Random Thoughts

Location: Chippewa Campground in Kankakee State Park; Kankakee, Illinois (about an hour southwest of Chicago)

It's another very nicely maintained and peaceful state park. I'm really impressed by Illinois's state park system. There have been very few campers here and I'm not sure why not. It is a heavily wooded campground which provides lots of shade in the majority of campsites. I purposely chose one that was in the open because storms were predicted and I didn't want to be under a tree again as storms passed through. The time from a few weeks ago still has me on edge and gun shy. The weather forecasters fooled me and there was only a small shower during my four day stay. Oh well, I'm still satisfied.

You can see how pretty the park is. The camp hosts do an excellent job.

The campsite from the other direction.

And as usual, my view out the back window. I seemed to have stared out it a lot at this campground.

I couldn't find anything to explore in this area. There was a nice sounding museum but it was closed during the days I was here. I was surprised to see a Best Buy in Kankakee and I took it as a sign to buy a new laptop since mine had been acting up a little bit lately. I'm not exactly sure how old my laptop is but it is at least 15 years. It's an HP and has performed great over the years. So I went online to the Best Buy site and wouldn't you know it, there was an HP on sale and had basically everything I needed. After dubbing that as the second sign, I bought it. Now, I'll have to figure out what to do with it. It will give me something to do over the next several months. It's a little exciting thinking about setting up a new computer and deciding what gets transferred over and what gets trashed. 

Without any exploration, I've stayed close to the campground just doing some thinking and walking. The walking is good, the thinking, eh,,,so,so. 

Some of the Random Thoughts I had:

I really like Walmart when traveling. It is conveniently located so I can use it as a rest stop and get my groceries while towing. They also fill my prescriptions easily and act as my banker in giving me cash back. I've used and been happy with their hair cutting places too. The nice lady that cut my hair a few years ago told me I didn't have grey hair, I have "senior highlights". I like that. The last one that cut my hair wanted to be a stow-a-way in the RV since she was having a rough patch in her life. Nope, I quickly erected a brick way until I could pay and leave. Walmart's meat and produce aren't top of the line, they are adequate for my needs. 

Oklahoma is still in the top five in terms of nice looking women, at least on this trip. The states since Oklahoma have been Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa and now Illinois. Iowa came close but couldn't knock Oklahoma out of the top five. I can also state for certainty that after the dozen or so foreign countries Uncle Sam sent me to, The Dominican Republic has the most beautiful women with Norway coming in second. 

Of the many things that keep a relationship alive, Recreational Companionship is very important but often overlooked. It doesn't matter if that recreation is fishing, hunting, bowling or just reading books together, it must be something that both enjoys and enjoys doing it together. Sometimes that recreation is child rearing and that's OK too, as long as it's done together. But (there's always a but isn't there). But, if it is child rearing, you better be prepared with something to take it's place when the kids grow up and move away. Empty Nest Syndrome is a real thing. 

I got the very best medical orders by the elderly nurse of my cardiologist. She has been retire for many years now and I can't remember her name. About 16 years ago, my heart reminded me that I wasn't 10 feet tall and bullet proof. My cardiologist left a stent in one of my arteries as a reminder. Anyway, back then you had to spend the night in the hospital if you had a stent. The doctor's nurse visited with me before being discharged and said she wanted to talk to me about exercise. Well, at that time I was about 50 pounds heavier than I am now and I had quit smoking the previous year after smoking for 35 years. I was not looking forward to what this woman was about to say. The first thing she said stunned me and got my attention. She said, "No pain, no gain is not true." Wow, she just called all of my high school coaches and boot camp company commanders liars. She had my attention. What she said next, has stuck with me all these years and guided my actions. The main thing you need to do is "walk till you get tired then stop. Do that 3 to 4 times a week." Being an engineer, I wanted something more exact so I foolishly asked her, "how far do I walk". She replied sternly, "like I said, till you get tired then stop". She emphasized the stopping was just as important as the walking. Your mind controls your body and if you get very tired from walking or any other exercise, your mind will try to convince your body the next day to not to walk or exercise that day. So, you MUST stop when you get tired. The stopping can be on the same walk meaning just stop, take your time, catch your breath. After doing this 3 to 4 times a week you will gradually increase the distance and speed that you walk. She said if you want to do anything else like lift weights, exercise machines, etc, that's OK, because that is just lagniappe (time for a cajun lesson, Lagniappe, pronounced lan-yap, means "a little extra", "a bonus"). So remember the simple words, "walk till you get tired, then stop".

There is a "love bank" inside all of us with deposits and withdrawals being made by everyone we interact with during our lives. A deposit can be something as simple as holding the door open for someone as they enter a building. Withdrawals can also be something as small as being rude or giving someone a mean look. You mentally and emotionally keep a running total of the balance in your love bank for everyone in your life. The person with the biggest balance is the person you love the most and the one with the smallest/overdrawn balance is the person you like the least. It's kind of simple when you break it down this way. The twist to the process though is that if someone doesn't make a deposit, then service fees are charged and the balance is decreased. You must continually be depositing into the love bank inside of your loved ones to maintain the love connection between each other. You can't just make a gigantic deposit and then live off the interest. This process, at least to me, is what explains a lot about the ebb and flows of relationships. Think about a military couple who are separated by one being sent somewhere far away for a long while. Yep, letters, calls etc can make love bank deposits but they are usually much smaller than if they were in person. The spouse that is left behind must be constantly on guard against someone else making deposits like compliments, flirting, hanging out, etc. What may start out innocent, eventually changes as that person's love bank balance exceeds the balance of the spouse that is away. That is why there are so many Dear John letters being sent to military personnel overseas. Make sure you're making deposits in the love banks within your loved ones. 

OK, enough ramblings. Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be headed about an hour or so south to another Illinois state park. Sadly, I also haven't been able to find anything of interest to explore. I need to think on this some more since I've never had so many non-explorable campgrounds in a row. Something else may be at work here.

I always wonder what my grandkids will think about some of my random thoughts as they hopefully read this blog decades from now.  

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe, I'll Cya down the road.