Ouch

Had an OK morning. Took the boys to the bus, then went to the gym and did 21.5 miles on the bike, 0.25 miles in the pool, which has (finally) reopened. Legs are still a little sore from Saturday's 10-K, but no major complaints. My hands, however, are another story.

I slept a little late Sunday and got off my butt with the chicken coop. Dug a foot-long trench around a 50-foot perimeter for the frames. This normally isn't a problem if you have (a) soil or (b) heavy machinery. I didn't have either, so I had to break out the pickax in a few places to get rocks out. Also stapled wire to a few more frames, but hands were too raw to work the staple gun. Finished up around 8 pm.

Wah. Poor me.

Anyway, next weekend, I'll raise and brace the frames, build the door and try to get poultry netting over the top to keep the hawks and owls out. And speaking of birds: We bought a replacement hummingbird feeder this weekend, and they're already coming in to feed.

Which is a good question: Where do hummingbirds migrate in the winter? I'm guessing Florida or Mexico, kind of like half the people who live in our state. Signs of spring include apple blossoms, mud, and Florida license plates. Lot and lots of them.



Got new hiking boots today -- Columbia Frontier Peak GTX. They (allegedly) require little break-in time. Anyway, I'm thinking I'll hike the Long Trail with John in segments. He's hiking almost every day now that the weather's nice. Don't know if it'd be Will's thing or not.

Busy afternoon planned. Taking John to get glasses, Will to get some new clothes, and something else. Can't recall. It'll come to me. Gotta get plugging on the day job.

***

Worked on the day job. Kids got home around 3:30p, so I took John to get his glasses and Will to get some new clothes. Threw in a trip to the hardware store to get braces for the coop (needed that and copy paper!) and made a quick grocery run. John said he wants to hike the trail with me; Will, not so much. I think the concept lost its allure when I told them they'd have to carry their own backpacks.

Fun conversation with John in the car. He thinks he'd be better off living in New York because he wouldn't need a car; they're expensive and pollute and we're going to run out of oil one day. Told him the last place he wants to be is in a large city with 14 million people who've just woken up to find out they can't get food, water, air conditioning, heat, or Starbucks. He said in that case, he'd like a motorcycle.

Great job, Dad.

Currently trying to fix a busted-ass laptop. Damn. Get the Blue Screen of Death every time it starts with a registry error, which generally is not good news. Sigh. Should be entertaining trying to repair this particular electronic fiasco.

I hate computers.

(Except when they tell me neat things. Like, where hummingbirds go for the winter: Southern Mexico and northern Panama. It'd be nice to spend the winter there, but I think it would still suck to be a hummingbird.)