Jesus knew that His mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture He said – “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to His lips. When Jesus had tasted it He said – “It is finished !” Then He bowed His head and released His Spirit. (John 19:28-30 NLT)
It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming !
All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
And now on #TravelThursday – something a bit different. For the past 19 weeks in a row I’ve been writing about 4 vacations that I experienced in November, January, March, and April. Well – I have no more vacations to write about. As I told some coworkers of mine last week – I am all vacationed out. This is the time of the year where I just need to settle in, relax at home, go to work, relax at home, go to work, etc., and accumulate new vacation time. Oh – and also write blog posts and sermons. I’ll be here for the long run. I’m not going anywhere for about 5½ months.
I was actually planning yet another vacation for early-June starting with my birthday. I considered another Carnival cruise to the Caribbean, and I also considered various short road-trips here in South Florida and over to Southwest Florida (Gulf Coast). Hotel rates are running much higher than normal – even for low season which we’re getting ready to enter. I think a lot of hotels are charging up to double (or more) what they’ve charged during previous low seasons (pre-COVID) – mostly because they can – because demand is high. Hotels lost a lot of money in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, and now they are making their money back.
So #TravelThursday returns to its original format where I write about places I’ve been to before – not necessarily while on vacation. I’ll also write about places I’d like to visit – either again or for the first time. I’ll also write about some potential visits to some of our own local tourist attractions here in South Florida. I realized that I haven’t been to ZooMiami in 5 years, and Biscayne National Park in 6 years, and Vizcaya in 10 years.
Maybe I’ll take a quick day trip or two down into the Florida Keys – perhaps Marathon (about 70 to 75 miles from where I live). I already have a potential schedule of places to visit for 2 days of fun and food in Marathon including an overnight stay at a hotel.
Well – whatever happens – either virtually or physically – we’ll have some fun here on #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.
All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Date: Saturday April 09TH 2022
Time (EDT): 7:14 AM – 8:14 AM
Sunrise (EDT): 7:05 AM
Location: Homestead Florida
Sky: Partly Cloudy
Temperature: 60°F / 16°C
Dewpoint: 57°F / 14°C
Relative Humidity: 88% Rising
Winds: Calm
Barometric Pressure: 30.07″ / 1,019 MB Rising
Longtime readers of my blog know this series. It’s one of the originals from the late-2000s era.
“The Major’s Walk-A-Thon” is simply the name of my personal fitness program that has run concurrently with much of my salvation in Jesus Christ. You can read how it all began at High Noon on Christmas Eve in 2007. That approximate 0.75-mile walk unsuspectingly began 15 seasons of intentional powerwalking around my neighborhood and elsewhere.
Each season is generally the 7-month mid-October to mid-May dry season here in South Florida where I live. This is Season 15, and this is my 3RD walk of the season. Last season (14) was pretty bad, as I only walked 3 times for a total of 6.72 miles. It was my worst season since Season 7 (2013-2014). This season (which is drawing to a close) may possibly be worse than last season, but hopefully it won’t with at least one more walk.
So this past Saturday at dawn on an unusually chilly South Florida morning in the low-60s (even some scattered upper-50s) I took advantage of the chill in the air, and I ventured over to the city park about a mile-and-a-half down the road from my neighborhood. It’s got lots of open spaces to walk or jog including an elevated (atop a manmade hill) 0.475-mile rectangular asphalt track.
This was a 3.40-mile power-walk in 59 minutes and 41 seconds. That’s a pace of 17 minutes and 33 seconds per mile. (I walked 3.42 MPH.) I did 7 laps around the track.
Some #Fitbit heart rate stats – 35 out of 59 minutes in “peak”; 19 out of 59 minutes in “cardio”; 162 BPM at peak; 142 BPM on average.
This walk by itself was longer than I walked in an entire day in the 7 days prior. It was my longest powerwalk in over 4 years – since my final walk of Season 11.
Fun Fact: During the start of the COVID pandemic (when we were all in lockdown) I powerwalked around my neighborhood on 16 mornings for a total of 23.10 miles.
We’ll see how it goes over the remaining 5 weeks of our dry season. Once the rains arrive, so do the bugs, and it’s no fun to walk in heat, humidity, and swarms of bugs – especially mosquitoes. (I live near the edge of the Everglades – where the bugs are born.)
Well I thank you for reading a special Wednesday edition of my blog. This weekend got an early start. Tomorrow it’s #TravelThursday – followed by #GoodFriday. After that it’s #SundayScripture – followed by #Top10Monday.
All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back 40+ years. Here’s this week’s chart:
| #TOP10MONDAY | WEEK ENDING – SUNDAY APRIL 10TH 2022 | WEEK 269 |
|---|
| TW | LW | WKS | SONG TITLE | ARTIST / SITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 11 | Brighter Days [5TH week @ # 1] |
Blessing Offor |
| 2 | 2 | 11 | See Me Through It | Brandon Heath |
| 3 | 3 | 11 | Holy Spirit Come | Patrick Mayberry |
| 4 | 4 | 3 | Wonder Working | All Creatures |
| 5 | 5 | 3 | Fill My Cup | Andrew Ripp |
| 6 | 6 | 9 | Sunday Sermons | Anne Wilson |
| 7 | 7 | 22 | Weary Traveler | Jordan St. Cyr |
| 8 | 9 | 4 | Fake It | Tauren Wells |
| 9 | – | 1 | Desesperado | Evan Craft |
| 10 | 10 | 5 | Egypt | Cory Asbury |
# 1 This Week In:
2021 – “Good God Almighty” – Crowder
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Confidence” – Sanctus Real
2018 – “Freedom Hymn” – Austin French
2017 – “I Have This Hope” – Tenth Avenue North
LAST WEEK – So you missed last week’s edition ? No you didn’t. It wasn’t published. But it was updated, and there were big chart moves with 8 out of 10 hits moving up or down and just 2 non-movers. This week there are 8 non-movers, as my chart takes a breather after last week’s hyperactivity.
BRANDON HEATH – It was good to see Brandon perform “See Me Through It” LIVE on the Huckabee stage a couple of Saturday nights ago. The song sounded great with Tre’ Corley and The Music City Connection joining Brandon along with Mike Huckabee on bass. Not too many shows on TV will give Christian artists a chance to perform their latest or classic hits, but Huckabee is an exception to that rule. It’s also a solid weekly talk show that informs and entertains. You can catch it on TBN every Saturday night at 8 PM ET with an encore every Sunday night at 9 PM ET.
This blog is # 36 worldwide on the Top 80 Christian Music Blogs and Websites chart. Thank You for including us Feedspot !
This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again this upcoming weekend – with 5 new entries on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday. I don’t blog on Saturdays. That’s my day of rest.
Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. I’m also on Twitter and Flickr.
Be blessed my friends ! May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
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