Version 2.132

A few days ago, I booked five nights at the Lodge at Gulf State Park, in Alabama. The room was supposed to have a balcony with a view of the Gulf of Mexico, the park had walking trails and one could ride a bike. I figured that, since it was right after Labor Day, there would be fewer people than during the summer, the water would be a deep blue, I could have my meals outside or order room service and eat in the balcony, and since it is a state park, there were no commercial areas nearby, no noise, no unnecessary distractions. I could spend my days reading and staring at the horizon until I were utterly bored out of my mind.

There is a hurricane headead to my slice of paradise. Well, it will be a tropical storm when it lands and it's only a category one hurricane, but that's what it says now. What it said a few days ago was that there would be up to 50% chance of rain and that was it. So God knows what Hurricane Sally might end up being. I actually considered going until late this afternoon, but then my girlfriends freaked out that I'd be driving into a hurricane. Plus, I started thinking that my car might flood and my car is kind of new, as in a few months old, so I best not press my luck. Then there is also the color of the water: the Gulf will be brown, so the chances of me staring out into the deep blue are nil. And so I cancelled.

I tried looking for other places to go; places that had lots of water and were within reasonable driving distance, but there is nothing outside the hurricane area. I could make it a road trip and drive six hours, get a hotel room spend the night, then drive another six hours to get to a place on the Atlantic, spend a couple of nights, then drive back again in two days, but I don't want to do it because there's a pandemic and I don't really want to be around a bunch of people in a a bunch of places I have no desire to visit--at least not at this time. All I wanted was a few days to get my mind completely numb from being too bored.

I don't know where I am going. Not that that's any different from the rest of my life.