Sudoku is Driving Me Cuckoo!!

Not long ago I purchased one of those innocuous little sudoku books, as though I need another means of wasting time!  Since then, I've sat like a stump and tried to work my way through it.  Numbers aren't my thing, although it's suppose to be about the logic - as it turns out,  it appears I'm not good at that either!!  It is very slow going, but it is the type of thing I enjoy doing....putting the pieces together, figuring it out......like a dog with a bone!  My method is not completely pure.  For peace of mind, I check my solution after every few columns, rows or blocks are "solved".....because if I get too far off base, I don't know how (can't figure out how) to recover! What I really get a kick out of is at the bottom of each page is a spot to put your time in solving the puzzle, which I assume should be in minutes!  I usually add a comment - "not soon enough", "a lifetime", 'I grew old", and so on. If you're one of those people who can actually whiz through these in minutes, you have my admiration!

My walking has resumed, encouraged by a break in the heat.  In addition to building my stamina again, I dreaded having to get used to the heat after 3 weeks of being inside.  I was rewarded for getting out by being able to help a turtle across the street.  At the end of Waterford Drive, I walk a huge circle.  As I was finishing up and getting back on my street, I looked down the circle and thought I saw a turtle near the middle of the road,  I walked down and, sure enough, there it was, tucking in as I approached.  I stood there for a minute, not really knowing how to help.....but knowing that if I picked it up and it made a strange move, I'd probably drop it.  My only experience with turtles has been as a child when all of those little dime store turtles (chicks, bunnies, etc.) were sacrificed for our enjoyment.  They just crawled around in your hand, tickling as they went.......this was a mature water turtle complete with an algae covered back and a mouth big enough to snap my finger.  As I'm trying to come up with a solution, a car approached.  I just stood there in the road with the turtle as there was plenty of room for the car to pass.  It turned out to be a very nice man, who stopped to assist.  I told him I was trying to help a turtle cross the street and as he got out of the car, he said something to the effect of, "Oh boy, I used to love turtles........I'd love to take this to my grandson!"  He debated the pros (his grandson would love it) and cons (his grandson's mother wouldn't!) and decided against it since it was a water turtle.  He calmly picked it up and put in on the grass on the other side of the street, after asking if there was a lagoon in that direction.  When we moved away, Mr. Turtle continued his journey.  It did make me wonder why the chicken, or in this case the turtle, crossed the road?  It was a pretty long trek for a little turtle and I wondered what made him undertake it. What made him want to leave his old home?  Did he really know there was a lagoon in that direction?   Makes you wonder!!

Well, I'm going to have to take my camera on my walks. This morning, it was the mouse/vole/mole that crossed the street.  I had almost finished what I thought was an uneventful walk when I spotted something very small wiggling/squiggling/scurrying across the street.  I took off after it because, small though it was, it was moving quickly.  By the time I reached it, only 1/3 of its body was still visible.  It had quickly burrowed beneath the grass and was pushing soil out at an incredible rate.  Long after I could no longer see it, the soil was still being displaced.  It was amazing that something that small could do all of that......and so quickly.

You may have already guessed that I'm having difficulty getting back to a productive routine.  I don't know if it's the heat, if my stamina has been depleted by the cold/bronchial infection, or what.....it's just been hard to get anything done.  I usually have a list to keep me going but for the last week I haven't even done that, but am getting back to it tomorrow.  Today I've just tried to work at getting 5-minute jobs done - cleaning the patio, filling bird feeders, watering plants, filing papers, etc. - little jobs that I can do between rest periods.  I'm hoping to have more energy (and enthusiasm!) tomorrow.