Community Day

Not community day here at the complex, but PokémonGo’s October Community Day.

Plan for today had originally been to waste my life away doing nothing but sit on the couch, working on that never-ending needlepoint project, while watching the Twilight Saga ─ the love story between human Bella, vampire Edward and the third wheel werewolf Jacob (my favorite), being televised for like the 999th time, with me watching for like the 999th time.

However, getting desperately low on Pokéballs, I instead suited up in walking gear and headed for the nearby university to load up on balls, gifts for game friends, and keep an eye out for today’s specially featured species, new to this area ─ Beldum, a Steel/Psychic type.

Caught one as soon as I parked the car on the lot.

The campus was swarming with Beldums, enabling me to catch enough to evolve already.

Another advantage to giving up my couch sitting/Twilight watching time was that the two eggs I had incubating hatched four times as fast during today's Community Day hours, and I conquered my fear of looking like a fool in the game, and mustered up the courage to enter a PokémonGo Gym and battle. In fact, I battled twice.

Lost both battles, because I really didn’t know what the heck I was doing once inside the Gym but, thanks to the woman who came to the complex on Craft Day to show us how to make mini-chalkboards and caught me playing the game during a lag, when I was waiting for paint to dry, engaging me in game talk and answering my questions about how to enter a Gym and how to battle, at least I’m no longer afraid to go further in the game.

Today’s walk helped to loosen up my joints for next weekend’s 5K. However, by the way my knees and hips began to feel after a short time, it became painfully clear I need more training ─ having been inactive since participating in May’s Great Donut Run because it’s just been too darn hot outside.

Now that the weather is walkable again, there's not enough time remaining for more training. So, it looks like I’m going to have to vampire the race, i.e., walk slow, feed off the energy of the sights and sounds along the path, suck up the endorphins coming from other participants in order to make it to the finish line.

On tap for tomorrow is a trip to Starbucks to order a Traveler for Tuesday’s Halloween Breakfast.

It’s a potluck and since I’m the world’s worst cook, Starbucks coffee ─ which the seniors always see as a treat, is my contribution.

The fact that Halloween is being celebrated a week early here, has to do with Activity Director’s schedule. Costumes are being encouraged.

Inasmuch as our Halloween is a week early, and because so many seniors do not wear costumes when encouraged to do so, I’ll have to think about pulling something out of my costume bin.

I’m thinking probably not.