It's a beautiful day. The morning was cloudy and cool; it felt like I was near an ocean. The bamboo I tied up to try to straighten is doing okay, and more shoots are coming up also. So much I don't know about these plants. 

When Kelly and I went to the zoo, we noticed many species of bamboo growing all over. It seems to be one of the dominant sources of plant life for our beloved desert zoo. I noticed that most of the time, it was growing in soil that looked, to me, like regular desert dirt, which is in most of my backyard. We got good soil and planted the bamboo in that, and I thought since the rest of our yard is dirt, the bamboo wouldn't really spread on its own. The zoo-grown bamboo leads me to believe otherwise. Our bamboo at home is clumping, so it should be easy to control. 

-Final entry, before the bamboo grew rampant and took over the world

Having a week off certainly shatters habits. Or were they already cracking? Of course they were. My routine is always fraying at the edges, eroded by the passage of time. On long journeys, one can forget why they began. 

Am I trying to be much better than I was, or kind of better? Really, my goals are to have a healthy heart, bones that don't break to easily, and to be able to lift heavy things due to my hidden passion for rearranging furniture. 

I've come to the conclusion that I should modify my diet a little. Maybe reduce sugar, and cut out refined sugar entirely. I'm not looking at is dieting, more like I will have to walk less each day to get the same results. Thus, I gain more time to do things besides walking. 

I'm trying to straighten my bamboo. For a while, my beloved plants did not put up any new shoots. In the past couple of weeks, most have put up at least one. A few places are difficult to walk between due to the way the bamboo is bending. I've used twine to try to straighten them a little and keep a path going.

Also yesterday, I received a mistaken delivery for groceries. Two gallons of whole milk and a Slim Jim. I contacted the delivery service and let them know. They said I could keep the food. I said really? Is this a trap? They said no. So I ate the Slim Jim. I'm still alive, so that's good. Raccoon powers are still activated.