As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been a little late getting to the trails due to the late sunrise (8:07 AM Michigan Standard Time for your sunrise nerds who read this) and my want to fill a bathtub up with scolding hot coffee, climb my naked self in, and drink myself out instead of going out into the dank, wintry morning air.
Luckily, Wifey will not permit me to fill our tub up with coffee (“It’ll stain the tub!” she says), so I settled for a big-ass mug or two of the stuff and then got my shit together for another lumber in chilly woods.
The morning was its usual dark, dank, and cold self, and I was seeing very little critter activity.
Finally, almost two miles in, as I crested a small hill, I saw the white ass end of a deer flash through the trees. Knowing that the deer will often run into cover and then wait for me to pass, I removed my camera from the pack and then continued on keeping my eyes peeled.
And I was not wrong; there they were off to my right in some trees, acting like I couldn’t see them.
I took a few shots, but the morning was so dark that there was little chance of saving them in Lightroom. However, since the deer were being still and trying not to give away their location, I kept shooting, dropping my shutter speed a bit more with each burst until I ended up at a crazy 1/50th of a second and got a keeper. Sweet!
Over the next few miles, I saw next to nothing except squirrels and a few of the normal lumberists I see almost every day but don’t know or remember their names.
Over those miles, I also was getting in my Adulting Zone and trying to mentally get my shit together and make a mental list of things that I may need to get taken care of due to some unfortunate family health issues back in Pennsylvania.
Unlike many of the Rage Hikes I do when I feel overwhelmed with anxiety, my mind was quite calm and clear as I made my mental list and there was no rage or racing anxiety involved. Apparently, I activated the Big Boy Gutchies button in my brain and didn’t know it.
As I plodded along, I also made sure to take moments to take in the day. Dark, dank, and cold are not ideal for bringing about peace of mind, but it’s part of life, and I made sure to take in the feeling of the cool air on my cheeks, the creaking of the leafless trees in the wind, and the smell of the half-frozen mud under my feet.
Hoping to maintain that peace on Thursday with another lumber in the woods, looking for deer to photograph, and getting miles in my feetz.
Later.