Last week was filled with near-daily lumbers through the woods with my camera, followed by a day off to let my 51-year-old body rest and recover; I was ready to get back at it on Monday and returned to Deerfield Park for a 4-mile hike in the cool, rainy woods.
The morning was dark with a rain that alternated between a steady drizzle and a refreshing misty spray that gave the woods a real Dagobah System feel (Google it, youngsters).
Due to the rain and my mild distaste for hiking with an awkward pack to protect my gear, I once again took the 12-year-old Canon s95 pocket camera with me to take some snapshots along the way.
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Years back, when riding five to six times a week, I would go on hikes and think, “this would be so much better on my mountain bike!” However, now there are times that I’m hiking singletrack trails through the tall trees over a layer of soft pine needles, carpet-like green moss, and wet dirt, and the near silence of the woods is damn near perfect. Unless, of course, the right-wing Michigan militia hicks are practicing at the target range a few miles away, then it’s less idyllic.
Having said all that, my recent hikes in the woods have caused me to start thinking about maybe airing up the tires on the Stache and going for a mountain bike ride again. A proposition that both excites me and terrifies me after a year off the bike.
Today is another cool, dark, and rainy day here in the mid-mitten, and my brain is wired to want to get back out in the woods, but I also know I can’t neglect the gym and Operation Pec Lift III or soon it will turn into OPL-IV.
Later.
Edit: How could I forget to include the Soiled Sounds Track of the Post??
SOILED SOUNDS TRACK OF THE POST:
Hands down, this has got to go to the band Spiritual Cramp and their 2021 EP Here Comes More Bad News (as well as the 2018 album Television, which combines their first two EPs).
For the sake of keeping it to one track, check out the song Earth to Mike, a raucous mix of punk, post-punk, hardcore, and amazing hooks. I also urge you to peep the video for Earth to Mike on YouTube, which features vocalist Michael Bingham cruising the streets on a sweet Vespa and performance footage.
And for a great live performance, check out their live performance in Philly from April 2022. I watched this again while at the gym this morning and was uncontrollably skanking on the treadmill! Who knew that was even possible?? It is.