Sights and Sounds

The Diva Run is done!

That’s my 14^th and last 5K of the year.

Not that it’s done me any good insofar as losing weight. Over the year, I’ve actually gained three/four pounds, but my breathing is not as labored as this time last year, moving my body from Point A to Point B doesn’t feel like such a chore, and I no longer hear joints popping and cracking.

I ended up doing yesterday’s walk at Victoria Gardens. It being Christmas Day, with all the shops and stores closed, I had the whole mall to myself for the first two miles. After that, it was just a human here, a human there, a couple humans heading for the movie theater – which had opened, and three other Pokémon trainers like myself.

It was so peaceful, so serene with not a creature stirring, that I didn’t just do the miles I needed from yesterday to total 3.12, I walked the whole 3.12.

Here are some of the sights and sounds I was able to enjoy while walking along, no one talking or blocking my view:

This short but sweet gone-out-of-business sign at the Reebox store made me stop and laugh, because it is soooo hashtag 2016.

The Apple Store was, of course, closed -- but not for good, just for the Holiday.

So what’s with that guy inside?

Jeans, in various states and stages of disrepair, were on display in about a dozen boutique windows.

As a kid, we'd put patches on ours to cover up the holes. I still do, even though it now appears the more wear and tear the better is a fashion statement.

I don't recall what we paid for a good pair of jeans back in the day, but I'm sure these distressed ragged ones cost a small fortune.

The new art project is fascinating.

It's titled "Pac Mac Heart and Love Locks ... The love locks embraces the touching of hearts and invites the community in."

I’ll have to look around for a lock that speaks to who I am -- something black but country/western.

The developers of Pokémon Go were very giving yesterday in that they released quite a few Christmas Pikachu into the wild. Normally difficult to catch more than one Pikachu over months of hunting, I caught two of the Christmas issues in Victoria Gardens -- one in front of a jewelry store, another while crossing a street.

I caught two more on the way home -- one in the car leaving Starbucks, another when I stopped at a PokéStop two blocks down.

Yesterday was a perfect day.

Except, having overused that stress-fractured foot, I began feeling some discomfort in the afternoon, which worsened overnight to where I couldn’t walk this morning without holding onto the walls. Consequently, much as I want to compete in January's Citrus Run, I'm going to have to cry "uncle" and opt out of extensive walking activities until the foot has completely healed.

On the subject of never say never again, looks like I’ll be driving to the bus terminal in the bad area of town today. Granddaughter’s two besties are heading back to Long Beach. Granddaughter is working, so I’ll be their Uber driver.