Today’s 6.10-mile lumber was dank, grey, and fairly lifeless in the woods. I saw a couple deer sprinting away from a distance and a black-capped chickadee flitting around in some brush, and that was it. I took one shitty photo which is not shown here due to said shittiness. Instead you get a backyard Turdus captured weeks ago.
Thursday morning, Jake (The Dog) woke me up out of sound sleep just before the alarm with one of his patented Wookie growls that sounds like Chewbacca is being “taken” against his will in the showers of a Death Star prison. This is Jake’s way of telling me that it’s time for me to get my flaccid white man ass downstairs and haul his ass out in the yard to pee. It’s a startling way to awaken, to say the least.
Slippers on, gutchies buttoned up, flashlight between the teeth, and Jake slung over my left arm (the one with rampant tendonitis in the elbow from doing this 4+ times a day, every day), I threw open the back door, stepped out into the darkness, and there they were.
First Flakes: Thursday, November 21st at 6:02 AM
Mark it, dude.
I am blessed by the dogs above with the ability to write about the most mundane, stupid shit and force people (not really) to read about it. You’re welcome. — Management
Just as I knew in my heart going into 2024 that it was going to be a shit show of a year, I knew for over a week going into Monday that it would be a shit show of a day.
Until it wasn’t.
As previously discussed, Friday was Deer Day here in Michigan. One side of my brain was telling me to take the day off so as not to slam my head into a wayward bullet that was unable to stop itself from crossing into the park. And the other part of me was saying, “fuck it” you only have to get a couple miles in, and your week is done. I went with fuck it.
Because Michigan gotta Michigan, the weather has turned from a warm, 50˚ hike on Monday morning to a clear and frosty 27˚ lumber on Wednesday, to a soggy lumber in a steady rain and 40˚ temps on Thursday.
I’M ON A ROLLERCOASTER OF CLIMATE-INDUCED EMOTIONS!!!
After I finished tending to the last of the leaves on Friday, I showered and headed out for weekend provisions. That would be the last time I left the open borders of the Cul De Sac Shack for 48 hours.
No, I wasn’t depressed and hunkered down in The Bed of Torment or hiding out from the roving gangs of newly deputized MAGA Brownshirts rounding up the Libs, freethinkers, educated, and creatives for the internment camps; I simply had no reason to go out—so I didn’t. And it was pretty darn OK.
Was it the worst best week ever or the best worst week ever? I dunno.
I’m not a fan of being right. Mostly because I’m usually right about bad things. But as William Shakespeare once said, “C’est la vie.” (I really don’t know if he did, but he may have, so just go with it).
I was up and in the woods at 7:30 AM today with 500 lumens strapped to my head, a full 40+ minutes before the sun fully rose.
It’s been a good 15 years since I consistently recreated outdoors in the dark. However, I’m in the Fall stretch of the 2024 Lumber Through Hell Tour, as well as the actual Living Hell that is 2024 America. So, I like to get out for my lumbers, home to run any errands, and back inside before the bulk of rightwing, mid-Michigan rim-lickers start their day of stupidity and fascist idol-worshiping.
I made some idle threats to run on the treadmill over the weekend but opted for voting, watching footy, beers, sexy time, food making, and slack. Not all activities were done at the same time, but some were done concurrently.
Come Monday, I was back in the woods to start another week of lumbering. Now it’s Wednesday, I have 15+ miles in my feetz, and I should hit 110 miles for the month after tomorrow’s effort. Not a bad month for lumbering. I wish I could say as much for the state of my brain, but I’ll take what I can get.
