The weekend into Monday, Ma Nature teased mid-Michigan with thoughts of Spring, but as I’ve said many times since moving here in 2010, you can’t really rely on Spring to bring consistently warm days until early May—maybe.
So, I was not surprised to venture into the woods wearing gloves and carrying around the regret of not wearing my “winter” jacket (actually a Bontrager cycling jacket with easy-to-access rear pockets, but don’t tell anyone) instead of the lightweight rain jacket (also a Bontrager cycling jacket disguised as a hiking jacket. Shhh!). At least my hands were warm as random snowflakes flitted around in the air.
I by no means saw anything as cool as yesterday’s Osprey, but I did get some environmental nature shots and also one of a Hermit Thrush along the trail, which was cool because I can’t say I’ve seen or photographed any before, and I needed to look it up when I got home. It turns out they are most often in Michigan for breeding and migrating. It’s kind of a neat little bird with a name that screams, “I DON’T LIKE TO LEAVE THE NEST, AND I HAVE MOUTH FUNGUS!”
I also got an OK shot of a deer, which I have to give thanks to “The Guy My Imagination Thought Might Be Living in The Park.” I’ll explain.
I was back on the Covered Bridge Trail, and I rarely see anyone back there, but today, I saw two people in about 3 minutes! First, as I descended a small, root-covered hill, a trail runner was coming up the hill, and it surprised me because when I looked up, I thought I saw Mermaid Man from Sponge Bob. It wasn’t; just a dude in some ill-chosen active wear.
Then, about a minute later, I saw the aforementioned “Guy My Imagination, yada, yada” and his dog Lola. He motioned quietly that there was something to his right in a manner that said, “Shhhh! There are two armed Nazi guards at the door; stay down and be quiet.”
Of course, there were no Nazis, they’re all in Washington DC running a train on each other right now, but a deer was hiding in some budding brush. Thanks for the tip, fellow lumberist! I owe Lola (his, not mine) a treat!
The only other critter pic I got was a female mallard in the river that I had to take through some trailside brush. After that, it was just some random woodsy shots of some gnarled tree roots, skunk cabbage, and half-eaten nuts on the forest floor as I finished up my 5.24-mile lumber. Not a bad way to start a Tuesday.
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Later.
THE SOILED SOUNDS TRACK OF THE POST
London Day 2 is the latest single from Cucamaras, taken off their soon-to-be-released 12″ EP titled Laughing, due out in early May. 4+ minutes of modern post-punk goodness.