Looks a little weatherish to the north
from just below the Candelaria Bench Trail.
In mid-March last year I had a hitch in my gitalong.
All I was good for was a short stroll with crutches, or a slightly longer spin on the stationary trainer. A Darth Gimp boot gripped the broken bone like an ankle monitor. Only the mind wandered freely.
Today, with the skies darkening, the wind thundering, and the pollen scattering, I almost — almost! — decided to stay indoors.
And then I remembered last March. So out I went.
I needed a thin watch cap, mask, hoodie, henley, pants, wool socks, and thin gloves, but still. Outside! On a trail! And a rocky one, too, even worse than the one that took me down last February.
Even jogged a few bits, just ’cause I could. What a difference a year makes.
Up near where the climb to the Candelaria Bench Trail steepens, I saw seven deer peering at me from across a ravine. They’ve been thick as rush-hour traffic around our place already this year, peppering The Compound with poop.
I’m not certain what they’re after down here in the ’burbs, before spring has actually sprung. But like most Americans deer will pretty much eat whatever is convenient. Free will is an illusion, at least for certain foods.
Speaking of airline travel, which we were not, do not expect to see me boarding a flight to anywhere anytime soon until (a) The Plague is over, and (2) the drunks have a clear idea where the toilet is.
Tags: Big Food, Candelaria Bench Trail, mule deer
Mad Blog Media 
March 13, 2021 at 4:52 pm |
Happy for you and the best!
March 13, 2021 at 7:14 pm |
I still ain’t pretty, but at least I’m mobile. …
March 13, 2021 at 6:54 pm |
Giddyup ole’ dawg, giddyup ! I hope your hiking day was as good as the previous day celebrating Herself’s maturation of wisdom.
My fine elder received her 2nd Mod today and she is doing well with no side effect issues 6 hours after the event. While there at the “sticking” place, they chased me down and poked me with one of those sharpie things too. I went out afterward for a couple hour ride and other then a mildly noticeable shoulder ache (similar to the 1st Mod), I don’t feel anything more than a couple of legs that have two hours in March in them.
March 13, 2021 at 7:20 pm |
Well done indeed. And no side effects. Takin’ care of bidness.
I wasn’t in the mood to chew on that breeze from behind the handlebars, so a hike seemed a viable alternative. I’ve got to stay focused on these rocky-ass trails, though. Down below the trails are basically kitty litter, but higher up they’re more like stale Cracker Jack, marbles, and crumbled styrofoam from old electronics packaging. So easy to slide out and into the trailside cacti and sharp rocks.
March 13, 2021 at 7:29 pm |
Don’t crash into prickly pear cactus, eat them! Get even by having some nopales with your eggs tomorrow!
March 13, 2021 at 7:38 pm |
You really have to watch your ass off road around here. Everything is pointy and inclined to defend its territory. And clearly I am a fellow who can’t be trusted to navigate with skill and grace even when afoot.
March 13, 2021 at 8:10 pm |
Definitely weatherish to the north, with 100% change of weather throughout the weekend.
March 14, 2021 at 7:50 am |
So it seems. Hal just sent me a pic from his place that reminds me why I don’t much miss Colorado. You and the kids making big ol’ snowpersons up there?
March 14, 2021 at 10:51 am |
Sort of … staying inside eating chili is making me a bigger person.
March 14, 2021 at 12:33 pm |
16”, got another 12 hours before it slows down.
Got a fire, a little Coltrane/Miles Davis mix playing, and pozole on the stove, so it can do whatever it wants to do outside.
March 13, 2021 at 10:08 pm |
I expect you’ll board Air Subaru before you get on a flight! Interesting NYT story/book review. All the details of the neuroscience of highly processed foods.
March 14, 2021 at 7:54 am |
Dern tootin’, Libby. I don’t remember the last time I got on a plane. In a plane. Whatevs. For the flight to the North American Handmade Bike Show in Charlotte back in 2014, mebbe?
That book review was interesting, yeah? It must be a bit like reading “Junky,” by William Burroughs. Except instead of heroin we’re talking potato chips, which are legal.
March 14, 2021 at 6:46 am |
Funny that, but I’d just commented around here that I for sure would not be flying anywhere this year. I know people are gonna spazz and travel like mad. And behave stupidly and selfishly thinking they deserve some slack from being cooped up these past months. Well before the pandemic flying was getting more and more tiresome and I used to do a lot of it. But driving long distances over multiple days isn’t my idea of bliss either. A few months back I started listing places 4-6 hour drive from home that I’ve never been. There were a ton of em! And lodging options exploded several years ago so comfortable out-and-back trips galore await if I need to blow this joint and shake the stink off. Soon as I can test drive the upcoming Bolt EV it may become my chariot for these excursions.
March 14, 2021 at 8:09 am |
O, indeed. The NYT says air travel is on the rise, despite the CDC’s guidelines recommending against frivolous flitting about. And the dipshits are cavorting barefaced in Florida because it’s spring break and the gummint there is dumber than a bag of hammers. No thank you please.
I think the four- to six-hour drive is just about ideal. You can lay ’em end to end and really get somewhere if you factor in an extended stay between bouts of happy motoring. My “On the Road” days are behind me.
I do wish I still had a 4WD pick-’em-up truck with a camper shell, though. Roll out the old Therm-a-Rest and mummy bag in the back and skip the cooties at the Motel 666. Buying one of the current models is right out, though. Even the Tacomas are giant ugly-ass tanklike monster trucks now.
March 14, 2021 at 9:54 am |
I still kick myself for selling the ’97 Tacoma. As you say, the new ones are monstrous penis substitutes for the all hat and no cattle crowd.
March 14, 2021 at 10:45 am |
Yep. What were you thinking? That was back in the day before technology took over our driving.
Once Toyota and Nissan began making large fat-ass trucks copying those of the domestic makers, I decided that pre-owned vehicles would be my preference. Of course many other people are looking for the same pre-owned vehicles. You’d be surprised how much a 97 Tacoma still sells for.
March 14, 2021 at 10:06 am |
Have you seen this CityLab piece on the “giant, furious trucks?” Interesting read. I’ve only owned the one full-size, American-made pickup, a 1996 F-150, and it was hands down the worst vehicle I have ever owned.
Now, my 1983 Toyota longbeds were solid as rocks. I drove the 2WD model from Maine to Spokane and Bisbee to Bellingham, then sold it to a mechanic who knew a young fella in need of a cheap work truck. I saw it on the road a time or two after that, and it must have been well over 350,000 miles at that point. Good gas mileage, decent power (22R engine), SR5 package.
But nobody makes anything like that these days. As far as I know, anyway. …
The 1983 Dogmobiles, parked behind our Weirdcliffe house.
March 14, 2021 at 11:22 am |
CityLab was spot on. Trucks aren’t trucks anymore. Only come in 4 door with every possible creature comfort.
Never trust a skinny chef or a man with a clean pickup, my wife’s dad would say.
Ask a neighbor with a new truck, hey, can I borrow that, I need to grab a pallet of sheep manure? They’re expression fully encapsulates the problem.
Every freaking tradesman in my town uses his $65K truck to haul 25 pounds of tools. But he has 8 cup holders inside.
March 14, 2021 at 11:23 am
They’re? Come on, Siri.
March 14, 2021 at 7:44 pm |
Ah ! So that’s my problem. “Nothing could be more emasculating than driving a minivan.” I hate it when I’m being emasculated.
March 15, 2021 at 7:16 am
The minivan can be a utilitarian vehicle. Lots of people make stealth RVs out of Honda Odysseys and Toyota Siennas because you can pull the rear seats and/or flatten them out for storage and sleeping. Honda doesn’t do an AWD version, though. And like pickups these things have really ballooned up in size (and price).
Remember the Toyota Previa? I still see a few of those on the road, along with the occasional Toyota Van. Some sporting types found them excellent road-trippers, with plenty of storage space and rear seats that folded against the walls. Slightly underpowered for loaded trips through the mountains, but hey, so was the VW bus.
If a minivan is emasculating, what does driving a 16-year-old Subaru Forester do to a fella?
March 14, 2021 at 7:47 am |
I like simple things that are easy to remember and use. So, Michael Pollan’s rule works for me, “Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.” Processed stuff engineered so you can’t eat just one ain’t real food.
I fall off that wagon often using the plague as an excuse, but I’m trying.
March 14, 2021 at 8:11 am |
Yeah, I’m less inclined to eat swill these days. I get the urge for a midday snack, I generally go for a handful of almonds and cashews, plus a mandarin orange, clementine, or banana. The sack of tater chips is right out. ’Cause I will eat that whole sack. I’ll feel real bad about it afterward, but I’ll do ’er anyway.