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Tag Archives | unsolicited opinion

Hidden Deer and Hermit Birds

By on April 15, 2025 in Outdoors

The weekend into Monday, Ma Nature teased mid-Michigan with thoughts of Spring, but as I’ve said many times since moving here in 2010, you can’t really rely on Spring to bring consistently warm days until early May—maybe.

So, I was not surprised to venture into the woods wearing gloves and carrying around the regret of not wearing my “winter” jacket (actually a Bontrager cycling jacket with easy-to-access rear pockets, but don’t tell anyone) instead of the lightweight rain jacket (also a Bontrager cycling jacket disguised as a hiking jacket. Shhh!). At least my hands were warm as random snowflakes flitted around in the air.

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The Percentages

By on April 9, 2025 in Outdoors

In my last post, I said that I felt like I was operating at about 85% physically. Well, I’m happy to say that when I woke up on Wednesday, I was pretty sure I was operating at 91%.

Where and how did I come up with a 6% improvement over roughly 24 hours? Hell, I don’t know; I made that percentage shit up. All I know is that I felt way better than yesterday, and these days, I’ll take whatever I can get. NOT 100%; that’d be daft. I can’t imagine my fat, old, people-hating, depressive ass ever feeling 100%. Or if I ever was.

Ahem, moving on…

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Falling Turkeys & Some Wood Ducks

By on April 8, 2025 in Outdoors

Monday: Another subpar weekend is in the books. Why so subpar, emo kid? Not sure, but I do know that while I am feeling WAY better than I was a couple weeks ago, physically, I STILL don’t feel 100%, and resting and not “doing stuff” actually makes me feel worse, which is a bit screwed up.

With that said, on Monday, I was happy to be back to my weekday routine of early morning lumbers, even if it does still feel like winter, and the 5.80-mile hike ended with large snowflakes blowing around, making it seem like I’m living the same sickly and wintry mindfuck every gahdamn day; dealing with low-grade illness while enduring a frozen hell on earth (IF you don’t mind me getting a tad hyperbolic).

The woods also continue to have a very UN-spring-like feel to them, with very few plants even thinking about blossoming. The critters are lying low, and the pre-spring colors are a pallet of brown, tan, and grey. If it were a Crayon color, it would be Sock Covered in Cat Puke or Dead Wet Rat.

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Goals Met, Stats Checked

By on April 5, 2025 in Outdoors

Within the 2025 Lumbering bylaws, no rule explicitly says that my self-imposed 25-mile weekly goal needs to be completed over consecutive days. Only that between Monday and Sunday, I hike 25 miles or more.

Knowing that I had an appointment with Doctor Bob on Thursday morning, I figured I might as well take the whole day off from “doing stuff” and save my final lumber for early Saturday morning.

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Cherishing The Experiences

By on April 2, 2025 in Outdoors

The weather people were calling for snow, rain, freezing rain, and high winds today, and they were not wrong. None of that stopped me from going for a lumber, but I was admittedly less than thrilled. Until I got in the woods.

There was an inch or so of wet April snow on the ground when I pulled into the empty parking lot to start my hike, and the clouds were hanging lower than an octogenarian’s tool bag as I set off down the park path toward the trails.

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Lumbers and Germanic History

By on April 1, 2025 in Outdoors

I figured I might as well keep a “not bad” thing going, and I was once again in bed before sunset last night. The result was I woke up more refreshed and rested than I had in nearly two flu-ridden weeks. It only took 13 days, but I’ll take what I can get.

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Towhees & Trucker Germs

By on March 31, 2025 in Outdoors

I entered this past weekend with all the excitement of a death row inmate, shuffling down the hall towards their fate with hands and feet bound in chains. And the weekend did not disappoint.

12 days ago, I came down with the flu, and 7 days ago, my fever broke, leaving me feeling better—NOT great, but better. Since then, I have got back to lumbering in the woods and got 25+ miles in last week, which felt great, but those forays outside tended to be the peak of my daily physical exertions, and after completing my errands and Cul-De-Sac-Shack duties, I would end the day completely wiped out, and ready for bed well before 8 PM. This trend would continue through the weekend, but with no lumbering, just sleeping and sitting in my chair watching footy. Even beer tasted like shit!

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