Thoughts from a Rambling Mind

6-30-2023

Thoughts from a Rambling Mind

Does anyone else have days when it seems that the mind is chugging away at 100 MPH with no letup in sight?

Years ago after my heart attack, my doctor told me that walking 30 – 40 minutes is enough time to get the heartrate up to a safe level. We measured a route that is exactly 2 miles and takes 38 – 42 minutes to walk. I feel good, am awake and ready for almost anything coming I encounter, except stupid – I don’t do stupid well. Life is hard enough, but really hard if you’re stupid. (John Wayne?)

My wife and I like to start our day with a brisk 2 mile walk through our unincorporated neighborhood of Cimarron Hills in the suburbs of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Each walk is usually far from boring or routine.

This morning I said to myself “I’m rich” as I picked up a shiny penny. Sometimes it’s a dime or a quarter or on 2 different mornings there were 4 or 5 dollar bills blowing across the road in front of us each morning.

Further along this morning a neighbor had put a small BBQ gas grill out on the curb. I considered dragging it home and figuring out whether to switch out my newly acquired from a family member charcoal grill.

Early yesterday morning we came across a young deer watching us as it contemplated crossing the road. We continued on past and when I looked back it was gone. Deer are quite frequently spotted in groups of 3 – 5 heading to some unknown destination.

We have come across skunks, raccoons, foxes, dogs, cats and an occasional owl or hawk perched on an upper tree branch. One morning we watched as a family of 5 raccoons ran across the road and into a storm drain – single file.

Probably the most intriguing was coming across an actual crime scene where two county sheriff’s squad cars were aimed toward a parked van just over a ½ mile from our house. Inside was the body of a woman, sitting in the passenger seat. No idea what happened or what has become of that?

A few years ago (near the same area) when we were doing morning walks there was another crime scene where a young man was gunned down the night before in front of his house, during his birthday party earlier that night. It was after this incident we decided to do our walks in the early morning hours.

Another incident occurred literally in view from our house. The sheriff’s office had sealed the street at our corner while they investigated one of our neighbors shooting another neighbor during the night. I don’t think it was life threatening but that morning we decided to just stay home.

What could have been a potential incident occurred when a young girl walked out of a dark corner of a neighborhood church building, holding her stomach and complaining of pain. I pointed to the fire station which was literally 20 steps away and told her to ring the bell and they would help her. It wasn’t until later that morning we heard on the news that some young people had stolen a car, went speeding down a street they were not familiar with and crashed into a brick wall, approximately 1 mile from where the girls approached us.

There is a saying that most accidents occur within 1 or 2 miles near the home. That being the case I guess I’ll put my house up for sale and move……… lol – RTM