Currently, May

This month I am joining Anne in Residence for an attempt at her “Currently” link-up. Anne posts 5 action verbs each month and writers respond to each of them. Here goes!

Image by pixel1 from Pixabay

Consuming

Readers of this blog know I am on a sugar-free diet. Mostly. I do cheat every once in a while. When I do cheat, I usually write about it.

On a recent weekend, my grandchildren and son came to our house for Sunday dinner. I decided that was a good excuse to splurge. Chocolate chip cookies sounded appealing, so I searched for a special recipe for the special occasion.

Boy, did I find one!?!?

These cookies are slightly heavier on the brown sugar: white sugar ratio than those I usually make. The butter is also browned on the stovetop and cooled before adding it to the dough.

And…the cookies are dusted with a slight sprinkle of sea salt after they come out of the oven.

These cookies are so dangerous I sent some home with the guys after dessert, then had to freeze the rest. I would have eaten all of them.

Exploring

When our boys were younger, my husband and I used to take them on fun hikes through the woods.

Fun for us, that is.

The boys described them as death marches.

You would think we tortured them.

A few weeks ago, our youngest son, two grandsons, Bill, and I hiked up Governor Dick, a local hiking trail that ends at a tower.

To ascend the concrete tower, which I can remember climbing when I was a youngster, you climb ladders, alternating sides at each level. The top of the tower, some 9 or 10 stories high, affords spectacular views of the surrounding woods and even some distant towns and cities.

I packed plenty of snacks and drinks.

The hike was declared a success by my grandchildren. They even want to go back and do it again.

I knew it wasn’t torture.

Getting

Our second dose of the vaccine.

With gratitude and relief, my husband and I received the second dose of the (Pfizer) vaccine. Our side effects were mild, the process was a breeze, and we feel like life is returning ever closer to “normal” (whatever that means).

Photo by Steven Hylands on Pexels.com

Hoping

If you are a regular visitor of this space, you know I hope to run the London Marathon this fall.

If everything goes according to plan we also hope to visit Ireland for a hiking trip before the race.

The tour we want to take is a self-guided eight-day walk. Each day, we would walk between eight and sixteen miles, seeing the sights along the way and making frequent stops for photos, snacks, and drinks.

The tour company transports our luggage from point to point, so all we have to carry each day is a light pack.

We walked The Camino de Santiago in Spain using the same method and loved it.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Seeing

The absolute best result of being vaccinated is the ability to travel to Colorado again to see our grandson. And our son and daughter-in-law too, of course.

As soon as we felt safe enough to do so, we hopped in the car and made a beeline 2,000 miles west.

We got to hang out with our grandson while his school was on spring break, building Legos, visiting the local playground, and exploring nearby mud puddles.

We had a wonderful time.

The only problem was someone forgot to tell the mountain region of Northwest Colorado that spring had arrived. Winter still hung on while we visited. The final few miles of our trip were slightly stressful due to snow-slick roads coming over the mountain pass to enter the town.

Maybe by the time we return in July for his birthday, the snow will be gone.

I hope.

Thank you for joining me for this edition of “Currently“. I hope to make it a regular feature.

You can find the places I link up here.