My running streak has now reached 4,550 days without missing in well over twelve years, an achievement that gets tougher with age. 3.1 miles is getting to be too much for me as I stumble home each morning now in the Florida heat and humidity. I cut back to a mile yesterday because my feet hurt after standing all evening for our block party the night before, but I sweated and strained to return to that 5k mark today. Those cool Portland mornings were not as hard on me, but I certainly don’t miss the homeless and boarded-up downtown windows. Here in Venice, I’m running through a sea of houses that all look pretty much the same and seeing the same faces every day. I need to spread out and try some other routes.

In a few days, we head back West to Oakland, Portland, and Eugene. We’ll celebrate my wife’s 65th birthday and leave Tally with her schnauzer buddies for a week. I have mixed feelings about leaving since we’ve finally gotten the house organized, and look forward to the privacy of the plantation shutters that will be installed just before we go. A night at the Tampa Airport Marriott will make an early morning flight convenient, with no need for even a shuttle. A SF Giants baseball game, Ghirardelli’s chocolate sundae, celebration dinner, and wine country will keep us busy in the Bay, then it’s off to familiar Portland to visit my wife’s other daughter. I’ll jump on the train for a side trip to Eugene and the Olympic Track & Field Trials. 

Before I know it, we’ll be back in Florida again, ready for the next steps in finishing the house and preparing for visitors. Retirement life in the Sunshine State is busy, unlike those long months of sitting in the apartment waiting for the pandemic to go away. We dined out last night without a mask in sight and rarely wear one any more, although the upcoming plane flights will be a step back in discomfort. This too shall pass! Time moves quickly in the twilight years, as I continue to count the days of my running streak and to appreciate the good fortune of making it to another milestone, Day 4,550.