Saturday, November 20. Red Beans And The River. The day broke warm and blue. Breakfast was sausage, grits and biscuits. And then I was off on my morning constitutional to the back of the Manresa property. The stiffness in my calves from yesterday's ten miles of walking made me limp a little, but not too badly. Lunch was my favorite meal here: red beans and rice. I send the bowl around the table such that I get it last. This was a mistake today. By the time the bowl arrived, there was lost of sauce and sausage but very few beans.
My afternoon walk went upriver to the historic St. Michael's Church. Unlike yesterday's route along a deep batture, today's is right next to the river, with only a few trees separating the Big Muddy from the levee. Last year, the river put a lot of this a foot or two underwater. Now there was no sign that this had happened.
My grade on the Manresa Stress Test slipped as I walked. I sat under a sycamore on the batture a long time before heading back, more than a little bit stiff. In no previous year have I been so sedentary. My much-expanded workload has kept me far too many hours in front of a computer. I hardly even walk my trails around the Cool Water Ranch anymore. This must change. I've already made a good start: fifteen miles walked in two days here. But oh, do my calves ache. People must be wondering why I'm walking funny.
Dinner was a good roast pork loin au jus with corn, mushroom rice, and a (sort of) Caesar salad.Delicious bread pudding for dessert. I went back to reading and writing in my ancient hand-written journal. I resolved that there would be no more long walks, at least not tonight. Groan!
