Thursday

We didn't plan it, but we ended up going downtown three times today: once on foot, once by cart, and once by bike. The picture above is from our golf cart ride after lunch. We wanted to time how long it took to get from our house to downtown (less than 20 minutes). We parked at the train station and walked to the marina and then back to Pioneer Park and back to the train station. We got there an hour or so before the Cinco de Mayo celebration started. Main Street was blocked off. Casa Tina (sponsor of the event) had food pavilions in several locations. In the picture, Toby is looking for John who got waylaid reading a text.

We walked from one restroom to another. Toby did the same. I enjoyed my new shoes. John's come tomorrow. Walking 300 miles a month means we go through shoes pretty quickly.

John and Toby got into a tug of war over the leash.

Too cute to not show two pictures of the same event.

We sat on the bench and admired the tile work for the new wall at Pioneer Park.

Dogs in the above picture and baseball players in this one, along with a (Toronto) blue jay.

The Dunedin Marina

A sticker on the Pinellas Trail warning about global warming.

On our first trip downtown, we decided to take our morning walk on the shaded Pinellas Trail. The temperature was already 78 degrees at 9:00, and the breeze was almost nonexistent. So we put Toby in his crate after our neighborhood walk, and drove the golf cart to Stirling Park. We walked from there to the train station on Main Street. It took us 25 minutes to get from Stirling to Weaver Park (about a mile and a half) and 15 minutes more to get to Main Street. There was shade about 85% of the walk.

I got a better shot of the bicycle "go" light at the Pinellas Trail and Skinner.

My third trip downtown was to Weaver Park to exercise. I overheard talk that the city is doing some long-range planning that includes enhancing the outdoor gym. It may take 2-3 years, but they want to add equipment and remove less used equipment.

We got invited early this afternoon to a party to celebrate a neighbor's graduation from business school (MBA). It was good seeing everyone. We all feel lucky to be here and to be surrounded by good neighbors.

My doctor's assistant called to discuss my thyroid results. She said they were borderline and I could wait and check again in six months or she could start me on a low dose thyroid medicine. I had already done research to know that thyroid medicine has other positive side effects: it can lower high cholesterol and help with moodiness and depression. I had researched TSH levels and learned that the levels follow circadian rhythms, so that they can be high in the early morning and lower in the afternoon. I wondered if I should get an afternoon blood draw since the other two were early morning. She said it would not make that much difference, so I decided to get the prescription filled and re-test in six weeks to see if my TSH level comes down to normal.

The assistant is always very sweet and patient. She calls me "honey" and "sweety." I told her that my husband would be glad to hear about the medicine's effect on moods. She laughed, but before we hung up, she said did you know that Dunedin is planning a huge gay pride event this June during National Gay Pride Month? She said Blur (the former gay bar downtown) would be sponsoring the event. She also said that she would be there and wanted us to come. It means everything to us to be supported like that. Incidentally, President Bill Clinton declared the first national gay pride month in 1999.

Toby enjoyed his midday nap in the sun with his favorite toys.

Last night's after sunset picture.

Miles walked: 10.3

Miles biked: 5.81