Can I get a do-over on last week?
Something about last week was off for me. While nothing horrible happened, and I’m still maintaining a good (enough) mindset, something was off. I think the Michigan spring is getting to me, and I use the term “spring” lightly. The past week was filled with cold temps, high wind, ice storms, heavy rain, and very few fading glimpses of the sun. The week also seemed worse because it was B’s spring break, and while the rest of Michigan seemingly did something in warmer climates, we did nothing. Again.
I’d like to say that our lack of a spring break was all COVID-related restrictions and uncertainty as in the two previous years, but in truth, my depression and overall piss-poor disposition through the fall and winter were, unfortunately, the major reason. I didn’t exactly put Wifey in a position to think about planning a “fun” family getaway for the three of us when I’m walking around the house spouting off how I just want to live out the rest of my days alone in a shack in the woods and she’s keeping an attorney on speed dial. I was acting like the Unabomber without the bomber part. More like the Unadepressivedickhead.
As mentioned above, the weather has sucked; the outside is as ugly as muddy shit-covered sock found along the roadside, and my workout/photo-taking/slacker schedule was all off due to vet, dentist, and O.G. Mindbender appointments that dotted the week like piles of dog poo camouflaged in a muddy back yard. Not that my backyard looks like that.
I did make it to the gym for a few lackluster workouts and got out for a walk around some local trails with my camera once or twice, but I am hoping to get back on track with fitness, diet, and creative endeavors this coming week, starting with a hike at the Pine Haven Recreation Area on Sunday, even though I believe a week doesn’t truly start until Monday. I digress.
Soggy like a well-used diaper.
Pine Haven is located about 30 minutes from my house and is a group of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and XC skiing wedged between a major highway, a river bottom, and a two-lane road. Apparently, there is rumor of more trails not associated with Pine Haven on the other side of the highway, but I’m unfamiliar with how to access them right now. Probably for the best because navigating the spider web of muddy spring trails that featured the occasional reroute due to flooding was hard enough with signage of varying legibility.
Ohhh! That’s helpful.
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Looks like a couple friends of mine.
I walked through the cold, wet woods, took a few photos, and made some mental notes for a return trip when the temperatures warm up. There are more than a few ponds and creek beds that will be perfect for photographing frogs, turtles, and snakes once the eternal Michigan winter is over in June or July.1
Perhaps the only green thing in the woods.
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Pine Haven is in no way the best place to escape the real world, given that you can hear the real world rushing by at 80 miles per hour just 50 yards or so from some of the trails, and Sunday’s hike wasn’t the most fruitful for photos, but the rolling terrain and opportunities for more exploring on bike and foot with my camera are pretty cool.
Not eager to hit this bridge on a bike.
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I need to get there. I didn’t.
Last week won’t win me any fitness awards, but my slack was strong as fuck. However, as the great poet Biggie Smalls once said, “That shits over now motherfuckers. Now move on. Baby, baby2.”
I’d love if you wouldn’t be cuttin’ on trees.
The photos from today’s post were taken over my last two hikes at Meridian Park and at Pine Haven on Sunday. Time for me to dump out, clean up, and head to the gym before finishing this post on my “lunch break.”
Later.
- Even as I type this bit on Monday morning in a rush before getting ready for the gym, it is raining and snowing, and there is a Winter Weather Advisory in effect. I have to admit, I really hate it here about 7 months out of the year.
- I really have no proof that Biggie once said that. It seems like something he would say, and I’d like to think he said it, but I assume I’m very wrong.