Tag: Funny

Guest Post: Walking. 1500 consecutive (almost) days TODAY and counting. Let’s set the record straight…

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Guest Post by Cara Denison.

What I have “Lived & Learned” with 1500 consecutive (almost) days of seeing DK at Cove Island Park. 

If you are a Live & Learn blog follower, you might remember a post from July 2, 2022: “Walking in Pursuit of Stalker”. That’s me. I am the falsely accused “stalker.” When this blog post was originally sent to me in 2022, I was a bit stunned at how much (erroneous) detail a stranger (DK) included in his blog (without consent). I think it’s time I set a few things straight. 

I started my morning excursions to The Cove about 6 months prior to him, making it ~1700 consecutive days of morning walks at the Cove — 200 days more than DK. He refuses to accept this (and coming in 2nd), describing my early days as “snapping photos from the window of my car without actually pausing or stepping foot inside The Cove.” Real Gentleman, right?!

I had seen “man with camera and backpack” various times. Always walking, trudging, grunting and muttering words like “note to self.”  How do I remember so many details? You see, it’s easy to pick out the shadows and movements of the same five insomniacs that frequent the park at that hour. 

Back to 2022. I remember that day as if it were yesterday (as is the case with most traumatic events). I saw a man (DK) standing on the breakwall on Weed Avenue. I stopped my car and asked him if he wouldn’t mind if I took his silhouette photo in front of a spectacular sunrise. He grunted something, which I took to mean “ok” – and that act defined me as a Stalker: a person who demonstrates unwanted, obsessive attention…Let me keep going. 

Now, one might think this exchange kick started a morning ritual of saying “hi,” greeting each other, or exchanging pleasantries. It did not. In fact, many more weeks and months went by with less than a handful of words exchanged between us — and be assured, it was not due to lack of effort on my part. 

Fast forward a year later, and I’m chatting with a friend about my summer plans. (I’m a 4th grade Teacher.)

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Guess.What.Day.It.Is?

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Notes:

Help Her. Now.

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In case you missed the back story about this Sad Sack, you can read about her hopeless case here: “Walking. All Self-Doubt…Gone” and here: “Epilogue: All Doubts Gone.”

Yep, there are those that just don’t get it.

This time she’s wrestling a massive, misshapen piece of driftwood, easily over 100 pounds, thrown onto the rocks during our last storm. She’s determined to haul it up the steep, slippery embankment, over the slick mossy boulders and up and over the break wall.

Why? That’s the question other early morning walkers at Cove Island Park seem to be asking as they pass by, shooting me the “Is she okay?” look. I nod knowingly. This is her therapy, the best we can do here is maintenance, as the damage is irreparable.

Did she ask for help? You bet. I offered to call 911 the moment she took a tumble.

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Epilogue: All Doubts Gone

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And so here we are, with an update to yesterday’s post: “Walking. All Self-Doubt…Gone.”

We do have a Disney ending to this debacle, and I can hear all the joyful tittering rattling the internet grid.

And for the record, let me acknowledge three courageous followers of high character who did not buckle to all of the others (aka Girl-Power-Club) who relayed this sentiment in one form or another: “I’m disappointed DK, in your failure to be a Man.” Talk about a gut punch, right?

And Yes, a happy ending. But, no, don’t get ahead of yourself. I didn’t make a follow-up trip and drag the water soaked timber out of the water. And no, Cara didn’t get and won’t get an apology, not now or ever. What’s right is right, and I’m right. (again)

And, when it is the darkest, you can always count on your Family to be there when you need them most.

Cara’s 16 year old Son JJ came to the rescue.

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Walking. All Self-Doubt….Gone.

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Let’s make it 1,474 consecutive (almost) days on this Cove Island Park walk this morning. Like in a row.

For those of you who have followed this blog (and by some miracle of all miracles, you are still here) — and you’ve labored through the journeys in self-doubt, sugar consumption, electronic gadget addiction, and a pile of other habitual derailments, I feel that I had achieved an important milestone this morning. Like BIG.

And I walk.

It’s a beautiful morning. From twilight to sunrise, a magnificent morning. (You can see my shots here.)

I’m rounding the final turn and I see Cara (a Cove Island Park runner). She’s down along the shoreline. She sees me and calls out:

CD: “How much do you think it weighs?”
DK: “75 to 100 lbs wet would be my guess.”
CD: “Want to help me move it out of the way?” (To get unblemished shots for her Instagram posts.)
DK: “No.”
CD: “No?”
DK: (I pause before responding and replace “absolutely not” with a curt reply.) “No.”
CD: Really?
DK: (I stand. She gives up.)

She begins tip-toeing between the rocks, most covered in algae, and treacherous.

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