Two weeks ago, I lumbered over 30 miles and felt great. Last week, I lumbered 20 miles on slippy, lumpy snow and felt like an aching bag of shit by the end. Come the weekend, I sat my fat ass inside and did nothing. Then, I woke up Monday morning at 6 AM, rolled over, farted twice, looked at the -1˚ weather icon on my phone, and said, “fuck it.”
On December 8th, I ordered a couple of t-shirts from a Michigan-based clothing company I’ve ordered from a few times before. I like their tees, as well as the idea of supporting a Michigan company and keeping my carbon footprint smaller. The US Postal Service had other ideas.
For this Christmas Day post, I am going to steer clear of writing about the emotions and grief that my family, near and far, and I have been going through over the past week due to the loss of my father last Thursday and our 13-year-old dog Jake the very next morning. I’m sure you can imagine what it was like; you don’t need me to shit on your holiday.
Sometimes, I can’t put my thoughts into words to explain how I feel, but I’m gonna really try with this one. I also can’t explain how the Universe works or why bad things happen. They just happen, and we’re left to figure it all out.
I’m not a fan of being right. Mostly because I’m usually right about bad things. But as William Shakespeare once said, “C’est la vie.” (I really don’t know if he did, but he may have, so just go with it).
As it’s been documented here, like so many other Americans, my mood has been quite bleak as I navigate my brain through the final days of the 2024 election and all the fear-mongering bullshit that we’re subjected to on a daily basis1. But earlier this week, I had some small interactions that really helped me out in a big way.
I knew going into 2024 that it would be the worst, and it hasn’t disappointed me in the least. That is why I nicknamed my near-daily hikes The 2024 Lumber Through Hell Tour.
I ended my last post by saying that I was about to head out onto the front porch to enjoy another cup of coffee and watch the sunrise. And I did, but it sort of hilariously went pear-shaped.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: it doesn’t matter if you have to go to work or school or not; Monday’s vibes are always shit.
I’m now entering my third day without a lumber. It’s not good, but it’s not bad.
Sunday was spent doing normal Sunday stuff (sans lumber) and included such activities as watching grass grow, making/eating food, drinking beer, flipping through channels looking for some shred of international football to watch (thank you, Scottish Premiership), and having sexy time (not exactly in that order, but sometimes done at the same time).
