The last week was a good one; I exceeded 25 miles of woodsy walking (26.52), finally received the new to me, no longer produced Fuji Film X70 that I traded in some old, unused Nikon DX kit towards, and Election Day went very well on national and local levels, including Big Gretch being re-elected, and Michigan passing Prop 3 which adds women’s reproductive rights to our state constitution.
Like the millions of leaves that now litter the trails, the past week or so has been a blur of daily hikes, crappy photos, and getting the last bits of pre-winter outdoor duties finished up around the Cul-De-Sac-Shack; I’ve also been missing B-Man, and checking my aggression while being visually assaulted by hundreds of garish roadside political signs from mid-Michigan’s best of the worst, Trumpers, bigots, racists, science haters, election deniers, and religious nut jobs (they go together gut cramps and rancid Wal-Mart peanut butter).
This week picked up where last week left off with more time in the woods with my camera.
Here is another unneeded post about me stomping around in the woods with my camera for no real reason other than to stay active outdoors while exfoliating the depressive hunks of shit that often cling to my brain like barnacles on a 17th-century sailor’s unkept man-nubbins.1
It’s been a good week of woodsy walking (AKA hiking). However, I did take today off to tend to my husbandly and Cul-De-Sac-Shack responsibilities and give my feet a rest after 11 straight days of hiking, but I currently sit on 17.35 miles in my feet over four days with two days left to hit my self-imposed 25 miles goal. [You say days a LOT, maybe read more, get a better vocab – ed.]
I continued my utter and complete domination (not really) of the hiking trails at Deerfield Park this week with another 17 miles of a planned 25-mile week in my boots as of Thursday.
Last week I continued my 2022 Not Dead Yet Comeback Special with another 25.5 miles in my feet to bring my 4-week total to 92.6 miles, with at least 85 of those miles coming via hikes in the woods.
Last week I got in 25 miles of woodsy walking and foto-footzing to complete my third 20+ mile week in a row. I was feeling pretty stoked about that, so I was eager to get back at it this week.
In August, I wanted to start putting together hikes in the 5+ mile range and aim to do them at least four times a week. I thought it would fill a void between pointlessly “walking” on the Dreadmill and pushing myself physically like I do/did when mountain biking, all the while being in the woods with my camera. And I was right; it allowed all of that. However, forcing my more-out-of-shape-than-I-care-to-admit self to jump right into 5-mile hikes in the woods during the heat of August was not the best idea; my back paid the price, and I experienced multiple painful back spasms during those hikes.
In the past few weeks, I have found myself with a renewed enthusiasm for “doing stuff” outside. While that has done nothing for the barely noticeable gains I’ve made strength training in the gym, it has done wonders for my mind, which every year around this time takes a dip in a stank vat of “fuck everything and everyone; yes, even you.”
