by Doctor Science
Yesterday I happened to walk a mile almost first thing in the morning, and it felt so good I want to make a habit of it again. Since the family is doing a read-aloud of The Lord of the Rings (we just finished “A Knife in the Dark”), my thoughts naturally went to the Eowyn Challenge. What the heck, I said, I’ll walk to Rivendell!.
It turns out that my part of NJ has added a *lot* of public open space and trails in the last 10 years. Today I did a bit over 2 miles, of a trail I haven’t walked before. Very lovely, open fields and wood edges, with a view up the valley that includes almost no houses or roads — which is a notable achievement in central NJ. Next time, though, I’m wearing my hiking boots: the trail is really just a little path, and it’s kind of uneven for my uneven ankles.
The boots, btw, are unlined Gore-Tex hiking boots that are my personal instance of the Sam Vimes Boots Theory of Economic Injustice. I got them for $99 about 25 years ago — the equivalent of over $200 in today’s money, and the most in constant dollars that I’ve ever spent on footwear. I could only afford them because my grandmother gave me the money as a gift. And you know what? My feet are still dry.
I haven’t been able to find just the right landscape picture to go with this post, so I shall quit wasting time looking for one and give you a good ol’ Constable. Now I can get back to wasting time on today’s xkcd.
YOu make NJ seem like a very pleasant place. I was born there but don’t remember it. My images of NJ come from springsteen lyrics and Boardwalk Empire.
I walk about fifteen miles a week, walking dogs. I am a volunteer dog walker at a rescue. Today I walked a shy yellow dog, a mutt of the type common around here. In the south mutts like him are called blackmouth curs. There’s a multiple mix breed mutt in every geographic area where generations of dogs breed freely amongst themselves and often the resulting dog is yellow, lab sized, has a medium coat, a tail that curls up and a dark face. Anyway I am digressing.
I walk through the woods on logging roads. We, the mutts and I, alwasy see wildlife. Today we flushed some grouse which Carl, the mutt, enjoyed very much.
I took Chloe, another Mason County yellow dog, wading in a seasonal pond and she had a great time splashing after frog ans terrorizing garter snakes.
I cannot make myself exercise for the sake of exercising or walk for the sake of walking, but in the company of a dog, I can go for miles.
Now I can get back to wasting time on today’s xkcd.
A true epic. I wonder how many hours Randall Munroe spent on that monster, and how many hours the rest of us have spent exploring it.
i gave up on that xkcd after hitting the bottom of the underground section. it took so much clicking and dragging to get down there, i didn’t have the energy to go back up.
This link, via LGM, lets you zoom in and out if you regain strength in your fingers.
I am totally waking up Bilbo’s trolls this time. And Bombadil is the next stop, no skipping this time.