This week has been a blur of morning lumbers, never-ending outdoor chores, and teaching old dogs new tricks. Or should I say, teaching an old fat guy who is dumb as a box of hair how to install custom CSS code in order to get this digital fish wrap looking tolerable? Oh, technology… piss off!
After I hit publish on my last post, I realized that at 7 AM Sunday morning, Spurs (my long-time adopted Premier League team) were playing a pre-season friendly vs Newcastle in South Korea. And it was going to be the last match for club legend, Son Heung-min (손흥민).
Since there was no way I was going to miss Sonny’s last match in a Spurs jersey, a hike was off the table for Sunday, but a day of slack and goofing off would be had, after I mowed the grass later that morning, of course.
So, after a day off, I was itching to get back in the woods to lumber on Monday morning, and I was at the trails just as the sun was breaking through the morning mist made heavier by smoke from the Canadian wildfires that have been burning most of the summer.
Thankfully, even though there are air quality warnings, there is no scent of the smoke, and I’m fortunate enough to not have any lung or breathing issues, so there were no problems for me completing my daily micro-adventure.
I was feeling good after a day of rest and goofing off, and did my first 6+ mile hike in nearly a month.
Sadly, despite getting six miles in my feetz by 8:30 AM, I saw very little critter activity other than the squirrels, some random birds high in the trees, and one deer hiding deep in the dark woods waiting for the morning sun to break through the canopy of leaves above.
I also ran into a couple of 20-something-aged campers walking with their friendly dog near the campground. Sort of odd that there were no other cars in the lot, yet they had a pretty serious camp setup going on. I have no idea how they got all that stuff back there. The dude had next to no teeth and smelled as if he had literally just had a giant spliff for breakfast. Oh well, they were both friendly and their dog was a sweetie.
One final note…
If you are reading this on a mobile device, I know the blog looks like shit. I’m doing the best my old, uneducated, HTML-resistant brain can do to figure the shit out. It’s been pretty frustrating, and I’m about ready to delete the whole damn thing and start from scratch. Technology, am I right? Give me print design any day of the gahdamn week!
I found a simple, cheap, fairly customizable theme should look the same-ish over all platforms and have updated.
Later.
THE SOILED SOUNDS TRACK OF THE POST
Over the past few years, I’ve discovered a shit-load of punk and indie bands from Australia. One of those bands is The Unknowns from Brisbane, and as luck would have it, they released a brand new LP last week called Looking From The Outside. And it’s FIRE!
The song None To Me above is one of my faves, but truthfully, it could be any number of the tracks on the album. They remind me a lot of The Buzzcocks or Wire, and the title track, Looking From The Outside, has elements that make me think of the New York Dolls.
I’m 54-damn-years-old and I still nerd out on music like I’m 18. I also can’t ever imagine stopping my pursuit of a new favorite song or band.
The first thing I noticed when I headed off down the trail Friday morning was a new sign at the trailhead kiosk. It made my heart grow two sizes that day.
It’s been a good week of lumbering and a busy one for me around the Cul-De-Sac-Shack, getting some trees trimmed, grass mowed, and landscaping weeded, along with all my other domestic duties.
This week started where last week ended, with an early morning lumber in the unbelievably humid woods.
I woke up at 5:30 AM on Saturday with all the intentions of going for a lumber. However, the stifling humidity and thunderstorms predicted to arrive over the next hour or so had me deciding that a Day of Nothing was in order.
As I’ve documented here many times, I routinely see repeat trail users during my near-daily lumbers. Until I don’t.
Around 10 months ago, I introduced you to The Guy My Imagination Thought Might Be Living in The Park. I would see him and his dog, Lola (not mine), almost every hike.
It turns out he did NOT live in the park, and was a friendly enough dude who called me “Boss,” and who would often tell me where he had seen critters earlier if I was looking for shots. And his dog, Lola, loved me, of course. Then, about a month ago, I stopped seeing him. I assumed he was on vacation, or maybe sick or something, and would soon return. But, nothing.
I don’t even know the cat’s name, but I somehow feel some sort of concern for him. Is he dead? Arrested? Sick? Or is he off on some grand adventure that has taken him away from the 591-acre woodsy playground he walked daily with his dog? Maybe he’ll return, or maybe he’s off to another park, and leading another trail user with an overactive imagination to question his living situation.
Then there’s the Chatty Cathys; two, pricy SUV-driving, super loud-talking, middle-aged moms who briskly walked the outer loop every Friday morning for well over a year with their mouths going 100 miles a minute. They NEVER said hi to me, ever! Until last January, that was the last Friday I ever saw them. Maybe Cathy #1’s Brian finally got that promotion he was after, and Cathy, Bryce, Kaden, Braden, Aiden, and Mason all had to move to Muncie? Sure hope her $85,000 Suburban is still treating her right, and that Kaden is finally done sucking his thumb; 12 did seem too old.
Another couple that has seemingly vanished is the Two Aging Hippies. I would see them, their slow-walking dog, and an occasional third Aging Hippy finishing up their walk just as I would arrive around 6:45. Then, about a month or so ago, I stopped seeing them or their sticker-covered Subaru altogether. They and their dog both seemed to be around the age, that “something could happen,” so maybe it did. Hope not, they always had a nice word to say.
Speaking of couples…
There is also Jim(?) and Mary (?). An outdoorsy, 75+ year old couple that I would see every single hike from May until January, when they would go someplace warm for the winter. They get question marks by their name, because about two years ago, as we passed each other for the 500th time, Mary(?) asked me my name and then introduced herself and her husband Jim(?) to me. To which I IMMEDIATELY forgot their names. I THINK it was Jim and Mary.
This January, they left for Snow-Birding and were, of course, back in May. I saw Jim(?) a couple of times, asked if he had a good winter, and he said it was great. I feared for Mary(?), but then I saw them together a few weeks later. Then, I stopped seeing them at all. They were always very nice and always had a good word to say as they stomped by with their trekking poles. This could be down to me starting my lumbers earlier and earlier, but again, I fear for them and hope they are doing well.
There are more, of course, but these are the ones that have me wondering what the hell happened to them. I also imagine that all of them are now hiking some better trail system, and happily hike without fear of running into “The Sweaty Fat Guy Who Hikes Almost Every Day With A Camera But Is Still Fat.”
Later.
Note: The last photo in today’s post MIGHT disturb some viewers. It’s of deceased heron that I saw in some trees, and it’s sort of crazy. There’s no guts or anything, but dead is dead, and some folks don’t dig seeing dead. — Management
Wednesday brought another morning of lumbering. It also was a chance to prove to myself yet again that I’m an idiot.
Late Tuesday afternoon/evening, I enjoyed some porch time with a couple beers while basking in England’s late winner over Italy in the Women’s European Championship semi-final. Then I went on to marinate some chicken for dinner later.
The weekend was one that I anxiously await to completely forget due to the amount that it sucked and the horrible mood that I was in that seemingly dragged any and everybody in my path down into the depressive muck that I wallow in on a daily basis. Welcome, I’ve been expecting you.