Learning to Walk

Many advancements, small ones, were made this weekend toward The Great Migration. A couple weeks ago, Mamma's friend Jocquelyn sent me a box full of things left over from her trip to Italy 2 years ago, among which were 2 phones with apparently active SIM cards, an envelope with "Garmin/Europe" written on it, and several tour guides. Friday I finally got my act together to see if the SIMs were still good. Turns out one was, one was not. So I'll have to order a new one for the one phone, but the other still had $48 worth of time on it. Score! For a mere $30 I was able to reactivate the usable window for the card (and I'm pretty sure I can figure a way to use up $78 worth of talk time between now and next year!).

It's just a teeny little brick phone. I had been thinking about getting a 4G smartphone with gps, but Jocquelyn discouraged me, saying the coverage was not always that good, and that I was better off with a stand-alone gps unit, especially since we'll be living in the foothills of the Apennines (mountain coverage is always dicey). So I looked into getting a Garmin. Reviews of the new ones have been pretty favorable, so I plunked down my $200 and ordered it. It was $99 extra to get European maps (it comes with NAmerica), and I was about to do that when I looked in Jocquelyn's box again. That envelope? 2010 Garmin European map software. Score again! Ok, yes, they're two years out of date, but the device comes with routine map updates, so I'll just have them updated before we go. It's one of the ones with bluetooth and voice activation, so I won't have to LOOK at it so much as listen to it. I figure the voice stuff is worth the extra $60 from the next level down machine, easy. And the screen is big so Mamma will be able to read it and not be nervous :)

Yesterday I went to the mall, got Filia Minor new shoes, then got me new shoes. They are the Fugly Shoes. I hate them. Yet I love them. I put them on (Asics Gel Kayano, whatever that means) and walked around, and for the first time in at LEAST six months the joint in my left foot did not hurt. At all. I had no idea how constant the pain in my foot had been until it went away. So though they are Fugly Shoes, I will wear them joyfully, especially as I hope to walk about 5 miles a day at least 3 days a week most of next year. I sent Mamma a picture of them and she said they look just like the ones Rachel Maddow wears. I adore Rachel Maddow. If she can wear Fugly Shoes on national television and not give a shit, then I can wear them to walk up and down Italian hills.

Today I took the bunnies to their new foster mom in Acton -- another small but necessary errand, since we're obviously not taking them to Besozzola! To get to Acton from Boston one must pass the road to Walden Pond. (I looked for Zonker but did not see him.) Since I had time, I decided to stop and see what Walden was up to. It was a perfect day, 77 degrees, light cool breeze, bright sun, and the walk around the pond was just under 2 miles, with a few hills to keep you honest. I had on my Ecco walking sandals, and they were almost as comfortable as the Fugly Shoes (which are really more for cool weather). The walk was a nice stretch, but I need to do a LOT more of that to get ready for the touring and the amount of marching about generally that will be required this summer. Naturally I ruined it by getting an ice cream from the truck on the way back to my car, but whatever. I was happy. I wasn't worn out, and I got to sit on the ridiculous bench in the pond. Yes, there's a bench IN the pond. It's perfectly dry, you just have to wade out to it. Somehow the bench in the pond made me very happy. Well, that and the ice cream.