Hunkered Down

We’ve made the decision to stay put and isolate ourselves for as long as we can. We did not come to this decision lightly. We are away from our family and friends and that weighs heavy on our heart. We are in an unfamiliar place in an unfamiliar state, but we feel that going home now would expose us to more than if we stayed put. Our family has what they need and they are doing well. The campground where we are at now has extended our stay out to five weeks. So staying here seems like the right thing to do.

We have a really nice, spacious campsite. There’s not another camper closer than a hundred feet away. That’s further away than my neighbors in our sticks and bricks house back in Florida. We are shaded by a canopy of large trees and there’s a patch of green grass where the deer love to lie down during the heat of the day. It has become one of our pastimes to sit outside and talk to them. They turn their heads and twist their ear like they are trying to understand us. 

There is so much wildlife around here. Now you might not believe this but I’ve never seen a jack rabbit before this week. Wow! Those guys have the biggest ears I’ve ever seen. We’ve seen squirrels playing tag in the trees and an occasional turkey trotting between the campers and just the other day, two young boys playing among the trees across the road from us suddenly took off screaming “It’s a skunk! It’s a skunk!”. Of course, I took their word for it and didn’t go see for myself.

The main wildlife attraction is the deer. They don’t seem to be much bothered by our presence and if you’re not paying attention they might just sneak up behind you and scare you. No matter where we walk there is a deer nearby. During the day they stay scattered in the trees all around the campground but as the day moves toward dusk they all instinctively move toward the meadow. It is a sight to see. They come from every direction and congregate in what I can only describe as a herd. There are well over a hundred, maybe two hundred deer grazing in the meadow as the sun sets.

I don’t know if the deer are still there in the morning though. I’m not sure what it is about sleeping in this camper but we both sleep really good. I’m happy to get five or six hours of sleep at home but here in the camper I’m sleeping nine to ten hours a night. I can’t explain it but we don’t seem to get out of bed until at least nine o’clock and many mornings it’s after ten before we get up. It’s almost embarrassing but hey, getting plenty of sleep is part of staying healthy and that is important, right?

A couple of days after arriving and settling in we drove to San Antonio. It’s only forty minutes away. I checked the website for the Alamo and it said that the buildings would be closed to the public but the outside grounds were open to walk around as long as you adhered to the six foot social distancing rules. When we arrived, I was surprised to find the place deserted. And all the surrounding grounds were closed off too. So much for the website. 

I learned latter that the mayor issued a “stay at home order” that went into effect that day. As it turns out, Texas was doing the same thing as my home state of Florida by leaving it up to the cities and counties to make their own determination for issuing “stay at home orders”. We took a few pictures in front of the Alamo, then went on a short walk along the riverwalk before heading back out of town.

We weren’t doing anything wrong or illegal. The “stay at home order” allowed for outdoor activities like biking and walking so long as you maintain social distancing. In fact, we saw some very friendly police officers who said hello to us as we walked past. That being said, if I had known about the order beforehand we probably would not of gone. Of course we practiced social distancing and used a lot of hand sanitizer.

Since we are now pretty much staying to ourselves and not leaving the campground we are trying to maintain a daily routine of exercise and hiking. We have come up with our own exercise routine. Grammi is more into her yoga and I have a set of elastic bands I use for resistance exercises.

There is a very nice trail that meanders through the woods and also the shoreline along the lake is a scenic walk. We’ve mapped out a route that gives us a variety of landscapes and we look forward to hiking it every day. I am finding it to be a huge stress release taking time during the day for exercise.

We also enjoy resting in the hammock and reading a good story on our ipads after a long hike. It’s just another way to pass the time while we practice social distancing.

Another part of our daily routine is to go to the lake and watch the sunset. We set an alarm to remind us not to be late. The hills beyond the opposite shoreline create a stunning landscape for the sun to disappear behind. Each evening we stand near the same lake and watch the same sun drop behind the same hills but amazingly each evening is a different sunset. It brings a calm and relaxing end to the day. The best part of all is we’ll have thirty-five sunsets to enjoy here as we hunker down.