Today’s our last day here. Time to tie up loose ends.

We did some food shopping yesterday, and a load of wash last night, so here’s the errand list for today:

• Hair cut

• Move everything out of Jane’s place and back onto the boat

• Wash boat

• Wash Guinness

• Chiropractor

• Set up marina for Friday night.

Cheers!

I slept fitfully last night, and when I awoke, I remembered that I had been dreaming about a fellow named Spleen. His parents, who must have had a nasty sense of humor, named him Rupert. So it wasn’t very hard for us to convert that to Ruptured.

In my dream, he was a Dean at our college.
Dean Spleen.
That has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Dean Ruptured Spleen to be precise.

Dean Spleen had a tight little mouth and tight little eyes. He sometimes looked like a grenade about to explode.

But he tried…he would always greet us by asking “How are you feeling today?”

We would work on our answer at the fraternity party on Saturday night, and then we’d spread the word across campus. Each week, when Dean Spleen asked “How are you feeling today?”, he would get the same answer from each student he encountered that week:

“Nihilistic”
or
“Reprehensible”
or
“Gaseous”

I wonder what happened to old Ruptured Spleen. I wonder if someone pulled his pin?

[Note: to Reader: The above is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead is sheer coincidence.]

We woke this morning to a beautiful sunrise, but it is a cold, blustery day.

A 20-knot wind from due north is blowing the tops off the waves as they break. Real Feel just 33 degrees. Yikes! The high today is forecast to be just 50 degrees.

I started imagining that the cold weather from the north was catching up with me…that by delaying a week, I had let winter catch me. Fortunately, the forecast tells me that by Friday – the day we leave – the high will be 70, and the wind will be from the east at just 5 knots. Ahhhh.

I slept for 11 hours last night, and I awoke pain-free for the first time in a long time. I feel like I am about 93%. I’ll probably never really be 100% again – I’m just too damn old. So 93% is pretty good.

I have a few tasks to do before we leave – mainly wash the boat and wash the dog. But it’s too cold right now to do either. Tomorrow will serve.

Sooo…absolutely no agenda for today but to rest and heal. Maybe do some planning and some re-provisioning. Then self-medication with a cigar and a glass of Jamesons. The high point of my day. Maybe I’ll start now…Not a bad idea. It’s 5PM in Lithuania.

OK, maybe not such a good idea…maybe I’ll just read instead.

The marinas we visit usually have a swap-and-read library shelf, and I picked up Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Never read it before. I think it will be a good introduction to Savannah, and great way to spend a day.

[And for those of you who asked, Yes, I had a flu shot before I left.]

I got my test results back this morning: Negative.

Certainly puzzling. I definitely had SOMETHING.

This is very good news, however, because I have learned that – had I tested positive – I would be receiving a call from the Dept of Public Health and directed to quarantine for 2 weeks.

Not sure what really happened here, but I definitely dodged a bullet. And I certainly don’t regret my decision to hole up here and get tested. I believe it was the prudent course of action (the only acceptable course of action).

***********************
Amanda and I are going for a boat ride today. Just for fun.

Tomorrow I’ll rest and think about my schedule, but I’m happy to be looking at this in the rear view mirror.

We woke to a beautiful sunrise today. Guinness always wakes me at 6:00 to make sure I don’t miss it.

We walked for miles on the beach today. At least I did. Guinness ran and ran non-stop.
I hoped he would enjoy the beach, but I never expected he’d take to it the way he did, running at top speed through the shallows to chase the terns and sandpipers. If they took off seaward, he’d throw himself into the breaking waves, barking in fun and frustration. If they turned landward, he’d light the afterburners and take off after them at full speed. At one point, he got so far ahead of me, he was like a small brown dot.

This went on for an hour! Limitless energy!

I am so grateful that I can trust him off the leash; it gives me so much joy to watch him behave like a real dog.

As for me, I’m doing fine. Aleve is controlling the pain in my right hip, and I am feeling pretty good overall. No new symptoms, and my fever and fatigue have not returned.

Jane’s condo faces due east, and we had a beautiful sunrise this morning.
Amanda helped me move the boat to another marina that could let me stay for 5 days or longer. Great. Now we just wait.

This has turned out to be a real blessing – to have the worst symptoms where I have a place to stay and someone to help me – AND a car! Easy to get back and forth between the condo and the boat. My fever is still down and the body aches are limited to my right hip. Sorry to be indelicate, but I can now add diarrhea to my list of symptoms – and I’m treating that, as well.

Today I mostly rested – even took a brief nap.
My brother-in-law Jeff and his wife Kathy called, and I was shocked when they reminded me that next Thursday is Thanksgiving – would I be able to join them?
They are in Hilton Head, just 2-3 days away, depending on how hard I push it, and that should work out perfectly. In my original plan, I would have been in Titusville, FL. HUH? WHERE? How great to be with family instead!

I am so happy to blow up my original schedule. I have always had my best successes when I planned carefully, but – truth be told – it doesn’t matter. We’ll get to Key West when we get there.

*****************

It’s 5PM, and it’s raining now, and I’m on the deck, self-medicating with a cigar and a Jamesons. Watching pelicans: 36 just flew by in a single line, one bird behind the other. I guess folks down here are used to it, but I was fascinated: the column rose and descended, then rose again – each bird following the one ahead. It looked like a roller coaster track.

One of my friends emailed me to say that I couldn’t seem to get a break, but I feel the opposite. I always knew there would be obstacles, but we’re simply tackling them one at a time. Every challenge you overcome builds confidence. And the intervening hours of pleasure are a gift.

I’m truly grateful for all the comments and texts and phone calls. I wish you were all with us.

With love from Rod & Guinness

We are safe and sound in Jane’s condo. It is even cuter than I remembered. Love it here.

Netflix; ROKU; HULU; PRIME etc. Wine, cigars and Jamesons.

*****************************************************************

Guiness and I went for a walk on the beach tonight. Clear skies; bright stars.
There aren’t many lights at all, because these are the beaches where sea turtles nest, and shore lights confuse them.

Guinness is fascinated and excited by the seashore. He has a loud bark, but it’s lost in the crashing of the surf.

The night sea is dark, but the waves, as they break, show up as white ribbons. Row after row of curled white ribbons: one row; two rows; six rows. Gorgeous.

I am walking better and my headache has lessened. I am about 76%. I am hoping after a night on Tylenol PM I will be even better.

Had my Covid test today, but I won’t get results for 2-3 days.
I figure I have it, and that I’ve had it for a week.
So I’m practically coming out of it already
Once the Tylenol knocked the fever down, I feel a lot better. (Duh)
I’m about 75% right now.
Never had any breathing problems. Just muscle ache, fatigue, and headache. Like a typical flu

So I’m going to turn this into an opportunity…
My sister Jane has a condo here right on the ocean, and I am going to move in for a week. She is still in Paoli, reluctant to travel because of the Covid lockdown. Who can blame her?
So I’ll have the place all to mysef – 75″ TV, direct ocean view. What’s not too like?

I’m writing this looking at the ocean from her deck.

Jane’s daughter Amanda lives here too – about a mile away. And she has been an ANGEL…taking me for the Covid test; getting me meds and fluids; getting Jane’s house ready; walking Guinness, etc.

I was looking at the weather forecast – 4 nice days coming up, and I was anxious to stay on schedule. Now I’ve realized I can spend that time on the beach and travel in snotty weather instead. The hell with my schedule. I’ll wing it.

It is my hope and expectation that I will be symptom-free by week end.

We had an awesome trip down to Carolina Beach. Calm seas. WOT for most of the way. We blew right past our original destination (Wrightsville Beach) and came all the way to Carolina Beach, where my niece Amanda lives. About 100 miles for the day.

Then last evening, as I was waiting to meet Amanda for dinner, I was hit with a fever and chills. I mean my teeth were chattering uncontrollably.

A few days ago, in Belhaven, I felt very tired / exhausted. My joints ached, my legs were weak, and I had trouble lifting my arms above my head. I realized was dehydrated, so I drank about 60 ounces af water and the symptoms dissipated.

But fever and chills, Whoa. That requires a different diagnosis. That is not dehydration.

So today I’m going for a rapid-response Covid test.

In the meantime, I’m self-medicating:
– Tylenol to knock my fever down
– Zinc
– Vitamin C
– and I’m drinking lots of fluids

Stay tuned.

Not much to report today. It’s been raining all day.
Guinness and I are hunkered down, waiting for tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who called or wrote to tell me how glorious the weather is at home. Ha Ha.