This week started where last week ended, with an early morning lumber in the unbelievably humid woods.
The hike was pretty good, and I got a photo of a doe and her two fawns in the river that I really dug. I dug the shot because, as I stood on the opposite riverbank watching them, it was clear that the doe had noticed me and started to raise her hoof to “scare” me, but I knew it would also be the sign for the two fawns to get the hell out of there. As soon as I saw the leg move, I took the shots and a second later—SPLASH! The foot came down, and they were all out of there.
There were a few things that really bummed me out on the hike, though.
The first thing was that a couple of miles into the hike, I was scanning some dead trees for birds of prey, and I thought I saw nothing, but two steps later, an unseen Osprey flew off and down the river. SHIT!!
Then, literally 3 minutes later, I came around a blind corner and a Bald Eagle flew off from a group of trees just out of view on the left. All I could do was grab my camera and start to spray and pray. All I got was its ass end. SHIT!
The final thing that bothered me was seeing, yet again, someone has been riding the Deerfield trails on an electric motorcycle. No, not an e-bike, those are for fucking losers, too, but one of the 80-pound electric kind that has a throttle (you can tell by the marks on the trail where they accelerate). These bikes are usually the ones you see convicted drunk drivers zooming around town on because they’re unregulated and perfect for getting them from home to the bar. No licence needed, and you can buy one from Amazon.
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This class of e-bike is prohibited on the trails as they can go close to 30 MPH and can cause damage to trails as well as put wildlife and other trail users in danger. The county has known about it for months, but they have yet to even put out a social media post to discourage it, let alone some signage. Fucking losers on battery-operated “motorcycles.” Pedal your fucking bike, loser.
Oh well, people suck, we all know that. Moving on…
I got a nugget hair over 5 miles in (5.01), and then it was home for tree trimming and all the other fun stuff that Monday brings.
Tuesday was more of the same with a 5.37-mile lumber, but with next to no luck with photos. I saw some deer, but I can only take so many deer photos.
After I got home and had my breakfast, I dried my sweat-soaked shirt and then took a drive out to the Sylvan Solace Preserve with my macro kit.
Recent conversation at the bike shop:
Rod (to me): “I really like those tiny pictures you’ve been taking. What kind of camera are you using?”
Chris: “A tiny one!!”
I had a great time sweating all over myself as I took photos of various insects along the trail, and got another almost 2 miles in my feetz. Those miles don’t count toward the Ignorance is Bliss Tour, but miles are miles.
I was pretty stoked with the images and still can’t believe I almost sold my Nikon macro lens! It, combined with an 11mm AF/macro tube on the Z6, has been perfect lately.
The heatwave is supposed to break on Wednesday, and I can’t wait! I love warm weather, but this humidity is unbearable and pretty unusual for Michigan.
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Later.