Orienteering and Organizing

This last weekend I was visiting with two old high school friends.  They were both interested in trying out an orienteering event and we spent over two hours navigating our way through the woods, chatting away and catching up. It was a bit buggy at first but then it was pretty drizzly the whole time which kept most of the bugs away. The upside of being wet. My friend Reegan had gone with me on the last event of last year - where it was snowing as we followed the course and she loves orienteering. And my friend Katie loved trying it out and of course catching up since I hadn't seen her for a few years. I love that I could share my love of orienteering with old friends. 

Which then made me think of the connection for this week.  I just finished helping my friend organize her food pantry today and I am off tomorrow to help anther friend organize her guest room/craft room. I love that I can share my love of organizing with friends. It was so satisfying today. I mentioned to my friend as we ate lunch that I'm itching to organize her pantry. She has a big kitchen with lots of counters which actually can be an issue. Empty surfaces are a magnet for clutter accumulation. In this case a counter by the pantry has spillover and got covered with boxes of food. She admitted that she rarely took things from the pantry shelves and mostly used the stuff on the counter. Important to note she has has three young kids with the youngest being 9 months so in these cases you figure out a system that works and run with it. 

We had fun chatting away as we emptied out the shelves, pulled out the expired items (prize goes to 2008 item for being the oldest) and figured out a new system. My friend was great at living in the present. She had bought some items with the thought of trying it out but had no recipe or in some cases had bought stuff with a plan but admitted she wasn't going to make it at this point in her life. 

As I write this I realize a pattern I've found with decluttering. They boil down to steps and you often want to skip over the first step and ignore it because it's the hardest:

1. Figure out what works for you now

2. Declutter everything else

3. Organize for function and effiency

4. Tweak to make everything look beautiful and peaceful

So for instance, clothes. I'm getting closer to what works for me, with my body shape I have now.  I'm paying attention and intentionally experimenting to see what colors look best. What cuts (neckline, leg, body) compliment me. And finally what materials work for my lifestyle. The drape, care needs, casual versus work. This could be a whole other post. The point is, I'm still decluttering as I discard what doesn't work.  I'm not yet finished with step 1 and figuring out what my core uniforms are. 

For my friend, she had a few meals she makes on rotation, lunches and a few desserts she made. No experimentation, no complicated dishes. Just a core collection of a handful of things she made right now. She admitted she'd like to eventually get back to cooking other stuff. But recognized that with everything else going on and the demands of the young kids on her time, this is what it was for now. 

So she was really good at just pulling out all the ingredients that she didn't use in her core dishes. She breezed through step one and I could help her declutter and organize. It freed up a bunch or room and with some strategic, and logical reorganizing, we fit all her food into the pantry. Minus a few items. One category was bags of chips (or something like that). And I remembered her mentioning getting rid of a straw basket on my last visit and luckily it was still in the donate pile. If you have to keep something on a surface, like a counter: coral it somehow. In the case a basket worked perfectly and made it look intentional and pretty. The top shelf was a bit crowded, partly because it was the only safe place that was free of kids getting into which pushed the cereals out on the counter. Not quite done in my mind, but for my friend she was just stunned everything else got put away. And she has engineering brain like me so it wasn't a spacial imagination. She just got used to things being out and didn't see how it'd work. You get used to it. Anyways, it feels so good getting to such a better state and removing the visual clutter for her. And she was super appreciative which is always rewarding. Oh, and I made out with a food haul of some of the stuff she was getting rid of - not the 2008 can though. 

And all the classic things happened that always happen. We found stuff:

1. She didn't realize was so old

2. Duplicates and in some cases even more - of things she bought again not realizing she had one already - just buried. 

3. Lost items - turns out there was a blender behind all the food on the counter that she wondered where it had went and if they had gotten rid of it. 

4. Invasive stuff - stuff that had nothing to do with food but had been tucked away in the pantry. We kicked out all non-food stuff. 

5. Fantasy/future self - stuff she bought because she thought this would be great but it didn't align with who she was right now. Like fig butter and roasted red peppers. No plans means it gets stuffed to the back and forgotten. 

Well, I took notes and am adding to my side project on decluttering. It's helpful seeing the process through another persons eyes. Different challenges but even for the same challenge, it's more obvious when it's someone else going through it. Well off to bed as I dream of organized shelves. 

Week of Volunteering

This last week I had pretty full "work days". As I mentioned before, I was volunteering for two days for the middlesex conservation district plant sale. Both days were very different but tons of fun. The first day was preparing all the plants. They came bundled together so it involved packaging up individual or groups of plants. And then the next day was boxing up the pre-orders. All very well organized and composed of retired folks doing the volunteer work. It was fun to sit and work the first day, socializing with folks. I sat with one lady, Ginny, who had started her career off at Cornell in their ecological department and I heard about the various detours her life went through from children with special needs and reinventing her career later in life. And later, sat with Al who had served in the Air Force and had recently been forced into retirement after a career as a truck driver. He seemed to have had 9 lives and had pieces of him missing from a finger tip (bomb went off overseas), ear tip (frostbite) to a bunch of other stuff. I was thinking how I fell into this volunteer experience and it being a good fit. I love repetitive work (in moderation), learning and supporting native ecosystems, and I had been looking into volunteering with seniors who might be isolated. I'm not saying these individuals were but it was a nice overlap of all my interests. And it felt good being able to help pick up some slack from a few folks who had canceled and get us finished on time the first day. 

The second day was like a fun version of being an Amazon warehouse runner - filling orders. I really got to know a lot of plants through the repetition of boxing up the orders (over 200 we did). And I wish I had brought my pedometer to track my steps. It was a lot of work. I was hungry by 11 a burning up the calories. But so satisfying seeing the floor of the tent fill up with boxes of goodies for the customers coming to the sale. And of course the comradery was fun as we figured things out. 

And then I switched gears and helped my friend out with her three kids (ages 4, 3, and 9 months). Her husband was away for a few days and she had trouble sleeping with this disruption to her routine. Plus her partner in crime was gone and she was doing everything. I could only spend one night but it was a ton of fun to catch up and help out. The kids warmed up to me quickly and I got them ready for bed, read books and put them to sleep so my friend could catch up with stuff around the house. 

One fun thing was that at dinner, we had a fish dish and there were some extra wedges of lemons. The 9 month old was on solids but had never tried the sour lemon.  Having watched my share of YouTube videos and also running out of ideas to keep him occupied (he was getting fussy and tired) I gave him his first lemon wedge. Of course after asking permission. The face was priceless but then he got into the taste and really sucked on the lemon for awhile. My friend was surprised and I felt good introducing him to a new flavor and technique the mom could use. 

And it was such a nice dopamine hit the next day when we were parting ways and my friend explained all the ways I had been helpful. It was the last night alone and she was worn out and the help came at the perfect time. She was really excited about discovering this worked out especially since her husband might be going on more work trips later this year. I did put it out there that this worked well because of my flexible schedule from not working. Doing this in the middle of the week would be challenging, mainly because of her location. She's pretty close to me but on the other side of town so that just getting to her place takes as long as getting to my friends way out in suburbia. 

Well, I'm off for another packed day - orienteering in central Mass.,  visiting with another friend afterwards and then on my way home, visiting with my old neighbors. And I'm running behind schedule!

Gardening Dilema

I can't remember if I mentioned, I've gotten into gardening. Last summer I inherited taking over the gardens after my neighbors moved out and really enjoyed tending to the plants and being out in nature. Well really, I spend my time weeding, trimming dead branches, weeding and more weeding. It's a little tricky as I don't know what the names are and the previous Gardner doesn't always know the names either, she just liked the plant regardless of if it was a weed or not (or invasive). Last year, I specifically limited myself to getting to know the gardens and the plants and no planning or purchases. But there are some gaps in the garden beds and there are some areas that invasive "weeds" are beating me at my weeding game (actually I figured out if you don't weed right you end up helping the weed multiple even faster - opps). 

Over the winter I casually looked at gardening stuff and frankly it's overwhelming - so many plants and hard to know what works with what and if it will do well in my garden beds. And things added up $$ quickly. I kept coming back to the idea of trying to pick out native, non-invasive plants. But again this was challenging because I could read a ton about them but then trying to match up what was being sold at nurseries, what they looked like when they bloomed, and where to plant them were a lot of variables. I forget how I got to my answer, probably late night surfing, I stumbled upon the middlesex conservation district website. Not a ton of info, but the timing was perfect - they have a spring plant sale to raise money for their non-profit  programs and they needed volunteers. And the best part, they paid you for your time with plants!  A great way to experiment in my next phase of gardening without "wasting" money on plants that might die while I'm in my trial and error phase. My plan is to pick up plants without spending a dime. I just finished a day of packaging up seedlings and bulbs and a ton of prep work. And tomorrow I'm helping out again with packaging up the pre-orders. 

And tonight, I brought home the plant list and I am looking up each item online to see what they will look like, how hardy they are (no delicate plants for me) and trying to figure out what to bring home. I just went through and rated each plant - love it, cool to try out, and maybe next time. Unfortunately there are a lot of love its so I'm taking a break before I go back and finalize my list. There are shrubs and trees and groundcovers, and perennials. What to pick?  Oh, and chatting with the other volunteers, a bunch commented that there were a lot of native plants that were hard to find at nurseries and the prices were really good. 

Right now, I'm like, that looks delicious and that looks delicious, but not really thinking what the overall menu should be and what compliments what. And frankly I kind of forgot what I already have to work with already established in my garden beds. I started taking pictures in the late summer to document the different blooms. Oh right, that's yet another variable to deal with, planting a variety of plants so you have things blooming all summer. So I'm already accepting the fact that in the next several years I'll be spending time moving things around and replanting things.  Which frankly is what I do inside my house, rearrange furniture until I get a configuration I really like. Well, it's getting late, and I have my homework to do!

Why Exercise

When I was at the gym today I was thinking about the evolution of my approach to exercise. I had just done the quick 15 minute core class I've been going to periodically and I was appreciating how I had gotten better and enjoying the uncharacteristic situation, where in the small class of all guys and me, it seemed like I was not struggling as much as the others. Afterwards, I was getting in some cardio before running errands and thinking how it's nice my mid-region was getting back to my "normal" flatness. Well, it's never going to be like my early days, but I do feel like a little work and attention keeps from sliding as the good old metabolism wanes. 

My point is that I was wondering what specific exercises helped with the weight loss. Frankly, I've been working out on a regular basis for almost 16 months and the weight loss has been very gradual. I do admit I was partially motivated to join a gym for weightloss/weight maintenance but it wasn't what kept me going. It was the mental payoff that motivated me on the days I just wanted to skip. Having more energy, being happier, getting a bounce in my step, being more focused, sharper mind with more creative ideas and even the social aspect. 

And frankly when it all comes down to it I think 90% of weight loss is diet and 10% exercise. But here's my aha moment. Exercise is critical to weight loss, and here's why. Eating right is hard. I've always been a healthy eater but these last two years I've really focused on eating right. There's nothing I avoid and don't eat, but the key is minimizing non-essential foods. And frankly I often feel like I'm fighting a loosing battle. I've been good about candy (I resisted buying Cadbury creme eggs this Easter - yay me) but baked goods are still my Achilles heel. I've reduced my fruit to a healthy amount but upped my dried fruit and honey intake more than it should be. I've been good about cutting back my dairy. But man, certain times I get hit with carb cravings (aka white flour food - simplified carbs - comfort foods). Basically I still crave sugar in all forms including simplified carbs. 

I'm more aware now why I reach for certain foods: tiredness, boredom, anxiousness, worry, stress, even just being thirsty makes me want something sweet. But even though I know the why, sometimes I don't have enough willpower. And one thing I read was that we all have limited willpower so use it wisely. Figuring out my nature helps reduce the gap that willpower gets you over. Brilliant right?  Well, for me, I've learned that by exercising, I reduce the gap later for eating right. 

In other words, exercising puts you in the right frame of mind to make the right choices when it comes to eating. When I'm exercising I reach for the veggies and protein and healthy fat, I plan and shop for healthy meals. When I've skipped exercising for awhile, I reach for everything else which is mainly variations of sugars even if I have healthy foods ready to go.  It seems so obvious.

Well I had to jot this down because this is something I want to make sure I remember... especially if I've gone for awhile not exercising. A good motivator to get back into exercising. 

Habits and Projects

It's interesting, as I am reading this book on executive skills (it breaks it down into 12 that we each have different levels of competence), I realized that my New Years blog posts was a good technique they recommend - make public your intention. The book is a workbook too and had you take a quiz in the beginning and I found that although I'm weak on a few (which is why I have the book), I'm actually quite strong on a bunch of them. A good reminder to not always focus on just what your weaknesses are. So I thought I'd give a quick update. 

Books:  I really only read a little in the morning. I've put a time limit on the reading during the week. And boy, once I got going, I started cranking. I've finished over 12 books. Amazing how many books you can read when you read every day (which I knew from my commuting days but had forgotten).  I did go through my bookcase and pull out all the books I was in the middle of that I wanted to finish. And I'm almost done with those. It feels so good too, because it's like a sense of accomplishment of a task that was hanging over your head for a long while. Except it was just reading so it shouldn't be a burden, but it did feel like just another unfinished thing. So I feel good about this.  It feels like a good habit is forming quickly. 

And interestingly, as I crank through books, I have less of an urge to acquire more books. Actually, as I write this, I wonder if me accumulating books, was me trying to buy my way to my "fantasy self" - someone who reads a lot. The classic example of this is someone who wants a clean house, buys every cleaning product marketed in magazines and stores, in a subliminal hope the house will be clean.   I can attest to falling into this trap and I'm still working my way through too many cleaning products I bought (I hate throwing them out if they're still good), but now I know and I actually keep my excess cleaning supplies in a separate box (my use it or lose it cleaning box). 

Recipes: this one I'm modifying, but I think it's an improvement. I did cook a few recipes from cookbooks and while I was doing the planning I even let go of two cookbooks from my California days. But I realized, my cookbook collection is visually appealing, compact and tidy. What isn't is my collection of paper recipes from magazines and friends. I want to say last year but I think it's been longer than that, I organized them by category (meat, breakfast, cake, etc), purged a few and painstakingly wrote out a list for each category.  I used the system a bit over the months but not very successfully. Last month, I decided my goal was to go through all my paper recipes this year and have a maximum of 12 recipes to try on file at any time going forward. And get rid of the paper mess that I looked at every day when I opened my pantry.  I went through and really assessed if I wanted to make the meal or if it just sounded nice. One of my new mantras I've acquired that has helped me in other areas is, "I can enjoy the beauty (quirky, etc), without having to own it". Actually no one can physically (let alone financially) own everything they find beautiful. Well, same goes with food. Yes, I might want to eat the meal, but do I want to make it?  And I'm on a mission to make my own meal plan book. Moms often have this figured out by necessity of their staple go-tos for meals. I don't really since I love trying new dishes out but then forget about the good ones. My goal is to have a collection of recipes that are my staples, special occasions, special ingredients, etc. It's riffing on what I figured out with my closet and this approach seems to work for me in answering the inevitable: I have nothing to wear, I have nothing to eat. 

And this new approach is going well. I went through my recipe collection and was brutally honest. I was looking for healthy, easy, regular ingredients, no duplicates (I have enough sweet potato recipes!) and came up with new categories. I have a folder of recipes I'm trying this spring, another one for the summer, fall, winter. I have one folder of challenging recipes (time, technique or special ingredient that isn't easy to find). I realized that for me cooking is both necessity and hobby. So the general recipes are for necessity - I need to feed myself. And then there is the hobby cooking that I love learning a new skill or creating something spectacular - usually in the baking world.  And a final folder that is hopefully all that exists next year - the recipes to try with a max of 12.  So if I find a new recipe and I'm at 12 already, I need to swap it in. I find this act of prioritizing some recipes over others helps me get over having a sea of recipes to choose from that can get overwhelming when they are all treated the same. 

I'm almost done with the spring recipes. I figured out how many I realistically would try each month and then backed into it. For me it worked out to two breakfast, two desserts/snacks, 5 main meals (veggie, meat, salad, side). It forced me to be more real with myself and let go of more recipes than I would normally have. But as a result of having less recipes to try, I'm actually trying out more recipes! Funny how too much of a good thing cancels out the good thing. And of course, taking that extra step and making a plan of what recipes to try when really makes a difference. So feeling good in the recipe front. Some keepers and some duds so far. Oh, and probably most important, I've stopped the influx of more recipes. I no longer have any magazine subscriptions - I realized they caused me more angst of unachieved projects (the dreaded should-do list) than the initial joy of looking through them. 

I wanted to tackle my recipes on Pinterest too, but realize, one thing at a time.  So after I conquer my paper recipe clutter, Pinterest will be next. In the meantime, if I want to browse Pinterest, instead of looking at new pins, I look at my existing pins and delete items that are no longer my style/interest. This feels better than pinning new pins. And prevents me from adding to the pile of recipes I already have on Pinterest. 

Financials: I'm learning the challenges of going cash only. I've been super successful and have my routine pretty well figured out. Although last week at the grocery store I wasn't keeping track of the running total and went to pay and was over, so had to have them take off one item (it was buttermilk for a cake recipe I was going to try but was on the fence if I should make it just for me without sharing it with someone - so just as well). Younger me would have probably been a little embarrassed but what I loved was that the two ladies (I try to pick the same cashier and bag lady each visit because she seems to know her veggie codes the best and doesn't overcharge me accidentally) were friendly for the first time. I think they are so used to the rich suburbanites coming in that this act humanized me to them. Nice up side. 

No online purchases to report. Also, I've been finding the big box store challenge challenging. But so far have been pretty good to limiting one per month. Trader joes run last month - they have the best price on nuts. And I've become more aware of options (or lack of which just increases my resolve). I was running out of Q-tips and normally this is a classic big box store item. It dawned on me the local, dusty 5 and dime store had a tiny toiletry section. And one box of Q-tips. I felt so good getting them there and supporting the local place, especially since I overheard, while I was shopping there, someone asking why the restaurant next door was closing, and the answer was that rent was getting too high. Plus looking at the store front, it's such a nice building in town center versus the ugly new building cvs built down the block that changes the neighborhood character.

Exercise: I should add this one in since I've been reporting on this for awhile. I've been trying different things to get a routine going and felt bad nothing really stuck. But looking back I realized that every effort trying a new approach helped and is slowly changing my baseline. It's kind of like food. I used to eat all kinds of food.  Now a days, if I've gone a few days without eating 90% of what I normally eat (green vegetables, other veggies, whole grains and healthy meats), I have a craving for the healthy food. And my tolerance for some foods are pretty low (like fried food - I can eat a little, on the side). And no more days of heavy carbs being the majority of my diet (cereal, sandwiches, pasta). And the same goes for the exercise now. If I've gone a few days, I have an itch to work out. Well maybe not an itch, but I know I need to go because things feel unbalanced. Oh, and I have to share, one class I've gone to a few times, the other day, the instructor used me as an example. He had me do a move a second time to show the others how to do it - rocking from a position on your back to sitting up. The others in the class were guys and I think guys in general have a harder time with this move due to flexibility issues. Plus they were new and I had been practicing. So overall, I feel like I'm moving forward. Plus orienteering season just started. Well, there were a handful of cross country skiing orienteering meets this winter that I was so excited about and even with all our snow storms, every single one of them were canceled due to lack of snow. Ugh - next year I guess. Actually I need to run, because I'm actually running an informal orienteering course today for a brownie group my friend runs. I set up the course yesterday and will teach the girls how to read a map and use a compass. I'm so happy I found orienteering. 

New Years Resolutions Update

Books:

I thought, two books a month, no problem. But at the end of January, I was already behind, with only one book completed. I only count the book if I finish.  So I buckled down and decided to become more serious. Not just reading when the whim hit. I thought I could read each evening before bed, but for me I found that tricky since I go to bed early these days. I'd be working on stuff and then feel tired and crawl into bed and fall asleep right away. No urge to read whatso ever. I might try working on this nighttime routine. 

On the flip side I've gotten into the habit of reading each morning in bed when I wake up. It was good, but I do have a shift in my time and wonder where the time has gone by by the time lunch hits. It eats up alot more time than I intend. Still, I caught up.  I just finished the third book yesterday morning so am back on track. I should fess up that one of the books was a quick mystery, Agatha Christie, that I stayed up late reading one night and finished the next morning. 

As I pick my next book to tackle, I've noticed a few things. I have different books I read at different times. At night, I can't read any book that makes me think and gets my creative juices going about what I want to do. I've been reading a bunch about business and behavioral science and self-help. All these get me thinking about my own stuff and does not quiet the mind before bed. Fiction is best before bed. I tried history, but if it's too dry, I'm too tired, to focus on the subject.

In the morning, I've been reading the business, etc books. Things that get my brain moving and my creative juices going. And same thing, at the gym, I have one book that I've been plugging away at since last summer. I'm almost done with that one, but it has taken awhile since I can only read while on one of the many machines. I got thinking if I should take stock of what subjects I've read by the end of the year. And try to read something from every category. But then I figured I should do the opposite. Read what I want to and at the end of the year look at the size of books I've read in each category and the size of books I have in each category. Like, I have a lot of history books because I read them on my commute, but if at the end of the year, I only read one history book, I really need to cut back on buying any more, for the time being.

So far, there was one good book, and the other two were duds, middle of the road. I'm making a pile of finished books for this year a and maybe I'll do an end of the year review. 

Cookbooks:

So far, I've tried a recipe or two. I think I'm on track since I don't have more than a dozen cookbooks. Ok, I haven't been focusing on this resolution that much. I need to go back and take a look at where I really am and report back. 

Financials:

This one I have been on point with. I've found it a little harder than I thought it would be. Using just cash seemed simple. But I wasn't planning right at first. Now, I think I've got it down.  I figured out how much I need each month normally.  Take out half on the first of the month and then the other half at mid-point. On a side note, I was running by the bank yesterday and thought, I'll get my second withdrawal for the month. But I didn't. I decided to use the money withdrawal to keep me going to the gym. So this morning, I don't really want to go to the gym, but I have to get cash, so it's motivating me to follow through with the plan. Plus I like the idea of cash withdrawals showing up on my bank statement on monkey the 1st and 15th of every month. Like it's an automatic withdrawal.

Also, I found a work around with the online purchases. I might have to modify the rules. Does it count if you get someone else to buy you something online?  For my birthday, I asked for a large and heavy cat scratcher. Mom ordered it online (I gave her an Amazon link to show her exactly what I was after).  Otherwise, I'm at zero for online purchases and only one for big box stores. I had to do a quick run to whole foods for eggs. 

So, so far, so good. But I do need to plan a bit better and reporting my progress actually helps me stay focused on my resolutions. 

Otis

Today is one of those lazy, rainy days that is typical for spring but unexpected for February. It's been drizzling all day and any remnants of snow are being washed away. I was in my back room, watching old episodes of Voyager with wallis and Webster, while working on a few projects. And I happen to notice out of my peripheral view a black beast in my neighbors yard. It turned out to be a big black lab dog sniffing around the back yard. At first I thought it might be new to the neighborhood, one of the units two doors over was rented out to new people, and maybe they have a dog that uses the adjoining back yard. 

But a few moments later and I look up again and see it in my backyard now. Not sure how he got through. He was having a ton of fun just plodding along sniffing and exploring everything. I thought W&W would find him interesting so I had them look out the window. At first they thought I was just being friendly and didn't get what I was after but then the black dog caught their attention and their ears perked up. I don't think they have seen such a big animal before in their very confined life. The biggest dog they've met is Trixie, who they shared the house with.  Anyways, they were intrigued. I wondered if they shared an affinity being both black beasts. But probably they were just happy they had the glass between them and the big beast to protect them.

I noticed the dog had a collar and tags and figured I probably should go out and see if it was friendly and if so bring him home. He probably escaped. I didn't think it through too well, and just grabbed my house keys and threw on my boots and went out the back door. By now, the dog had moved on to my neighbor on the other side of me and was sniffing around. At first I didn't see him but when I called he looked my way and I saw him across the neighbors driveway, looking at me. I called again as friendly as I could and he thought for a moment longer and then lopped over to me and gave me a sniff and let me pet him. He was soaked and I was able to take a look at his tags. He lived on the street behind my house. And his name was Otis - a good name, especially for such a laid back, kind of older dog. 

Now it started dawning on me that I hadn't thought this through. How was I going to get this dog home - I didn't have a leash or rope or anything. And my whole motivation was to prevent the dog from getting run over. I called him - and he did a slow jog over to me again.  He had wandered off to smell the neighbors garden. He seemed to be pretty good at following voice commands and being on the slower older side, didn't seem likely he'd run into the road. 

 I had him cut through the fence back into my yard and walked to the back corner to see if we could get through and cut over to the street behind me. I could kind of step over the half fallen fence, but Otis wouldn't be able to. I look over and Otis was standing over towards the other corner, waiting for me to head that direction. It was kind of funny. He was like, "yeah, I already checked that out and there is no way out that way.  I'll wait for you to figure that out and then you'll come this way where I came from."  We checked the other back corner and again same thing, I could get over but not the dog and Otis was standing part way heading towards the front of the yard. Again, this was the way to go and Otis was just waiting for me to figure it out. As we walked along to the front sidewalk, Otis led the whole way as if he went along this way everyday and knew the way. It was kind of strange how familiar he seemed.  

I had decided we'd take the long way around the block to avoid the traffic on the busy Main Street - where I usually catch my bus. Otis was leading the way and at the end of the driveway, without hesitation, he just turned left - the long and quiet way around. 

Otis walked ahead, leading the way, sniffing here and there and sometimes, falling behind to sniff a bush, while I was walking along. I'd call and he'd reluctantly give up the sniffing and come along, getting back into the front and leading the way. 

I was relieved otis was so well behaved and laid back. And I was also realizing again how I hadn't thought this through. Walking along my hands were getting nippy and my glasses were getting wet with the light drizzle. I hadn't grabbed a jacket or anything else and only had a sweatshirt on. Luckily it was an above average warmish day. 

As we got to the corner I noticed someone was coming out of the corner house. I was a bit worried they'd say something about Otis not being on leash.  And as we turned the corner, again, no pause on Otis's part, he knew the way home. The older lady fell into step a bit behind us and made a comment that he was so good at staying close. I responded that Otis wasn't actually mine and I was able to share about my quest to return the dog. Which she responded about it was good that he had found me. And I got my hit of my dogoodery being acknowledged. Strange how self centered we can be. Well, Otis and I get to the next corner, and Otis leading the way turned and shortly started walking in the street. I called for him to come back to the sidewalk and he did but he kept heading close to the road and again went as if to cross the road. This time I figured I shouldn't fight nature. Clearly Otis knew the way home and although we hadn't got to the houses yet, he knew the even number houses were on the other side and we had to cross. As we were heading along, getting closer to his house, he trotted along, I think happy to get home, or maybe I was just projecting. 

And then, Otis cuts across the yard and I thought, oh we've arrived, but we were one house off (his address was 30 and this was house 32). And I look back at Otis and find him in the poop squat and he sheepishly returns my look. Clearly he knew his journey was coming to the end and he should wrap up his business. I felt weird leaving the poop, but I didn't have any bags on me. Ironically, if I had grabbed my jacket, it had a plastic bag in the pocket. 

Otis and I turn at the next driveway and it was one of the long driveways leading to a "middle" house. In my neighborhood, we have an interesting urban development where there are a bunch of old big houses in the center of the blocks with only a driveway connecting them to the street. I think originally the houses had beautiful acreage and slowly over time lots were sold off along the streets and the area become more dense. I've lived here for years and still discover new houses tucked away on my walks. Well, this one was a new one that I hadn't noticed before. As I walk up the driveway, Otis still leading, although he does wander off into the side bushes to sniff, I'm able to unabashedly check out this hidden house. It's a three story Victorian built in 1885. And recently renovated with great attention to detail. A beautiful and still generous yard is well landscaped and the old carriage house has three cars including two different types of Tesla's. I'm suddenly very self conscious I'm in my house clothes and a bit shabby in comparison.

Ottis has joined me again and I head to the back door (which clearly is the main entrance used) which probably has a mud room to handle a wet and muddy dog. As I knock on the door, Otis is having a drink from a puddle. A preteen boy answers and is very polite and appreciative that I've returned Otis. He mentioned they have been looking for him and I share he was over on the next street over. And I mention the poop deposit, even offering to pick it up, but the boy insists he'll take care of it.  He thanks me profusely and Otis runs in, comfortably at home. And I head off home - the short way. I realized, I could have taken Otis this way, although I'm not sure he could jump up the big step. Anyways, it was a good walk and good timing midday to get out and get a little exercise, no matter if I was underprepared jacket wise. 

When I got home, I was curious and looked up the house on Zillow. It was estimated to be $2.5 million about double the other high priced houses in the neighborhood. Although it was last sold in the 90s for about what my place is worth. As I was walking home I reflected on how nice the house was and I got an envious wish I had something bigger and grandeur. It was an initial gut reaction and having been reading and studying behavioral psychology, it got me thinking about some new topics and approaches to life which was really good for my creative juices and the project I'm working on at the moment. Strange how something we're really happy with can quickly become our norm and we want something bigger and better. 

I also reflected on my first interaction with Otis. I wonder when I called him to come over and he paused, he was thinking if he was ready for his journey to be over. He was clearly not in distress and enjoying his explorations but he was so well behaved he knew he had to come along when called. 

Well, all in all, a fun journey and I'm half hoping Otis escapes and visits us again. But not really since there are a lot of cars, even on the quieter streets. I'm hoping when spring comes and I'm gardening in the front yard Otis will be walked by one of his owners in front of my house and I can say hi again. He was such a laid back, cool, dog. Glad he got home safe and sound.