Karin and I are back on the road again going to our timeshares. We arrived at one of our favorite places, Oceanside. Wow! What a difference in procedure to check in. We had to call on the phone and tell them we were outside ready to check in. It was 2:00pm, the time I normally check in because I am what they call a VIP, but not that day, I had to wait until 4:00pm which is the regular check in time.

There were no comfortable lounges in the lobby like normal – all seating had been taken out. We had to wait outside in our car for two hours.

We were able to use the pool during our stay, but only for one hour and with a reservation made the day before. All of the other normal activities were canceled. It worked out well for us. We had Karin’s great granddaughter and one of my great-grandsons with us.

They did the beach one day and the pool for two days. One morning we walked a mile and had breakfast at the “Swami’s”; we walked out to the end of the pier and had dinner at Ruby’s, also a mile walk.

Life can be so simple if we let it. That is one of the good things about being 85 years old. People are inclined to let you do anything you want. Your kids worry about you getting hurt for a change, instead of you worrying about them getting hurt. It is a time when they find out that you can be just as obstinate as they were when they were teenagers.

I was pleased with all of the extra precautions we had to put up with because I felt safe there. We were only there for four days. In September we will be staying for three weeks. Perhaps a few more activities will be open then. The two I missed the most were the gym and the ice cream social. Both necessary, the gym to keep me healthy enough that I can eat the ice cream to keep me happy.

It is so much fun I wish I could be 85 forever, but then 86 may be even better. Only time will tell.

As I sit here at my desk wondering how long this staying at home is going to last, I’m looking at the pictures I have on my wall. I see them of course, every day, but I don’t actually see them.

I find just siting and looking at them, letting the image enter my mind rather than letting it just flash in and out of my brain. I can close my eyes and let my mind go back to when I took them; the whole day comes back to me in sharp focus.

I have pictures on my wall from the Grand Canyon, Africa, Panama, Costa Rica and the Amazon. Each time I concentrate on one of them, my mind goes back to the actual instant when I took the picture; I can see in my mind all the things that were around me.

I see the entire water hole that the bird was sitting in; I see the tree that the birds had the nest in. It’s all in my mind and the pictures bring back the entire experience so I can enjoy it again. Looking at the picture and letting my mind go free (which, as I get older could be disastrous, it might not come back), I can relive my adventures.

It’s amazing what the mind holds in the brain. We are mostly unaware that our past is so well stored. It is like having it stored in the cloud and forgetting the passwords.

Our past is still living deep in some crevasse of our brain. It is frustrating trying to bring a memory back out for us to enjoy without the password. The triggers to our memory take many different forms. The key to open a memory might be just a word that somebody says or perhaps a story that they are telling. It could be an odor that brings back memories. In my case the photos on my walls do a great job of parting the clouds. Each one takes me back to some point in my life of wonder. I am reminded of how incredible this planet I call home is, and how fortunate I am to be allowed to explore it. I have been given health, political freedom, and enough money and opportunity to live as a wandering wonderer. I love my country