I woke up hurting, which isn’t unusual, but usually once I’m moving around a bit, things loosen up.

Sometime after breakfast, I knew I needed to walk and asked Dave if we could go somewhere other that around the resort, so we first went to one of the local nature preserves.

We started on a walking/hiking trail and I had put on a pain patch, (5% lidocaine) but I was still hurting quite bad. I ignored it and walked anyway.

I’m not sure how far we walked, but by the time we got back to the car, I actually felt better. Maybe movement is always the ticket.

Of course I snapped a few photos as we walked.

I love the diversity of flora and fauna here. Just counting the different kinds of palms and pines is a job. There are many great birding opportunities here as well. From great horned owls to osprey, cooper’s hawks, woodpeckers and duck breeds.

Two types of turtles, snakes, lizards, otters and more are all in this park, but they stay well camouflaged. We heard some kind of screeching bird, but never could find it. Beautiful butterflies and insects that resemble dragonflies but aren’t are also found in the preserve.

I’d never heard of slash pines, but they are everywhere. Goldenrod, gulberry, and pickerelweed grow here, among the giant wild pines. Luckily, they provide a brochure, or I wouldn’t know the names of any of these things.

Jumping in the car, the next stop was a favorite park-Dubois Park, featured in last year’s photo at the top of this post. Enjoy the gallery.

Things seemed stiff yet I was still moving when we stopped by the store on the way home.

Later in the afternoon, we went to sit poolside with friends, but the first time I got up to go refill my water, I felt crooked. My whole body. My left knee is out of joint and my hips have been hurting as bad as my back.

I never went back, choosing to rest at home, sit where I’m comfortable, and get up and down every hour. Thank goodness I have an appt. at the VA Monday and start the process of (hopefully) getting another nerve block injection. Then y’all wont have to hear me complain. (I can hear you all clapping)

In fact, from now on, I’m just going to say I’m fine. 🙂