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.
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.
This morning I was super proud of myself for getting my shit together and starting my lumber at 6:52 AM.
But, as per my usual, that pride was fleeting, for at 6:54 as I walked down the main park path to the trails, I double-checked my setting on the z50, and soon found out that while I did put a newly charged battery in before I left the house, I did NOT put an SD card in. Shit.
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.
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.
I was back on the trails at 7:03 AM on Tuesday to lumber out another loop of woodsy walking while doing my best to fill my camera’s SD card with nature nubbins and critter pics.
The morning was damp and humid under a slate grey sky that does its best to monkey with my shots and force me to over-familiarize myself with Lightroom’s shadow slider.
As previously mentioned in the last post about nothing, I took the weekend off from lumbering, enjoyed the spring weather, watched football, and hung out with Wifey. B was also home for Mother’s Day, so that was a bonus. It was all pretty swell. Well, other than the Spurs losing yet again in league play. I hate them.
With all that out of the way, I was eager to get back in the woods to burn off the weekend’s bad choices.
