It’s not been an eventful day by any means but it’s been relaxed.

It was a more comfortable night for sleep but my body was not participating. Another night of tossing and turning, more restless than the night before.

I fed the dogs, opened and secured the door to the deck, and fell into bed for some reading and finally, a solid sleep. At 11:00 AM, I woke, spent time with the dogs, and decided to grab the No. 17 bus to the Dayton Mall.

I lunched at Outback Steakhouse. Every now and then, I dearly love a good steak and today was my day. I had the most charming server and a terrific lunch of a garden salad with the house dressing, a medium cooked sirloin steak, and a loaded baked potato.

From there, I crossed the parking lot to The Dayton Mall, grabbing pretzel bites and caramel dip. I sat where I thought I’d enjoy people watching but the emptiness was depressing.

The mall has added a number of inviting, family friendly items: ping pong, corn hole, a train, many items for the little peeps, but it’s not enough to draw in folks. A number of stores were shut down or closed long enough for employees to take a break or grab lunch. Normally, there would be coverage.

I pushed my self to walk from the mall to the Miami Township Library, directly across from the South Hub Bus Terminal.

The last time, it was a 17 minute walk with the cane. Today, two weeks of not using my cane, I made it in 12 minutes. There’s a certain point where my feet feel as though they’re painlessly lifting cinder blocks, barely moving. While I mentally worked through that I felt more triumphant in shaving five minutes off my last trek from those two points.

Northbound No. 17 bus dropped me off directly in front of my house. I’m so grateful for that particular bus stop.

And the dogs were overjoyed to see me.

Today’s steps were 5,224 making a total of 2.41 miles walked. Thursday’s count was 3,950 steps at 1.9 miles

I fed the dogs at 3:30 PM, laid down on my bed to watch something, woke at 7:30 PM., made a batch of salsa, and am loving the constant warm breeze wrapping around the north side of the deck.

Some folks are hanging out in the high school’s north parking lot with their motorcycle and their animated conversation is keeping Chief and Erma on high alert. I can only assume they’d be equally defensive beyond the enclosure of The Haasienda.

Saturday holds nothing to my schedule and I am wondering if I can put the yard on hold until late Sunday morning. The back yard already looks to be a challenge.

That will wait another twelve hours. In the meantime, on to writing and listening to documentaries and audiobooks.