I’m slowly getting into the rhythm of Walkers Bridge which is….well, slow. It’s partially due to the rainy weather, the post holiday malaise and my unfocused plans for 2019. We are watching a lot of TV (football, to be specific, as the Saints try to score in the background), snacking, and playing Words With Friends with my Mom who now sits in the same room with me instead of across country, as before.

So far, I’ve opened a new checking account, scheduled internet installation, joined the local gym, picked up the key to my new storage unit and arranged for delivery of my POD.

The POD delivery with my exercise clothes (among other things) arrives four days after my first day at the gym. This necessitated a shopping trip to the nearest mall yesterday. Checking out the indoor mall was great for a killing time and getting in a few hundred steps, but I ended up surrendering to the Walmart next door where I found two out fits to wear the the gym, Coffee pods, NyQuil and a lip stick pencil to replace the one that got lost somewhere between El Paso and Vicksburg. I tried to resist Walmart but, around here, Walmart is hard to compete with. When your mindset is to reduce automobile trips (as mine has been for 20 years), Walmart is the one stop answer with good prices, more choices and just about everything anyone needs. Everything except wine. For that, in Mississippi, you have to go to an official liquor store, assuming you are in a “wet” county as opposed to a “dry” county as Walkers Bridge is located in. From Walmart, I headed to the nearby liquor store to stock up before returning home.

With the stock market in a bit of turmoil, house planning is on indefinite hold. But with lots of time on my hand, I’ve turned my attention to the property here, which needs more attention than I remember. Old trees need to be pruned or cut down, the steep river bank needs to be cleared.

I hope I can find a meaningful job before this plan takes hold: I’ve been researching how to raise goats for eco-friendly brush-clearing. Initially, it sounded like a good strategy, even though I’ve never had ambitions to be a goat herder. Nothing is as easy as it first appears. Goats are social animals so you really do need a herd, and to keep the herd safe and in-line, you have to have a donkey. To keep the goats and the donkey happy, you have to have a shelter for them to sleep in at night. Then there are salt block and fence requirements.

Pursuing a job at Walmart and hiring a landscaper to clear the brush is probably the better plan but I’ll keep all options open for now.

Day after Christmas, we delivered traveling companion, Armando, to the French Quarter before his flight back to El Paso. Armando is a retired editor who worked at the LA Times and the El Paso News. On Christmas Day, he took a walk down the River Road and came back with a plan to write a mystery book about Walkers Bridge. My sister and I tentatively agreed to endorse the plan and help with details as long as we were both portrayed as skinny, clever and sophisticated protagonists. Publication plans to follow.

From New Orleans, Mom and I traveled on to Fairhope, Alabama to visit with Mom’s sister, her husband, the cousins and their children. Fairhope, located on the Gulf, is billed as the Carmel of the South. The comparison holds up…it’s a beautiful place. (I forgot to snap photos there.)

We drove the 3 hours home in the pouring rain with tornado warnings all around. We were spared a tornado but the heavy winds littered the yard with limbs and leaves and we are keeping a watch on the river which is rising by the hour but not at risk of flooding for now. But we have four more days of rain in the forecast. Goats would be helpful with the limbs and leaves but I’m not sure if they are good swimmers.

And so it goes…the rhythm of Walkers Bridge.