I debated writing something for the 25th anniversary of 9/11, but I wanted to quietly contemplate on my own instead. One of these days, I might reflect and write about it, but for now…

Today was the first day I realized I woke and felt at peace. It was a nice feeling and realization and I hope it means I’ve turned a corner. My energy levels are still not up to par and I often am tired (but not so much exhausted at least) and/or need nap(s).

We had all sorts of weather advisories early this month, including one day with a heat advisory, high surf advisory, flooding advisory, AND extreme heat warning, so I ended up staying at home a little more, to avoid the heat. We had the aftereffects of Hurricane Marie batter our shoreline and many beaches were washed away, leaving the rocks underneath. Aliso Beach was one of the most damaged, with parts of the sidewalk falling apart, palm trees coming down, and flooding on the parking lot that have it completely shut for the time being. Apparently in 2014, another Hurricane Marie did similar damage, though not quite as extreme as this time. We are supposed to have El Niño this winter, which I read brings swells from the north (as opposed to these waves from the south), and it might actually help repair some of the sand we lost. We shall see! This is the first year that I’ve gone to the beach consistently and started to notice these things.

I complain about a heat wave here, but really it was only in the high 90’s. However, it was unusually humid for our area, so of course it felt much hotter. I usually get a cool ocean breeze and I only have to open my windows for natural A/C, but this time I had to turn on my A/C for the first time I think in 3 years. It was so hot that the insects were barely moving! I had a dragonfly rest in the shade of my house for so long that I thought it might have died. Then there was a katydid that did a very slow crawl across my window and I got to watch it breathe through the glass! The spiders have been out in force as well, with webs even spanning the path to my gate. Many of them seem to have caught a bee to eat, never seen that before. Worst of all, the ants have invited themselves inside to drink my cat’s water and crawl into the space behind the dishwasher. I really try to avoid killing them, so I just try to remove the source of their interest, but they keep finding something new. Alas, I’m about ready to apply more dire methods.

Since my last update, I got around to:

• another Padres game, in which I finally found the La Catrina City Connect gear I wanted!!
• check out the San Diego Central Library. it’s quite large and rather dark
• encountering an owl in the middle of the road at night! it didn’t notice me until I was pretty close and moved over to the other lane — then it turned its head to look at my headlights, and boom! a quick jump and it was gone, just feathery legs and talons leaving a shadow in my mind
• watch the Apple event and thought about getting the Apple Duo, but the camera zoom is not enough for my needs. maybe next year
• snorkel at Shaw’s Cove and enjoy swimming with a cute baby stingray
• try to snorkel at Divers Cove, but the conditions were too rough, so I ended up back at Goff Cove for another round
• go for my monthly facial and massage sessions
• spend a day hanging out with family, with time melting away
• exploring another part of El Dorado Park and getting tons of great shots with my awesome telescopic lens — plus a selfie with a hawk that didn’t even care as I inched closer to its tree
• enjoying a peaceful lunch at a cute hidden oasis
• taking my car in for another recall
• going on a 5-mile hike that took me to parts of my city I’d never explored (I had no clue there was a school a mile from me)

My sense of time is still stretching in the short-term, every 2-3 days feels like a week, but the longer scale time doesn’t feel quite so long ago. I do have trouble remembering when I did what, which is also warping my sense of time. This past weekend, I had a delightful day with my parents and cousin, where we had lunch and then hung out chatting until dinner and beyond. It was a total of about 9 hours where I did not feel rushed or impatient and simply enjoyed their company. I’m not normally social, but I do appreciate some time with loved ones (so long as I still get my alone time).

Liminal check-in (these are the milestones I set that would help me gauge how my body is recovering):

It has now been a week and a half since work. Today was meant to be the original first day off, but during discussions with the company, we had decided it was best for both sides to cut it off early, hence my extra 10 days.

So far I’m finding time is stretching out more, which is quite nice. The first couple of days felt like the weekend every day, and thus by the time I met up with some former coworkers a week after, it already felt like 3 weeks had gone by. I hope I don’t get used to this, as it feels nice to have time and move at a slower pace.

In this time, I managed to rest a lot yet still get a fair amount done:

• visit to my mom on my dad’s birthday, since he was on a business trip
• go for a spontaneous morning hike because that’s what I felt like doing
• do a float therapy session (which also helped extend time)
• visit Bolsa Chica to try out my new telescopic lens attachment for my phone
• attend a Padres day game (which I originally was going to take PTO for)
• finally go snorkeling at Goff Cove like I’ve meant to for months and months! I was rewarded with my first leopard shark spottings <3
• get incredible shots of the partial blood moon eclipse, thanks to that telescopic lens and my Tenikle tripod
• meet up with former colleagues for a lunch
• get books at 3 different library systems (in LA, OC, and SD)
• nap a LOT — sometimes twice a day

As a somewhat newly-anointed Padres fan (as of mid-April 2025), I love that my timing lined up with the new ownership, which was finalized on my last day at work and announced on my first workday without work! It also happened to be Mason Miller’s birthday and he had his 100th K (strikeout) during the game that day. Gotta appreciate small moments of serendipity, it makes life so much more magical.

By Tuesday, I had already forgotten that it wasn’t the weekend and was surprised to find people walking around in business clothes as if they had work — oh wait, they did! And they were just on their lunch breaks! I do not miss working at this point, but maybe I will get bored down the line (though I have plenty of plans for things to do to keep engaged mentally and physically).

As this past weekend approached, I planned to avoid the crowds and mostly stay home. I had originally intended to blog then, but it turns out I’m really good at reading the day away. I’m going to try this flipped approach and go do activities on workdays as much as possible, so I don’t jostle with everyone on their days off. This Sunday, I needed to grocery shop, and it was such a strange sensation to go out and find loads of people out and about. I rather prefer my isolation at the moment.

Liminal check-in (these are the milestones I set that would help me gauge how my body is recovering):