Tropical Storm Arlene

The first storm of the new Hurricane season has brought more rain to our area after last week's six days of it. The ground is pretty well saturated now and, hopefully, after today, it will become a normal 'summer' pattern, which could mean rain each afternoon but not all day long for several days in a row. It was coming down so hard that it woke me at 4:30AM and then with the darkness, I slept late.
Tomorrow I'm 'on call' for the O.R., so I am hoping this bad weather is gone in case I have to go and drive in it. I usually do get at least one case on the Sunday 'call' and I don't mind it as long as it isn't in the middle of the night.
I have re-visited my plans for the next trip and am still a little undecided as to when I will really get back on the road. I've been home long enough now that I am ready to go again but will honor my committments to work and the zoo and those are through July. I have made several road plans depending on the weather and when I really leave and am trying to research hotels/motels and the 'all suite' places that I like the best while keeping a 'budget' in mind. There is no doubt that I will go again but departure date is still unknown.

Zoo volunteer

I am now an official volunteer for the Brevard Zoo. That doesn't mean I can rush right out and go do stuff with the animals, but I can do landscaping and office work until I take the classes required to do anything else. The first class that I am going to take is for kayaking. I think that will be fun, exercise, and outdoors where if I get hot I can get wet easily.
The orientation class and the zoo-osophy class were interesting and both the volunteer coordinator and the zoo educator made the two hours go by very quickly. I am planning on taking all the classes so that I can do most anything there although I will leave the cleaning out of the cages to the young people who are numerous for these upcoming summer months.

Home

It's been a little strange being home after the driving and different beds but nice to be 'settled' again. The cats have been quite happy being able to go out on the deck again and are getting back into their old routines (waking me earlier than I need to get up).
I am re-evaluating my next trip and probably will not go in the 'heat' of the summer but wait until the last week of August and perhaps September will be better 'on the road' with them. When I thought about visiting San Antonio in the middle of August, that didn't sound very 'cool' to me. And going later on, I might get to see 'fall' colors, which I haven't seen for a long time. Even the southwest and northwest have trees that change color.
I will fly to visit with Diana in Santa Fe the weekend of August 20th when the yearly Indian Market occurs. By then, she thinks, the house will be ready for company although I don't care if it's still got boxes as long as I have a bed.
I am back to work and have already been asked to do an extra day here and there because vacations are starting. I don't think they'll mind that I'll be available more in the summer than my original plan.