August Already?

We're truly in the heart of summertime here in the Keys.  More than a handful of friends and acquaintances have taken to the road, gotten "off the rock" so to speak, and have taken (or will soon be taking) vacations.  Some places have scaled back their hours, some have closed for a week or two here or there.  We're still open and working, and truth be told there remain very few days where I have "spare" time.  Part of the reason is simply working on Deer Run, but there are other projects and endeavors that both the other happy vegan and I have undertaken that keep us more than well occupied. Through it all, I'm still running.  There was one day last week where I just had to say "no" due to the heat.  It was absolutely excessive for exercising outdoors, and it's still bugging me that I had to ditch my run.  Otherwise, I'm keeping up fairly well.  I read another book about running very recently.  It's not worth mentioning which one, because I wouldn't really recommend it overall.  Yet, there was a few tidbits in there that will help me out, and one which really reinforced my quasi-commitment to running, such as it is.  Basically it affirmed that simply to finish a run is to meet a goal.  And, that is exactly how I approach running, as well as other tasks.  For me, running is not necessarily about time (although sometimes I do work to improve personal bests, NOT in the summer!), its about finishing.  That first mile is always the worst for me.  I'm tired.  My body won't seem to cooperate.  I can't seem to breathe properly.  My mind is wandering. It's a struggle, boy is that mile a struggle.  Then something shifts, and I'm better; not faster, just better.  I find my comfortable stride, my breathing settles down, my mind becomes clearer.  So, this book had an entire chapter about successful running, much of which was devoted to finishing.  I've already donated the book to a local charity, never to be seen by me again.  On to the next.

We've had some incredible weather through our country, drought is everywhere (something we deal with annually here in the Keys, making water conservation a major issue at Deer Run just as a matter of good practice), fires still rage in certain places, random torrential rains and flooding are occurring other places.  Here we're also truly in the heart of the hurricane season.  I pay special attention to the tropical storm updates daily, and hope to not let my guard down too much when its beautiful here as much as it has been.  Yes, of all the places in the country, we've had a relatively calm and typical summer.  Rains at night, sometimes popping up through the heat of the afternoon.  Last week was a week of unbelievably flat seas, so much so that we were out on the boat, and this non-swimmer was far out at the reef (miles from shore!) in the water watching the undersea world go by with about 50 feet of visibility.  I saw a goliath grouper as long as our boat (check out our Facebook page, I posted a picture), which although they're not aggressive, admittedly I waited til he swam away before getting into the water with that prehistoric creature.

I'm enjoying summertime as much as I'm able to right now.  Work is putting more pressure on me than normally comes with summertime season, but there's light at the end of the tunnel, and that makes me happy. I've been planning a few art projects, and we still have our BIG Deer Run news to (hopefully!) be sharing in the very near future.

Please check us out on Facebook, I'm having a great time posting photos on there, its such a great way for me to get current information out to people who are wondering.

Have a great day everyone, I'm off to make 2 Meatless Monday recipes (which I'll share on Facebook), which although simple (my constant goal!) should be pretty darn tasty!  See you soon!