A post so crap it took three days to write
It’s been over a year since I was last at the gym. That pisses me off because I had made some nice muscle gains, and Fat & Fit: Operation Pecs Lift was in full effect. My plan was to return as soon as COVID was gone. “It will probably never leave, especially in the U.S. where no one cares, and this is life as we know it now,” I assume the talking heads on the news I don’t watch say.
So, I said I would go back whenever I was fully vaccinated. That was a week ago, and in that time, not only did I find out that my young nephew back in WPA has COVID, and he and his family are in quarantine, up here, Isabella County’s COVID cases spiked nearly 250%!!! 250 PERCENT!!! Double-You-T-Efff??
While I am confident that, if infected, the vaccine would either prevent or soften the virus’s overall symptoms, I just don’t want to risk being infected at all. So I’ll tuck my pecks into my stretchy pants’ waistband like an ill-timed boner and wait. And whilst waiting, I’ll hike, take pictures, and ride my bike—you know, the good stuff.
With that said, my repressed boner and I went for a short photo walk on Tuesday at Meridian Park. The woods are starting to come alive, and I saw my first northern flicker woodpecker ever (seen above) and my first frog pic of the spring. The walk wasn’t long, but I wrangled up some pics I really dug.
One of the things that I touched on in the last post was my newfound distaste for riding gravel from the house (“meh”) and wanting to try new places. So, with a free day on Wednesday, I drove over to the Cadillac Pathway to explore some “new to me” singletrack.
The drive over was a bit longer than I wanted, and my familiarness with the trails was next to nothing, but it was worth it to ride someplace new for a change and get out of the house. The drive also afforded me time to explore some other ride options for the summer. I got plans! Sort of. I hope. Probably not.
I am anxious to go back to the CP when things are greener and I am in better shape, which at this point, I could shit my pants and be in better shape. The decline since last season and a winter of Pandemic-ing has me about as fit as a withered dog turd, but I’m hoping to be fat and fit (enough) soon.
Thursday was a few hours in the shop. I grabbed a few photos of an old Triumph bike from the 60s (made for Triumph by Raleigh, I’m told) while I was there; that was the highlight. (photos to come sometime)
As I finish this up early Friday morning, I’m thinking of my father, who is having a pacemaker put in today back in Pennsylvania, and hoping for a speedy recovery for him. I also hope that his refusal to get vaccinated doesn’t come back to bite him in his 79-year-old ass during his time in the hospital’s ripe and ready germ breeding ground. Stubborn old men and their conspiracy theories!! Oh well, hoping for the best, expecting the worst as usual.
The complete batch of photos from this walk, as well as other hikes and rides with my camera, can be seen here: thesoiledchamois.myportfolio.com.
Later.