Half-way Point

June comes to an end as does the first half of the calendar year for 2026.
Rather than review the high and low points of the past six months from a national or global perspective, I am just going to take a very narrow look from my own viewpoint.

Early in the year, I finished my sixth winter of working in the crisis cold weather shelters for the homeless community of Springfield MO. The organization around the shelters continues to get better even if the overall number of available beds has not. I really don't know what next season will look like for me. I know there is a need and a place for me within the shelter where I've been working, but I would also like to spend more time in a much warmer climate during the winter months. 
As soon as the season ended this past spring, I headed to Puerto Vallarta for several weeks. April was a lovely time to be there, but January would be a better time to be away from here!  

The spring here has been quite lovely. Even the early summer temps haven't been too bad. Our house stays relatively cool with shaded porches on both front and back and a nice airflow through the house. We make use of the attic fan that our builder says nobody uses anymore and we have been pretty comfortable without using the air conditioner. 
I think we used it back in March when we had an unusual stretch of several 90 degree days, but that's been it. It may come on today or during this week's run of high temps. 

I am back to my cold-brew iced coffee for the mornings. I am thinking about fighting nature and moving to an earlier bedtime and wake-up. I enjoy my slow mornings, but that often puts my outdoor work into the hotter part of the day. If I get up a couple of hours earlier I can still have my slow mornings and start work before it is too hot. Overall, it's not that much of a deal. Summer is my thing and sweat doesn't bother me that much.

The yard work feels good, but I am out of shape for the heavier stuff. I really need to work on that. I am carrying far too much weight and not getting enough exercise. It's an old tune that I keep repeating, but I think I'm finally going to do something about it. I've started using the exercise cycle several times this past month. I'm going to make that a regular thing in the coming months. Setting exercise as a habit is going to be more difficult than it once was. Truly I have been less mentally motivated to move as I have gotten older.
Plus, I like to eat -- too damn much!
It's true -- you can't out-exercise your bad diet.
Damn!

Let's see what the second half of 2026 holds.

John