It’s been a chill weekend, and I now find myself here early Sunday morning with no footy to watch, no hike planned, the grass already cut, and a large coffee in hand, so I felt the need to write about a trip to the grocery store the other day. Because isn’t that what people do on a Sunday morning?
Enter the Soiled Wayback Machine, and let’s travel back to a couple of days ago as I blather on about things completely unrelated to cycling, hiking, or photography.
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.
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.