Birthday Hikes.

I took Jack up to Southy to hike Oak Trail on Sunday. It was a fun day in the woods. I was looking at all the rock features and contours trying to find my way up through an intricate set of shelves with my 32x20 mind while Jack was fixated on every plant, bug, leaf, and fungus, growing in the woods,...opposites attract.
I wanted to show her what I call "Fern Rock" that sits about fifty yards off the road and apparently doesn't see any traffic. The outcrop stands maybe 40 or 50 feet high and is covered in moss, lichen, and obviously ferns. The ferns still look healthy and green in this last week of Novemeber??? We tried to document it but you know how that goes with battery operated toys. Oh well, hopefully she will join me again and we will get another chance at it.
What a beautiful section of woods. A mile and a half of trail, a small pocket of hemlocks, but other than that, nothing but older oaks. I don't get it? I don't even see trees like this along the AT,...old logging roads everywhere,...it must just be a matter of time.

Hair Cuts and Conversations.

I needed a haircut.
Jack cut it up with a little help from Stella.
It all grows back,...or at my age, at least the stuff around the ears will.
Jack says: I wanna go hiking with you.
I says: Sure.
Jack says: Where do you go?
I says: No place special.
Jack says: Well what do you mean?
I says: I just sorta pull over on the side of the road and start walking through the woods.
Jack says: No trail?
I says: Nope.
Jack says: How do know where to go?
I says: I don't. I just go right,....then go left,....maybe go straight every once in a while.
Jack says: For six hours??????
"Yes", I say with a Cheshire cat grin.

...

The Play Date

Booty Time

Being at least a pitch off the ground,...the second coming into the station,.... conversation inversely related to the difficulty of the climb,...an occupied mind,..."Booty", one of us would say, as the other was still peering upward, the organization of the rack showing the level of strain and the amount of oxygen getting into the blood and brain,... slings clipped onto the sharp end's harness, with cams, nuts and Lowe Balls grouped by size on the opposite side,...a glance, a breath and upward we go.
But other times,...well,...what a cluster f**k,...an easy climb,... a groping fest of tickling and teasing. "Do I kneed you" one would say, squeezing the knee, as the belayer jumps off the wall, testing the direction of the anchor,..."Do I rib you?" as a rigid finger is poked directly between the skinny bones and the belayer jerks, testing the anchor in the opposite direction,...."Do I earitate you?" again testing the patience of a partner of whom you are trusting with your life as you shove a wet pastey finger in their ear,...."Do I get in your hair?" as the belay station has now become an all out brawl, completely tested in all directions.
Still, at every belay, one of us would make a lame attempt to get serious about the next lead while talking about the good brew stashed in the shade of a small cave hidden several hundred feet below, waiting for us at the end of the rap. Our momentum would always wane. Those were the days. And now,...
Booty time consists of deciding what weight lycra to apply,...locating that lost knee warmer, finding shorts that aren't exposing the chamois, a chamois that hasn't been worn more than three times in a row, the winter time Lakes, the 70's styled lime green reflecting jacket, and a water bottle with or without living organisms inside. Does the bike work? Do I have a tube, a phone, an Ipod, a tail light? Did I charge the headlight? What's the temp? Oh shit,...a head wind,...at 20 mph. Legs move,...
All is forgotten except those big yellow buses with drivers that get payed from the same employer as me, coming within inches of my elbows. But as one driver told me a while ago,..."I work for Carroll County Public Schools",..."I pay my taxes",... well shiiiittt,... what the hell am I doing out here then??? Because I ride a bike, I must not have a job and therefore not pay taxes. Damn all of you clown suit wearing, unemployed, non-tax paying, two-wheeled mofo's!
Tomorrow will be a shock to the system. A return to the bike, a sub freezing temp, and no clue were everything is. There is no choice,... the car is parked outside of the school, far away from home. This should be fun.

My favorite crop

Today I finally got the garlic planted. I tend to plant garlic late every year, but due to the excessive rain, it went in even later. I'm not worried though, it doesn't really seem to matter, as long as you get it in before horrible winter weather.

It always seems like such a chore to plant, although it's getting less so as the years go by. I've been taking a much needed break from the garden for the last month or so and it was refreshing to get out there on such a beautiful day. Spread the compost, till the bed, rake it out, make furrows, separate the cloves, place them in the furrow, dig their hole and plant them in. Such methodical, repetitive work lends itself to the mind wandering to other things and I enjoyed going between a meditative state induced by the rhythm of the work and the flurry of thoughts that also pass through. Plans for next year, reflections of the season past, gratitude that I'll be able to check this task off my list.

The garlic won't mind that I planted it a bit late; all it cares about is that it has a nice long winter to hibernate, a soaking spring to awaken too, and long days of summer to thrive. Maybe that's why I like it so much, it's a lot like me!

Happy Halloween.