Down Day (0 miles) at Bullards Beach State Park (actual date Friday, 5/30/14)

Strange dreams last night.  In one I was given a box filled with uncorked wine bottles.  I had to figure out a way to get the box on my bike and was worried it wouldn’t fit.  Someone offered to help me but instead just gave me two gift cards to places I don’t shop.  Another dream stirred me enough to wake up.  I grabbed my journal and wrote “Fibonacci’s Sequence, 01123581321345589.”  Not sure what my subconscious was working on.

After six days of walking, my body definitely needed a break.  So I slept late, until 7:00am, and took my first shower in a week.  I can’t lie, I sort of enjoy not dealing with a daily shower.  But having one available is too good to pass up.  Fact is, I don’t stink.  Not too bad anyhow.  But my clothes, well, that’s another story.  More than me, my clothes appreciated a thorough scrubbing in the shower.  And by the time I was done with my body and my laundry, my feet were pickled.

My preference for this zero day would be to sleep all morning and afternoon, but I also want to do some painting and writing.  And since I haven’t any driftwood for the painting part, I needed to take a 4-mile hike to the beach to round some up.  For some reason, 4-miles sounds so far and I was not excited to get going.  And when I did, my body moved significantly slower than usual.

While returning from the beach, I stopped at a sunny patch of grass and laid down to take an hour-long nap.  I slept hard and woke up disoriented.  You could have stolen my wallet and I’d have never known it.  Yesterday at this time I was rationing water – one sip every thirty minutes.  Today my belly was full of Oreos, my body is clean, and I am taking naps like a lazy house cat.  It’s weird how so much can change in so little time.

I wake up occasionally to read a couple fellow MFA students’ work that I printed (or tore) out before leaving home.   My pal Steph Kilen’s award-winning story, “Pie Girl“.  And Crystal Bevers’ story, “Habits.”  Both are fantastic reads.

Later I painted some art pieces before a couple of traveling cyclists joined me in the hiker/biker area.  Paul and Courtney hailed from Toronto and had been heading south since Vancouver, BC on their way to San Francisco.  When Paul pulled a flute out of his pannier and played some dreamy Asian music I got woozy and took another nap – three hours this time.  I was putting this day to good use.  I had planned to do some reading and writing but I could barely muster up enough energy to make lunch.  I am so lucky I found a comfortable campsite to spend an extra day.  By 7:30pm I was asleep for the night.  Prepping the body for week #2, apparently.

Taking some time to smell the wild irises