No Show

I was a no show at this morning’s run/walk.

Having registered some time ago, I was primed and ready to go ... that is until the alarm went off at 4:30 this morning so I could get dressed, fed and drive the mere 27 minutes 15 miles into the mountain community of Crestline.

Having felt an energy drain during the entire week to where it’s become an effort to move from one room to another, even thoughts of wasting the money spent on registration fees, missing out on another medal could not get me out of bed. I turned off the alarm, rolled over and slept until 6:00 ─ too late to get it together and arrive by the check-in cutoff time of 6:45.

I think I’ll stick to slow walks, no hustle, until whatever this is lifts itself and I catch a second wind.

After going over and over in my head as to where the energy drain is coming from, I think causation can be summed up as appearances ─ that which seems to be, both in the world and in family affairs.

To be more specific, it’s been 932 days since No. 45 took the oath of office and it’s been an all-day every day bombardment of us with one form of ugliness or another.

As a result, people are nutting up left and right.

We, humanity, need a break.

I need a break and find myself withdrawing into myself once again, not wanting to be around people.

So what have I been doing this week as I retreat into myself you ask.

I made it to the Pain Cave for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday’s workouts and, though my heart wasn’t in it and I wasn’t my usual chatty self, I got it done.

There’s been, of course, the latest needlepoint project, catching up on television programs and getting into the other Mosley book I'd missed.

This book isn’t Mosley’s usual can’t stop reading fare. He’s a bit wordy and philosophical in this one, which makes for a slow read with my sometimes scanning, rather than reading, pages where he waxed philosophically on and on and on about the universe and our role in it.

Not that I disagreed with what Mosley is saying. It’s just that he’s so wordy about it, and I’m more interested in what’s happening with regards to the body hidden in the old movie theater. It also feels he’s pandering to the public with one too many obligatory sex scenes.

Other than working out, needlepoint, television and Walter Mosley, there’s been testing out new recipes and giving last week’s brownie failure another try.

Cassava Flour tortillas, filled with roasted cauliflower, avocado, drizzled with sriracha sauce turned out GREAT!

All those expensive ingredients, purchased last week for the failed Avocado Brownies, did not go to waste after all. I adjusted the recipe adding a little more this, a little more that, less this, less that and, though they came out a little flat, because I need a smaller pan, the smell of a brownie cooking was there, as was the flavor, moistness and chewiness.

I resolved the flatness by stacking. Instead of one brownie in a bowl, I stacked one on top of the other, and it was pretty good with my afternoon coffee.

And yesterday ... taking two brownies from the refrigerator, stacking, warming in the microwave, topping with Chobani yogurt, sweetened with stevia and vanilla extract, it was slap yo momma delicious ─ reminding me of the molten chocolate cake with whipped topping I use to be able to eat in restaurants.

This morning, watching Trisha Yearwood’s cooking show on Food Network, I saw where she topped brownies with potato chips and bacon.

Did that look delish or what?

Can’t have potato chips but, next time I make a batch of brownies, I’ll try adding uncured bacon.

I also want to give Trish’s Marinated Veggie Salad a try.

All in all, I’m making good use of my time away from the world.