Tag Archives | The 2025 Ignorance is Bliss Tour

The Good Odd Days

By soiledchamois on June 12, 2025 in Outdoors

I was up at 5:40 AM, got Lola fed, had some coffee, read the footy news, dumped out, and then had my aging, flaccid white-man ass on the trails by 6:50 AM. There was much rejoicing.

When I pulled into the lot, there was an unfamiliar Ford Transit in the lot, and as much as I tend to imagine people living in the park, this woman was TOTALLY living in the park—at least for the night. As indicated by her van filled with racks of clothing, various water jugs, and bedding. Oh well, like James Hetfield once crooned, “Where I lay my head is home.” She was packing up as I set off down the trail and gone when I finished. Safe travels, Parking Lot Sleeping Lady.

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Mid-Week Lumber

By soiledchamois on June 11, 2025 in Outdoors

Wednesday brought a perfect summer morning, and I was on the trails at 6:45 with the goal of getting at least 5 miles in and then getting home for breakfast, lawn mowing, and grocery-getting.

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Frogs and Flowers

By soiledchamois on June 10, 2025 in Outdoors

Last weekend was full of well-deserved slack, and I was happy to do next to nothing but watch some pretty horrible international football on the TV whilst drinking beer and fighting off the want to remove myself even further from the Great American Shit Show and the cult of racist, red-hat-wearing fuck faces who are in NO way making this country great again.

I digress.

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Goals Met, Boat Shoes, & Slacks

By soiledchamois on June 6, 2025 in Outdoors

Today’s lumber was all about hitting my 30-mile goal for the week, and spoiler alert—I did.

I only needed 4.5 miles, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but I’m glad I got it done. Sure, I COULD somewhat easily hike 30 miles a week if I went by the 7-day week, and at times, I’ve been forced to. However, I’ve realized lately, or maybe knew all along, that doing it in 5 days is not only harder (in a good way) but also gives me some structure to my life as if I had an actual career outside the home, like the bad ol’ days instead of being a dumbass who specializes in cooking, cleaning, lawn mowing, and failure (ha!).

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It is What it Was

By soiledchamois on June 4, 2025 in Outdoors

As last evening went on, it became increasingly apparent, that what I thought was some sort of poison on my shins was, in fact, poison on my shins.

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Miles, Nubbins, and Lawns

By soiledchamois on June 3, 2025 in Outdoors

The woods were a welcome 30˚ warmer today than yesterday, which made things much more comfortable. I also felt pretty good, considering that I did 7 miles yesterday. So why not do it again?

I’m really digging the new course that I’ve been doing and happy with the mix that it offers. All but one trail would also make a great mountain bike loop, but that’s for another day.

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Time to Up The Pace Again?

By soiledchamois on June 2, 2025 in Outdoors

A chill weekend hanging around the Cul-De-Sac-Shack doing nothing much had me anxious to get back in the woods on Monday morning. And that’s what I did.

Even though the calendar says it’s June now, the temps were in the low 40s when my feet hit the trail at 6:50 this morning. But the sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky when I started out, so it was easy enough to deal with some cold digits.

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Miles In, Pounds On

By soiledchamois on May 30, 2025 in Outdoors

I was pretty beat after yesterday’s 7-mile lumber but was eager to get back out to try to reach my unofficial 30-mile weekly summer goal today.

I hadn’t even walked 20 yards and I had already seen a rabbit, a deer, and a gray catbird high in a tree as the sun was rising. The catbird shot isn’t my normal kind of shot, but it ended up being one of my favorites of the week. I guess there’s something to say about pushing yourself out of your creative comfort zone.

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Almost There, Again

By soiledchamois on May 29, 2025 in Outdoors

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.

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Another Normal Month?

By soiledchamois on May 28, 2025 in Outdoors

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.

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