Day 3
Preparing to move back home, to Texas, possibly to die.
Today consisted of the normal routine of getting coffee, flirting a bit with the baristas and then taking my two dachshunds for a walk in the park (or I walk, they chase squirrels — always off-leash). Nice cool day, overcast, no kids to bother us- “oh, your puppies are so cute” and “can I pet your puppies?” Why people always call smaller-type dogs ‘puppies’ is almost annoying as when people call my dogs “doxies” or worse, “wieners”. To everyone who encounters dachshunds, don’t call them “wieners” or “sausage dogs” or “doxies”. I’m sorry, I own 2 full bred DACHSHUNDS who, yes, are service animals too and have been trained by me to be off leash capable in any time or scenario, usually by voice command only. I used to take them off leash down the boardwalk to Main Beach but not anymore — they get more enjoyment out of chasing squirrels (dogs need a job to do, especially a hunting-type dog) and the soft surface is easier on my calves, so Meyer Park it is. After the park, I go to the gym for weight training and a bit of cardio and then it back to the apartment sauna and coolish swim. I would want the water to be cold (sub 60 degrees, sub 50 is better), but his is the south, the gulf coast south, so anything below 60, especially for March, is serviceable. 20 minutes in the sauna, 10 minutes in the coolish pool, 10 more minutes in the sauna. That would normally equate to a deep sleep, but not anymore. Maybe the water is not cold enough, I’m not sure — but I fear my sleep is kept from reaching deep, restorative levels by my orthostatic hypotension which I’ve only recently noticed I have, at least slightly — though it is enough to keep me from deep sleep, and no medication nor copious salt consumption can keep it at bay.
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Though I am tired constantly, I’m learning to live with it to a serviceable degree. Driving is no serious threat — I would welcome actually falling asleep at the wheel, if I could. But seeing as I can no longer nap — that isn’t a problem; what is a problem is making fast movements and jerky considerations when driving — and I know full well that driving in the Redneck Riviera is much different — and slower — than north Texas driving. Thankfully, I won’t be going far distances there. I pretty much won’t leave a ten square mile zone, for my few creature comforts: coffee, gym, places to eat, the store for food, barbershop are all within that 10 square mile zone, which it is here, so I shouldn’t be all that worried.
I leave for Texas — my home — quite possibly to die. I am going there for access to health care and for family support. They all virtually live in the DFW area, and it is there that my father also died, which is fitting, I suppose. I suppose also that I will be buried with full military honors next to my father, at a cemetery owned by the family of an old fraternity brother which is within that 10 square mile zone I spoke about earlier.
