random thoughts – Day 1,579 – (Sunday) – cherries

The summer so far has been marked by some gorgeous weather in between the cloudy spells and rain. There has been an abundance of blue skies, sunshine, and warm/hot temperatures. It’s been perfect for trips to the beach, but so far, I have maintained my unfortunate several year’s long streak of not getting to the beach. 

The beaches are just far enough to be too much hassle to go alone – the driving, the costly parking, then sitting there with nobody to talk to. If I could walk to a beach from home, my position on attendance would be different. Just knowing the beach is nearby and an option, even if I don’t go to it, is a comfort.

I’ve been indoors through most of the summer. Three-fifths of the workweek is spent primarily in the remote-office, with the remaining 40% of the time indoors at the office-office. The rest of the week is spent at home (much of the time sleeping), at the grocery store, and the occasional brief time spent in the evenings on the deck reading.

Cherries!

In addition to the routine of work and sleeping and reading and eating, the past several weeks have been marked by fruits. Three weeks ago and again two weeks ago, the fruit of choice was strawberries. They were large, juicy, and sweet, and were eaten as a snack and cut and added into salads. Last week it was crisp, chilled green grapes and plump, sweet blueberries as snacks and in various salads. 

This week’s chosen fruit is cherries. In the past 24 hours I’ve eaten an entire two-pound bag of cherries because they are so delicious. The only evidence that there were any cherries in the house is a pile of pits and stems in the trash. 

The snack consumption methodology, whether it be chips, crackers, or fruits, involves getting up from the couch and walking to the kitchen where the item is on the counter or in a cabinet. This weekend, small batches of rinsed cherries sat in a colander. A handful were grabbed and carried back to the couch to be enjoyed in front of the TV. (This weekend’s viewing selections were Spirited followed by My Lady Jane, both on Prime Video.) The colander was refilled countless times.

The carefully constructed snack pacing program adds a fitness component with the 24-step round trip journey. Theoretically, the inconvenience of getting up is a deliberate speedbump to provide time to consider if I really want the snack item in the other room. For the record, I almost never talk myself out of eating whatever the thing is, but the frequent movement keeps the fitness watch from buzzing and posting the eloquent “Sit too long” message like it does most work days.