Smokey

I've been upstaged. Here is a guy on his shiny red tricycle, complete with a bimini top, a basket in back and a spare tire too. The picture isn't really crisp because I was photographing this out my friend's car window a few week's back. The guy was about 100 feet away and we were driving, so it's a miracle I caught the shot at all.

No bike riding for me today, sad to say.

I woke up sputtering and coughing, flying out of bed to put out the fire. I was sure I was on fire and it frightened me something awful. Ashes were on my counter, the smoke was thick.

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

After running around my motorhome both inside and out, I realized it was not me on fire but something beyond the campground.  A check with the park ranger revealed that today, while winds were blowing a steady 20 or more miles per hour, the forest service had decided to have a prescribed burn.

Incredible!

The air in the campground was pretty thick, like we were stuck in a fog. What a mess. The ashes had blown inside because my windows are open.  I love *cough* fresh *sputter*  air.

Other than that we've had wonderful summer weather lately. I was delighted to be barefoot and wearing shorts in late January in Florida. My little old motorhome is not set up for frigid temperatures (and neither am I.)

Harley dog seemed affected by the thick smoke as much as me. He was lethargic much of the day. We tried to go on a brisk walk *cough* this morning *cough* but we both felt like dog poop.

I thought about breaking camp to go somewhere else for the day, but I just didn't have the energy. I figured I would need to drive a good ways to get far from the thick smoke.

Usually  my motorhome is more or less ready to drive away on ten minute's notice, assuming I can leave my outdoor patio junk laying about, like to go grocery shopping or something, but not lately.  I just didn't have the energy to pick up and move today.

Tonight was supposed to be some sort of party in the park where you wear pajamas and go dancing. Good grief. It sounds like a singles mixer, but most of the residents are couples. If there are any other singles in the campground I haven't met them. It seems to be a very private crowd here. Later I saw someone had penned on the notice that it moved to Friday night.

Sometimes I think I am invisible. I speak to what few people I see out and about when walking the dog, but many don't return my greeting. Is there some sort of social code I am breaking?  Or is it because I am a southerner and there doesn't seem to be any other southerners in the park right now. I have no idea. Or is it because I am single?  Who knows? I keep smiling and saying hello!  Silence in return. What am I doing wrong?

Many of the park campers are hermetically sealed inside their lavish RV's with no open windows and no outside accouterments for hanging about. My neighbor made a big deal one day, that he and his wife were going to sit outside and read. He brought out two chairs and they sat around reading for an hour, then they put their chairs away and went back inside.

This picture was taken before the smoke. I took some today of the thick smoke but can't find my camera cord to download them to the computer. I guess I need to reorganize my stuff. It was here just the other day. But with this thick smoke, I can't see much of anything.

As you can see I don't have much grass because I am under two massive oak trees but there is nice grass behind me and Harley loves to play in it on his tether.

I just love not needing heat nor air conditioning. I like the open windows and the fresh air. At least when they aren't having prescribed burnings. Grrrrr...

To make matters even worse, I am out of emergency dark chocolate!  So I may have to get this rig in gear and go shopping at some point. One can not live without emergency chocolate. Especially for days like today.