Pokemon GO is Changing Everything
That Bulbasaur up there got away, even though I used Razzberries and got two “Nice” throws. Oh well.
The important thing is that this picture was taken at a place in my town I didn’t even know existed until yesterday, and was taken on a Sunday… when I would usually never have left my house.
I’m a creature of habit and a bit of a hermit. I go to work, do a few errands, but spend most my time off at home. On weekends, I usually don’t have the energy or social bandwidth to do much. I just want to loaf around and play games.
But something about Pokemon GO has changed all that. My FitBit testifies to this.
Friday after work, instead of coming straight home, I drove around to see if I could locate Pokestops. Saturday, early in the morning, I drove back into town a different way to scope out Pokestops. It’s rather sad in my town if you look at just the normal places people go… there just isn’t much.
So, I got online to research parks, and discovered some really neat places, some I didn’t even know about. Not but 2 minutes from my work, there’s a Florence Veteran’s Park, that looked like a prime location for Pokemon catching. So, on Sunday, I decided I needed to get some cat food, and while I was out, I would see if I could find this place.
Only, I ended up getting distracted by the fact that someone had dropped a Lure on the Pokestop at the Mellow Mushroom. Actually, it’s not the Mellow Mushroom that’s the Pokestop, but rather the water sculpture outside of it, titled “Grotesque Snail.” Yeah, that’s how hard up this side of our town is for landmarks.
The very first Pokemon the Lure netted me was my first Meowth!
I hung out in my car until the Lure ran out, then I dutifully went to get the cat food I was after. Coming back out of the pet store, I noticed another Lure was popped at the Mellow Mushroom. I hadn’t planned on eating pizza that day, but I felt a little bad about just hanging out in the parking lot without being a customer, and I was getting hungry. So I went inside, and noticed a group of college students sitting and playing while eating pizza. It was certainly their Lures.
I had to fend off the wildlife while eating my meal.
Get away from my calzone, you rat!
Once I finished lunch/dinner, I decided I should probably walk it off a bit, so I went in search of the park that had actually been my goal. I did find it, and it, too, had a Lure.
The neat thing about this park is that it has several very cool monuments to visit. The area isn’t huge, but there are 4 Pokestops and 1 Gym there, and a nice sidewalk path that loops around the area. It’s just large enough that by the time you come back around to the first Pokestop, it’s ready for you to activate it again.
Despite being over 90 outside, there were several college kids and older teens out there walking and catching Pokemon. I didn’t really socialize with them, but it was neat to see other people involved in the game.
Plus there were just some thought-provoking monuments to visit.
I never even knew this place was there — I drive past it every day.
I can see myself visiting this place more often.
I can also foresee more walks down the neighborhood street after the sun goes down, like I did last night. It’s just too hot to be out there in the afternoon. I like that Pokemon GO is released, but I wish it wasn’t the dead center of summer when it’s seriously dangerous to be going out there in the heat.
Anyhow, this game has got me moving and planning things (like trips to the park, or maybe the beach) that I wouldn’t have done before. I know I’m not the only one. I’m looking forward to seeing where this game leads in the future – more activity for me is a good, healthy thing!
