Monday is a good day for fresh starts and resolutions. Resolution #1 today was to get out before sunrise for a walk. Today I took not just one but three walks. The first one was at 6:30 with Chica and her buddy Una along the cliff where we spotted a heron on the rocks and found an easy way to get down to the water at low tide.Next I took Sofia on a ten-minute stroll. Old and grumpy, she balks a lot, while young Chica always wants to run, so if I walk them both at once I'm prodding one and trying to rein in the other.
Then I changed into my swimsuit and ambled down to the Marina Terra Hotel pool (which I recently discovered is completely shaded by the hotel building at 8am! No sunblock required!) But on Mondays the maintenance man is cleaning the pool. "Hasta nueve," he tells me. Well, a freshly-cleaned pool after a weekend of hotel guests is worth waiting for.
On our street I noticed a man with a big plastic bag, stopping at each garbage can to look for recyclable cans. As usual, I felt a twinge of guilt (guiltmeister that I am). The Capt has been quaffing at least a couple of sodas a day, and the cans have been tossed in with the other garbage. I used to put them in a separate bag, tied to the handle of the garbage can so the recycling guy could get them without rummaging. Resolution #2 for today: I promised myself I'd start doing that again. A not-so-random act of kindness. But who knows? Maybe he'd rummage anyway.
Around the corner four recyclers were busy stomping dozens of cans spread out on the concrete. The garbage truck comes on Monday morning, so they have to get an early start to find their loot before it's taken away. There's a fellow in town next to the video store who throws the cans on the street at the bus stop, and sits in his plastic chair waiting for the bus to flatten them. He gives me a smug grin when I pass by. In our neighborhood a bus passes by every 15 minutes, so these hombres could also "automate" some of their work. But since they're in view of the police station and the nicest hotel in the vicinity, maybe cans in the street isn't a good idea.
When I came home the Capt was in his studio, practicing a series of songs we're working on. Resolution #3: we're going to try recording a few of them using GarageBand. I find that I'm feeling a form of stagefright, which is ludicrous considering there won't be an audience, only the Capt, me and the recorder. Maybe sometime this week I can upload a tune or two on the blog.