, and the maintenance guy is supposed to be fixing that

It also meant:

• I could not do laundry all day
• food prep was limited and a pain in the arse due to the situation with the refrigerator and also not being able to get into any particularly involved projects because the kitchen is tiny and there wouldn't have been room for me to work in their while the maintenance guy was working on the fridge
• I could not have a nap (and I really needed one. I was brain dead tired after waking up too early that morning and not being able to get back to sleep again afterward)

Such are the inconveniences of living in rental housing. But they are meant to at least result in repairs actually being done in a timely fashion.
In this case, however, the maintenance guy failed to show up.
After asking me to "please be flexible" and allow this guy entry whenever he happened to pop around, he frakking failed to show at all.
Colour me enormously unimpressed.
Also: ask me how "flexible" I'll be the next time this crew attempts to get me to waive my rights under the law.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 14:

Power Builder: - taking a break to heal minor injuries
1000 Calf Raises: Day 14
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 13.6 km
wellness workouts:

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 133,757
story-a-week challenge: 39 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 39 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 582,912
deficit: ?

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 36
Consecutive days of French study: 1428
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 24
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: A fun thing this day: made the invitation and RSVP form for my housewarming party!

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Yay for starting to prepare the housewarming party!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 15:

Power Builder: - still on a break
1000 Calf Raises: Day 15
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 13.3 km
wellness workouts:

A friend came to visit us this day, and we hiked a trail around a reservoir just south of London. The trail was beautiful. Mostly forested but with good views of wetlands and of the fall colours starting to come in on the trees across the water. But it was strangely quiet. Very few squirrels. Almost no birds. At one spot where the trail meets up with picnic areas there were a bunch of American Robins and a couple of Northern Flickers. Elsewhere on the trail we saw one Bluejay, heard another, saw one House Sparrow, heard one American Crow, saw a couple more small birds too far away to ID. There were a few Mallards out on the water and one Double-crested Cormorant. Not much wildlife at all, considering it was an 8.8 km hike within pretty great habitat. Could have just been a quiet day, I guess. We'll likely try again in the spring. See what shows up during the May migration. There's also likely to be more wetland birds around at that time.

My calf is still not 100%. It doesn't bother me at all for hiking. But I do feel it during calf raises and sometimes when running. Not enough to stop either activity. But enough to refrain from adding in more lower body work at this time. Back is fine now though. So I want to get back to doing upper body stuff. Still thinking on this.

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 133,757
story-a-week challenge: 39 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 39 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 584,936
deficit: ?

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 37
Consecutive days of French study: 1429
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 25
Consecutive days of SOOT: 1
Consecutive days of GBOT: 1

Move-in progress: Nothing. Was a food prep and visiting with my friend day. The final board game I had backed on Kickstarter (23 months ago!) finally arrived this day (10 months late). My friend wanted to see it. So we spent some time unboxing it after our hike.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 16:

Power Builder: - still on a break
1000 Calf Raises: Day 16
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 13.4 km
wellness workouts:

writing: proof reading
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 133,757
story-a-week challenge: 39 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 39 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 586,960
deficit: ?

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 38
Consecutive days of French study: 1430
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 26
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 2

Move-in progress: Nothing.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 17:

Power Builder: - still on a break
1000 Calf Raises: Day 17
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 11.4 km
wellness workouts:

Long walk with Shelby timewise in the a.m. although not in terms of distance. We'd planned to do just our short neighbourhood walk. But we met up with Shelby's friend Nancy. So we had to stop for an impromptu ear massage, shoulder massage, butt massage, etc. on the sidewalk outside Nancy's house. Then Nancy's neighbour came by with his puppy friend Leo. So there was more visiting to be done. I am glad Shelby is making good friends in our new neighbourhood.

Eventually we made it back home. Then I went out to get groceries. (On foot since I still have not fixed my bicycle.)

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 133,757
story-a-week challenge: 39 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 39 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 588,984
deficit: ?

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Screens off on time. In bed on time. Did some reading in bed. Which technically does not violate GBOT. But I was reading the rulebook for the boardgame that arrived this week. I did not actually play the game. (Which would violate GBOT, even if I don't technically get out of bed to do it.) But I did set it up. (On a makeshift table I made beside my bed using storage totes and wooden boards.) This resulted in lights out being later than it would have been had I been only reading and had turned out my light when my eyes grew tired. So I'm counting it as a fail on GBOT.

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 39
Consecutive days of French study: 1431
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 27
Consecutive days of SOOT: 1
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: Sent out a bunch of invites to our housewarming party.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Today (Friday) I will find out whether things in the local running group I have been hooking up with are going to improve, or whether I will be looking for "running buddies" elsewhere. (Either way things will be better on that front by the end of the day.)

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

And just like that another heaping pile of crap is removed from my life.
I tried to give the benefit of the doubt. It was not deserved.
Now I can move on.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 18:

Power Builder: - still on a break
1000 Calf Raises: Day 18
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 12.1 km
wellness workouts:

Bit of a slacker day. But an enjoyable one.

Held the calf raises for 30 seconds each with no pain.

Had a lovely trek through our local ESA. It was a warm and sunny day, so we saw lots of turtles out basking.







Unfortunately there are a lot of Red-eared Sliders in these ponds. Red-eared Sliders are not native to Canada. It is illegal to keep native wildlife as pets in Ontario. So pet turtles (legal ones, at least) are normally Sliders. The trouble is, people buy a turtle, then they realize it's kind of a lot of work to look after, and not very interesting as a pet. They grow tired of it. (Turtles can live a long time.) So they dump it into a nearby pond. (Which is illegal. But it happens.) Where it either dies a horrible death (because it's been captive its whole life and lacks the ability to fend for itself in the wild) or it figures out how to survive and then competes with our native turtles for precious little habitat.

I saw at least 15 turtles on this day. Most, sadly, were Sliders. Although I did see a couple that might have been Midland Painted Turtles, and one possible Northern Map Turtle. It always makes me happy to see a native turtle holding its own out there. Also: there's something so zen about turtles flopped out on a log, soaking up the warmth from the sun.


Birds were a lot of the usual suspects: Northern Cardinals, American Robins, Turkey Vultures, Bluejays, Canada Geese, and Mallards. Some smalls too, but mostly across the ponds where I couldn't get a positive ID. This one sandpiper was very active:

It's one of the Tringas. (I think a Greater Yellowlegs. But I could be wrong on that.) It was so low in the water, and moving around on it so quickly, from a distance I thought the bird was swimming. (Which would be odd for a sandpiper. Phalaropes swim. But sandpipers forage by wading.) In the video above though, you can see the bird's belly rising up out of the water in areas where the pond is shallower. It is indeed running around out there (at quite impressive speed, given how deep the water it's running in is in spots.)








writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 133,757
story-a-week challenge: 39 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 39 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 591,008
deficit: ?

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 40
Consecutive days of French study: 1432
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 28
Consecutive days of SOOT: 2
Consecutive days of GBOT: 1

Move-in progress: Nadda. Had an early night instead. Played a couple of rounds of Unconscious Mind (the new boardgame). Then lights out. Slept well.

 

[JCU]

Awesome pictures; thanks for sharing! And teaching about the various wildlife creatures!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @JCU . I'm glad you like. (And that the camera still works after my little escapade with it last month. It's no good for wide angle photography anymore. But it still shoots decently on high zoom.)

 

[NancyTree]

Nice pictures!

 

[Anek]

Nice!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @NancyTree @Anek

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 19:

Power Builder: - likely will start over with day 1
1000 Calf Raises: Day 19
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 11.6 km
wellness workouts:

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 133,757
story-a-week challenge: 39 of 52 completed
54 stories in my 54th year challenge: 39 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 593,032
deficit: ?

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 41
Consecutive days of French study: 1433
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 29
Consecutive days of SOOT: 3
Consecutive days of GBOT: 2

Move-in progress: Minor shifting of things and unpacking.

Did some more research on Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca). I still think the bird I saw on Friday was running. But I found sources that suggest that, while it's uncommon, this species does sometimes forage while swimming.

Some birds from Saturday's hike:

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias):








A Buteo -- Likely a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis):




After dinner I finished my game of Unconscious Mind. This is another game that is very satisfying to play, but I think will be difficult to on-board new people to due to the steep initial learning curve. (The guy in this tutorial video talks pretty quickly. And the video is still over 40 minutes long!)

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

The blue heron is simply stunning, wow!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

That heron played hide-and-seek with us for quite a while, @PetiteSheWolf . It was skulking in the tall marsh grasses. Flushed when we approached. But with the tree cover I still had no shot. This happened a few times. Then we rounded a corner in the trail, and there it was, sitting high above the water on this branch, surveying its domain.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

I need to re-think how much I'm trying to get done in a day. All of these long hikes with Shelby take up a lot of time. But she loves them so. I don't want to do less mileage with her. She is in amazing shape for an old girl, and I want her to stay strong and healthy for as long as possible. Our nature hikes are so healthy for both of us. And stopping to visit with Shelby's many friends and admirers is a given.

But how to fit everything else in? I want to be doing something a bit more than just hefting a camera for my upper body! Maybe something short and focused like HIIT? Maybe lifting a dumbbell with one hand while brushing my teeth with the other? Dropping for a few push-ups while waiting in line at the grocery store? (LOL. I know.) Probably I just need to get more disciplined about squeezing in micro workouts where I can. I am, as always, a work in progress.

In the meantime, here's some photos from Sunday's main hike:

This Red-tailed Hawk had reportedly hunted a squirrel shortly before Shelby and I arrived on the scene. But an off-leash dog had caused it to abandon its lunch. We watched it for a long time, perched high above the water, warily watching for an opportunity to go back for its prey. (It didn't while we were there. But it did give us some gorgeous views all the same.)














The Greater Yellowlegs (or a Greater Yellowlegs) was in the same spot as the day before, although in shallower water this time, looking more like a typical shorebird.

Here it is showing off the gorgeous gams that earned this bird (and its Lesser cousin) their names.




Sunday was another warm and sunny day, so the turtles were out basking again.




Seen in the parking lot at the trail head: a Red-bellied Woodpecker.




More Sunday birds: this pair of Northern Cardinals serenaded us from the tree on our front lawn before helping themselves to some breakfast.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 20:

Power Builder:
1000 Calf Raises: Day 20
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 12.2 km
wellness workouts:

Held the calf raises for 1 minute each. No issues.

Shelby made friends with another of the birders who was watching the hawk with us. (If you're all just going to sit about staring at a bird for half an hour, someone at least should be petting the Shelby!)

writing: short story
new fiction words: 2294
fiction YTD: 136,051
story-a-week challenge: 40 of 52 completed
40 stories in my 54th year challenge: 39 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 595,056
deficit: ?

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 42
Consecutive days of French study: 1434
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 30
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: Sent out another party invite. No actual work on organizing the unit though. I really need to get on this! House warming is in less than two weeks!

 

[NancyTree]

I love your photos!

 

[aku-chan]

Great photos as always!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 21:

Power Builder:
1000 Calf Raises: Day 21
yoga: 5 min.
meditation:
running:
hiking: 12.7 km
wellness workouts:

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 136,051
story-a-week challenge: 40 of 52 completed
40 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 597,080
deficit: ?

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 43
Consecutive days of French study: 1435
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 31
Consecutive days of SOOT: 1
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: Re-sent a party invite (to a friend who'd changed his email address). Hunted down secondary camera. Photographed issues with refrigerator/freezer. Sent documentation of the issues to the property manager.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @NancyTree @aku-chan .

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 22:

Power Builder:
1000 Calf Raises: - will double up tomorrow
yoga:
meditation: relaxing in nature
running:
hiking: 21 km
wellness workouts:

This day we went to a different conservation area that is bigger than our local one but also further away. A long hike. My back was tired by the end of it (carrying two cameras, plus two large thermos bottles of water, plus a bowl and a treat for Shelby). But it was worth it. Photos to come.

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 136,051
story-a-week challenge: 40 of 52 completed
40 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed
new consumable words: ?
consumable YTD: ?
target YTD for 2024 words a day in 2024: 599,104
deficit: ?

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 44
Consecutive days of French study: 1436
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 32
Consecutive days of SOOT: 2
Consecutive days of GBOT: 1

Move-in progress: Was out most of the day on our hike. The property manager here messaged me while we were out. I got back to her and we arranged a time for an appliance tech to come and look at my refrigerator. So hopefully some progress on that front. (Would really like to have a fully-functional refrigerator and freezer before laying in food for my party!)

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

My big camera still takes surprisingly good photographs on high zoom but is no longer useful for wide angle photography after last month's unscheduled flight. The fall colours are so beautiful here right now. I wanted to show you all some scenic shots. So I brought a small camera along on yesterday's hike. It only has 30x optical zoom, and no view finder, so it's not nearly as good for bird photography as the big camera. But for scenery it's pretty sweet.

























This was a big hike! But I am strong!

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Thank you for the gorgeous photos

 

[MadamMeow]

Breathtaking photos and love your happy Shelby!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Some bird shots with the big camera:

Saw lots of eagles on this hike, including at least three circling around together. Mostly pretty high up and far away. So not the most glamorous shots. But I "got the record shot" as they say.







This shot is pretty fuzzy. But just to show you the colouration, the following two photos are also of Bald Eagles.





The above are juveniles. Bald Eagles don't attain the classic brown and white plumage we're all familiar with until they're ~ five years old.


Great Blue Heron:






Canada Goose:




Yellow-rumped Warbler:




Hairy Woodpecker:



This bird can be tricky to ID in the field because it's so similar to its smaller cousin, the Downy Woodpecker. If you see one at a feeder (or something else you know the size of), the bird's size is a good clue as Hairy Woodpeckers are significantly larger. But size can be hard to determine looking at one bird in the sky or on a tree trunk. So I try to get as many photos as I can, from different angles, to give myself the best chance of catching an identifiable field mark.







In this case I was pretty sure, even without the help of my camera, that this is a Hairy Woodpecker. That long thick bill (about as long tip to base as the distance across the bird's head from the base of the bill to the back of the head) is diagnostic of a Hairy Woodpecker. (Downy Woodpeckers have much daintier bills that are only about one third as long as the distance across the bird's head.)

More clues my camera helped me to see: a black stripe running vertically through the red patch at the back of this male bird's head, a thick black comma-shaped mark extending from the bird's shoulder down onto its breast, and the black feathers on the sides of the neck extending farther around the back than is typical of Downy Woodpeckers. Any of these features alone is not 100% diagnostic of a Hairy Woodpecker, but taken together, and with good views of that big bill, I have a high degree of confidence this is a Hairy Woodpecker.


Dark-eyed Junco:




Pied-billed Grebe:




American Robin:




I think my best bird shots of the day: Rusty Blackbird






Tomorrow: the ducks.

 

[Sólveig]

Damn! The blackbird can be easily confused with the carib grackle! Lovely shots!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

@Sólveig both species are members of the same family (Icteridae - the New World Blackbirds and Orioles). Their ranges don't overlap though. It would be super weird for you to see a Rusty Blackbird in your neighbourhood or for me to see a Carib Grackle in mine.

 

[JCU]

All of your pictures are amazing!! Thank you so much for sharing them!

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Love the fall colors! Love seeing Happy Shelby, and always love seeing your birding pictures. Dad loves taking such pictures...

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @Maegaranthelas @MadamMeow @Sólveig @JCU @PetiteSheWolf . I'm glad you like!

@MadamMeow @PetiteSheWolf Shelby made many new friends on that hike. So she was happy indeed! At the spot where I took that photo we had stopped to rest for a bit, and a guy who loves dogs came over and chatted with us for a bit and gave Shelby a good long massage.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 23:

Power Builder:
1000 Calf Raises: Days 22 & 23
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 9.4 km
wellness workouts:
other: dead hangs, micro pulls

This day I found out there is brand new outdoor fitness equipment in London that is sized for adults!
I am going to adjust my training plan to make the best use of this equipment I can before snow, ice, and sub-zero temperatures shut it down for the winter.

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 136,051
story-a-week challenge: 40 of 52 completed
40 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 45
Consecutive days of French study: 1437
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 33
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: Appliance tech came. He diagnosed one of the problems and hopefully diagnosed the other. I expect him back Thursday with replacement parts for what's broken. Went to ask my neighbour if she had a cooler I could borrow for when my refrigerator needs to be unplugged. She loaned me a mini-fridge. And carried it over to my apartment for me. (Yeah. I have awesome neighbours here.)

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

So today (October 24) I returned to the outdoor fitness equipment that I learned about yesterday to check it out more fully. (And, more to the point, to check out what I am currently capable of doing with it.) Based on my current upper body strength level, the amount of recovery time I know I typically need between upper body strength training sessions, and the ease of accessibility of the equipment for me (it's 4.5 km away, and the weather will put it off limits some days) I have decided to pick up the following Challenges:

Push & Pull (modified)
Better Arms
Flex Hang
Power Grip

I will be dropping the Power Builder Program for now, as that is something I can do over the winter.
I will be continuing with the 1000 Calf Raises Challenge and plan to repeat it doing one-legged calf raises once I have completed the base challenge.

For the Push & Pull Challenge, I will be doing body rows in place of the pull-ups. This Challenge will require me to use the outdoor fitness equipment every other day, which is a pretty good schedule for Shelby and I to get out to the park where it's located (although we might still miss some days due to weather). The plan is for this Challenge to help me build the strength and endurance necessary to move on to doing negative pull-ups and/or band-assisted pull-ups next month (assuming the weather holds for enabling me to continue using an outdoor pull-up bar at that time).

For the Better Arms Challenge I will try to make tricep dip days be my days in the fit park so I can use the bars there. But I can use equipment at home for tricep dips if necessary. So I should be able to do this challenge every day.

For the Flex Hang Challenge I need the pull-up bar in the fit park. There's nowhere else for me to do this one. So it will just happen on the days I can make it out there.

Neither Power Grip nor 1000 Calf Raises require any equipment. So they can happen daily, rain or shine.

Let's see how this goes!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

As promised, the ducks from Tuesday's hike. (And a turtle.)

Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), mallards, everywhere. There are always mallards!

Here's a boy:




and a girl:




I didn't even notice until I got home and took a look through my photos that I'd also caught a shot of an American Black Duck (Anas rubripes). (I think this is a male, based on the bright yellow bill. But the lighting wasn't awesome for this shot, and I did clean it up in PhotoShop a bit. So the yellow bill may be my fault.):




This duck I did know was something different, because she's ever so much smaller than the Mallards and the Black Duck she was swimming with. I had to take a good look through my photos when I got home to figure out what though. This little lady is a Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca):










And a Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta ssp. marginata):

 

[wjs]

It's been a hot second since I've been around, congratulations on becoming a moderator on the forum.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Thank you @wjs .

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 24:

1000 Calf Raises: Day 24 (3 x 60 seconds)
Push & Pull (modified): Day 1
Better Arms: Day 1
Flex Hang:
Power Grip: Day 1
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 10.2 km
wellness workouts:
other: dead hangs, micro pulls, body rows, sit-ups, lying leg lifts--a bit of everything to check out the new fitness equipment.

I decided to start the new Challenges right away since three of them don't require equipment for the odd-numbered days. Which means I'm a day behind on the Flex Hang Challenge (which does require the park equipment every day) already. But that's okay.

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 136,051
story-a-week challenge: 40 of 52 completed
40 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 46
Consecutive days of French study: 1438
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 34
Consecutive days of SOOT: 0
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: Appliance tech did not return. Because he had not yet received authorization from my landlord to do the work. He did at least call me, however, to let me know he couldn't do the work this day. We are hopeful for Friday now.

 

[NancyTree]

Yay, more beautiful pictures and birds! thanks for sharing!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

October 25:

1000 Calf Raises: Day 25
Push & Pull (modified): Day 2 (body rows)
Better Arms: Day 2
Flex Hang: Day 1 (sort of)
Power Grip: Day 2
yoga:
meditation:
running:
hiking: 14 km
wellness workouts:

I tried to do the flexed arm hangs after body rows and tricep dips. I could not hold them with an overhand (palms facing away) grip at all. Not even for one second. So I did them with an underhand (palms towards my face) grip. The chin-up grip is a lot easier for me. Which tells me the pull-up grip is the one I need to be working on. (Which I already knew. But this test demonstrated the difference clearly.) Next pulling day I will try Day 1 of the Flex Hang Challenge again, doing it first while my muscles are rested. If I still cannot do 3 x 5 second hangs with my chin above the bar with a pull-up grip, I will work through the Challenge in a modified way, using the Flex Hang time protocols but with an active hang. I think this will enable me to work on building back strength better than doing the Challenge with a chin-up grip, which clearly allows me to transfer too much of the work to my biceps.

writing:
new fiction words: 0
fiction YTD: 136,051
story-a-week challenge: 40 of 52 completed
40 stories in my 54th year challenge: 40 of 54 completed

French: CBC Gem

GOBOT
SOOT
GBOT

Streaks:

Consecutive days of working out: 47
Consecutive days of French study: 1439
Consecutive days of no solo video games: 35
Consecutive days of SOOT: 1
Consecutive days of GBOT: 0

Move-in progress: Appliance tech came back and did the refrigerator repair. Now I am not supposed to open the right-side door of my fridge for "a few days." I told the tech this is not possible. None of the drawers can be opened without opening the right-side door, and the space set-up inside this fridge is so daft, most of the useful space is in the drawers. He then said I could use the door, "just don't slam it."
/me rolls eyes.
Anyhow... when he put the freezer section back together, he left the stupid ice maker out for me. (The unit is not connected to a supply of water and cannot be in its location. So the ice maker was a useless piece of junk taking up prime real estate in my freezer. Now I have more useful space in there.)