The central Michigan area got some showers overnight into this morning, and I was looking forward to getting in the wet woods to lumber ASAP.
Sadly, the rain had pretty much stopped by the time feet hit dirt at 6:51, so there would be no hike in the rain to provide the mental rub and a tug I crave. But the peacefulness of the bright green wet woods and some luck with my camera proved a worthy surrogate.
Tuesday was one of those days that I woke up at 5:30 AM and pretty much went non-stop until around 1:30 PM.
First, I was in the woods for a 5.59-mile lumber with my camera. A lumber that yielded next to nothing in the way of photos, but it was still nice to get out in the woods.
After the hike, I made breakfast, ate, cleaned up the dishes, and then rinsed my hulking bodice off with a quick shower before heading for the week’s groceries, lawn mowing, trimming, cleaning up, lunch, shower #2, etc.
After last Friday’s lumber, I was at 26.21 miles on the week and could have easily completed my third 30-mile week in a row. I did not.
26+ miles of lumbering, nursing a slight calf issue, Cul-De-Sac-Shack duties, and the emotions of sending B off for six weeks in London really took it out of me, and I thought it best to take a mental and physical break for the weekend. Despite a few moments of boredom when the footy ran out, this proved to be the correct decision.
As mentioned, I took the day off from lumbering on Wednesday so we could drop B at the airport in Detroit. That was pretty much a 5.5-hour round-trip drive in the rain that included 2 minutes of tearful hugs and goodbyes on the road outside his gate amongst the throngs of air travelers.
Not to honk my own platypus, but I do believe I set a new start time record for this morning’s lumber when my feetz hit the trail at 6:37 AM. There was much rejoicing.
My theory was trifold: Beat the heat, beat anyone hiking with a dog (no offense, but Fido ain’t great for critter spottin’), and lastly, I figure the sun was up at 6:10, so I might as well get going.
I woke up this morning at 5:45, and figured that an extra 15 minutes of sleep was pretty unnecessary, so I rolled my ass out of bed, fed Lola, had some coffee, fetched my gear, dumped out, and was on the trail at 6:50.
I woke up early Wednesday morning to some showers moving through the area. I also woke up to find out that our irrigation system was running, and I felt like a real piece of shit for wasting water as it rained. Then I remember that there is a long list of reasons I’m a piece of shit, so I shrugged my shoulders and poured a cup of coffee.
STORY NUMBER ONE
For Friday’s hike, I waffled on taking my ancient Canon s95 point and shoot, and the ALMOST as old Fuji x70 instead of my normal set-up. In the end, I opted for the Fuji at the last minute for some reason, and was soon hurling myself down the road toward the trails.
I woke on Tuesday morning at 5:55 to the soothing sounds of a steady spring rain falling. I flirted with the idea of preempting my 6AM alarm, farting, rolling over and going back to bed, happy to spend a little longer under the covers as the rain pelted the windows. Instead, I turned off the alarm, farted, and got out of bed.
Lola was fed, coffee was downed, dumps were taken, and soon I was on my way to the trails, eager to get some soggy miles in my feetz.
Is your nubbin buttered? Would you like us to assign someone to butter your nubbin?
I’m fairly certain that no one on earth, aside from me, calls tree buds, flowers, and other plant-based woodsy matter “nubbins” (short for Nature Nubbins). However, like most of the stupid things I think, say, and write, it popped into my head years ago and never left my lexicon.