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.”
I wish I had something of interest to blather on about, but alas, things have been “samey” here the past few days years: get up in the dark, feed Lola, coffee up, dump out, layer up, drive to the trails, lumber for 4 miles in the snow, have it feel like 10, go home, wish for spring, make a cappuccino, shower, get my shit done, and then end the day watching football. Followed by making food, having a beer, going to bed, and doing it all again the next day.
On the one hand, that’s a pretty good day; on the other hand, it’s a prime example of trying to make the best out of the long, cold, dark month of January. It’s survival mode, with one eye on spring and the other on the dismal weather forecast.
Tuesday was another morning of stuffing myself into cold-weather gear and begrudgingly heading out for a lumber in temps, struggling to make it into the double digits. However, I was quick to realize that, outside of a four-hour flight to Jamaica, there’s no place I’d rather be heading off to on a Tuesday morning.
Before I blather on for no reason whatsoever about the mundane, goofball stuff I do, I wanted to take a second to give a shout-out to the readers and folks I’ve got to know over the years from the Los Angeles and Southern California area. I hope you, your families, and your homes are all safe. Be careful out there.
OK, now on, with tales of my blissful ignorance whilst walking in the woods with my camera.
The first full week of the 2025 Ignorance is Bliss Tour is in the books, and I have to say it went pretty darn not bad.
I got out Friday morning at the ass crack of dawn, which isn’t actually all that ass-cracky, given the sun doesn’t fully rise until after 8 AM, but still, I was out, and it was pretty early.
After Tuesday’s 6.60-mile lumber, I was feeling pretty good and ready to go again on Wednesday morning. The temps were a bit colder, coming in at just 19˚, but I was warm (enough) and ready to go.
We had a minor heatwave today, with temps up to 23˚ at the time of lumbering. You wouldn’t think four extra degrees could make a difference, but indeed they did.
I started off this first full week of the 2025 Ignorance is Bliss Tour with a 5.50-mile hike in crisp, to say the least, 19˚ temps.
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.
Since I’m at the age where I see enough balls dropping just by looking in the mirror, I continued my custom of being in bed several hours before midnight on New Year’s Eve.
