If you listen closely, you can hear it; it’s the sound of me exiting a cocoon of gelatinous, depressive slack like a birthed Orc. Only it smells worse and looks even worse-er.

The four days off from “doing stuff” had me at the end of my mental rope, which, to be honest, doesn’t take much. For two of the four days, the smoke was so bad, even sitting on the deck was a no-go, and if you know me, you know that in the summer, I would rather sit on the deck alone staring into the void whilst listening to music rather than be forced to watch anything on TV not related to footy, photography, or bike racin’. And once I exhaust what’s available, my mood turns to my other hobby: misanthropic self-loathing.

Having said all that, after four days out of the woods due to wildfire smoke coming down from Canada and horrible air quality, I was FINALLY back in the woods on Monday for an early morning 5-mile lumber.

It was great to be back on the trails, and even better to not smell the smoke or imagine the sheer destruction being done to acres upon acres of Canadian wilderness, critters, and people who call it home. Sigh, eh.

What wasn’t great was the continued lack of critter sightings in the woods. All I saw today was a few squirrels, the ass end of a deer entering the some brush, a rabbit or two, and a robin (see photo above).

Lucky for me, the Soiled Pollinator Garden is in full swing, and I was able to get a few shots here and there of a dragon fly and some of the flowers which continue to bloom.

This July has been horrible for lumbering, with me being in the woods just 8 times thus far. I haven’t had a summer month like this since June of ’24, when I was nursing multiple foot injuries and staining a deck. So, with only 11 more chances to get out, I’ve pretty much written off July and am looking forward to August and a plan to push harder.

Time to get shit done, and mentally prepare for there being no World Cup to watch for another four years (Congrats to Spain, well played!). Oh well, pro club footy starts in four weeks, and I am more than ready.

Later.

THE SOILED SOUNDS TRACK OF THE POST

There’s nothing like having a 43-year-old track on repeat for days. Gang of Four still sounding fresh as fuck after all these years.

T