Weekly Ephemera #152

TV and walking ... That was it.

• I watched "Foundation" season two and part of season three.  I didn't realize there was a season three.  The last three episodes haven't dropped yet but will be available before our month of Apple TV+ expires.  It's not following the books that closely but it is entertaining.
  
  Next I watched "Murderbot" season one.  I liked it, but the episodes were too short and the voice in the main character's head doesn't sound like the one I had in my head when I read the novella.  Obviously this is more of a me problem than a problem with the show. I look forward to the next season.
  
  I needed a break from binging series so I watched "The Gorge".  This movie is cheesy action and it fit the bill.
• This was a very successful walking week.  I walked three times, totaling 30.6 miles (49.25 km).  More importantly, I felt very good during these walks and I wonder if it's the new diabetes medication.

Weekly Ephemera #114 - Post Travel Recovery

• It's been nearly forty-eight hours since we got back from our Great Britain trip and I think I'm starting to recover.  I keep waking up around 4am but that will change with time.
• Our trip was fun.  We only had a couple deviations from our original plan I listed here.  We saw and did a lot over the twenty-four days of our trip.  It was odd to be in an English speaking country for once.  I expect to start documenting our travels later this week.  I have to look at all the pictures the Wife and I took and I need to draft the posts.
• I haven't maintained my low carb diet as I traveled so the next few days will be consisting of trying to walk off some of the carbs and detoxing my diet.  I hope to continue my walking where I left off before our trip.  Fortunately we did a lot of walking on our trip including some six to eight hour walking tours and walking around several of the cities we visited.  I didn't keep track of how far we walked but there were a few days with multi-mile hikes.
• This week will be full of catch-up.  While Fall weather really hasn't kicked in yet I need to start prepping for winter.  Our furnace needs to be inspected.  Sprinklers need to be blown out.  Sadly, I am still wrangling with the insurance company about the hail damage from July and that wrangling will restart this week.  Homeowner life goes on.

Weekly Ephemera #55

• To my surprise the painters/drywallers showed up on Wednesday.  The hole in the living room ceiling has been fixed and several water spots (caused by the condensation issues we had) were touched up.  On Monday they will finish the job when they paint the living room ceiling.  I wish this had been finished two weeks ago.
• I had my semi-annual blood draw this week.  Setting it up was a bit strange.  I called to make an appointment and I was told I couldn't get the blood drawn until I met with the Doctor.  I asked the person what I would have to talk about with the Doctor if we didn't have blood test results.  She consulted the Doctor and ... they authorized me to get my blood drawn.
  
  After my blood draw I checked the results on the health app our doctor's office uses.  All results were there except for my blood sugar numbers (A1C and Glucose) and my PSA.  I met with the doctor the next day and she said "oh yeah ... I should have asked for those."  Fortunately the blood drawn a couple days earlier was still 'good' and they could do the additional tests she had omitted.
  
  The results, by the way, were pretty good.  My lipid numbers (cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, HDL, etc) were all in the normal range with a few of the numbers being the best I've ever had.  My A1C was 5.7 ... at the bottom of the prediabetic range.  I was hoping it would be in the normal range ... so close.  My glucose number was 100 ... the high end of the normal range and better than last time.
  
  Overall my numbers are moving in the correct direction.  Yay me!
• As for our Camino planning, the one thing I hadn't figured out was how to get from the Paris airport to the train station.  A little search came up with a couple options - The metro train or a taxi.  The metro was by far cheaper than the taxi option but it would take twice as long.  Also, as I was trying to figure out which metro trains I needed to take and where to change trains, I became more and more confused.  Not a good feeling when we will be in a strange new city.
  
  I am slightly concerned about how much time it will take to get off the plane, pick up our checked bag (containing our poles, pocket knife, liquids, and other items forbidden in your carry on bag), and go through immigration.  If it takes too long and we use the slower transportation method to get to the train station we risk missing the earlier train.  If we miss it, it would delay us by a couple hours and possibly arrive in St Jean Pied de Port in the dark.  I decided that the faster and less confusing, but more expensive, solution would be to take a taxi.
• I walked once last week.  I walked 11.9 miles (19.2 km) the day before my blood test hoping to burn off some of my blood sugar.  The painters showing up stopped me from walking any more this week.
  
  I usually don't walk the week before I start a long hike so I will not be walking this week.  This will give me more time to pack, worry, and battle my pre-travel anxiety.
• To distract myself a little I've been binging "Columbo" reruns and I went to the new "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" movie this morning - a very good end to the GotG series though I found the comedy a bit too heavy handed at times.

Weekly Ephemera #54

• I went through my camping gear and started a Camino packing pile.   The pile is fairly small since you don't need very much.  You don't need a tent, sleeping bag, food preparation, water purification, or other common camping gear.  You just need clothing, toiletries, and first aid supplies.  You only carry enough food and water for the day's walk.  Different from my other Caminos I will be carrying my phone and tablet.
  
  

  

  Petals from the flowering trees blanketing the park like snow.

• I walked 26.3 miles (42.3 km) this week.  On Friday it drizzled for about two thirds of the walk.  The wind didn't work well with the umbrella I was carrying but I stayed reasonably dry.  Hiking with an umbrella while using trekking poles is impossible so, on the Camino, the Wife and I will be carrying Ferrino Trekker backpacker coats for those rainy days.
• A few homeowner issues:
• The painter/drywaller failed to call to schedule the ceiling repair last week.  This job should have been completed a week ago.  Getting this work finished before we leave for the Camino is looking unlikely.
• We had our air conditioning inspected this week and everything is hunky dory.  The tech showed up early and did a quick and good job.  Why can't all of these household chores be that easy?
• I turned on the sprinklers.  The anti-siphon valve that prevents sprinkler water from backing up  into the house plumbing is leaking.  In the past the leaking usually stops in a few days.  I may have to have it replaced when we get home.  We also have a pop up sprinkler head that is sticking so it should be replaced too.
• I filled out my application for my Government Annuity (part of my retirement benefits).  I will be mailing it this week so that we will start getting monthly checks in August (the month after I turn sixty).  It will be nice to get some regular income even if it won't be that much.

Weekly Ephemera #53

This was another slow week full of not much of anything.  When I wasn't watching stuff on Paramount+ (it's Paramount+ binge month here) the following was happening:

• Over the last eight or nine days we've had 4 inches (10.2 cm) of rain.  Our ground is pretty saturated.  On Thursday the Wife called me out to the garage to show me something:
  
  

  

  Earthworms fleeing the flood waters.
  (Photo taken by the Wife)

  We live on a local high spot of our street and, apparently, the earthworms headed for the high ground during the rain on Thursday morning.  I take this as a sign that we have a healthy lawn.
• Caught up on my chores including cleaning the dryer vent - something I often neglect.  I replaced the crappy vent flex pipe with a rigid/quality flex pipe combo a few years back and, when I do take the time to clean it, I find there really isn't much accumulated lint. [Yes ... I am proud of my dryer vent.  I have such a rich life.]
• We are still waiting for the painters/drywallers to show up.  Their excuse is some of their crew called in sick last week.  Sounds like the new excuse for these 'post-pandemic' times.
• As I mentioned Friday, I walked three times this week.  I totaled 29.4 miles (47.4 km) ... a good week.

X̅ (Miles)

I have been keeping track of my walking/hiking mileage since February 2007 when I printed out a list of hikes in the Ventura County area of California where I lived at the time.  I worked my way through that list over the next year and a half.  Over the years since I added two Caminos, three Appalachian Trail attempts, and innumerable shorter walks/hikes to the tally.  This week I walked three times and, during my third walk, I passed the 10,000 mile (16,093 km) mark.

Onward to the next 10,000!

P.S. For those not understanding the post title, the roman numeral representation for 10,000 is X̅.

The First Snow Flurries Of The Season

I went for my first cold walk for the season.  Today the temperatures never topped 40℉ (4.4℃) but the wind chills were well below freezing.  I think this is nearly the perfect weather to walk in.  I didn't sweat even tho I dressed warm.  To top it off we had our first snowfall.  Well, to be honest, it was our first snow flurries of the season with nothing sticking once it hit the warm ground.

A couple snow flakes on my fleece glove.

The flurries were light with short bursts of light snow blown by the unending wind.  It gave my nearly fifteen mile walk an almost magical feeling.

Can't wait for our first real snowfall, yet to appear in the forecast, so for the briefest moment the world can be clean and quiet.

Waterline

Last weekend we had storms come through and for the first time in my memory the downtown area of Omaha was subject to flash flooding.  Some of you may have heard about the flooded elevator that made the national news.  Today I walked downtown in the area that was flooding.  Clean up is continuing including at an art gallery in the area.  There was mud everywhere.  Then I saw just how deep the water had been:

The water and mud line from last weekend's storm.

I knew there was water in basements (where the elevator flooded).  I never realized the water was that deep on the streets outside.  Crazy weather we're having.

Mental Overload

I went for a walk today.  When I walk I often think about my Caminos or the Appalachian Trail but today my thoughts often strayed to the state of the world.

I have confessed that I am a news junky many times in the past and I have even tried to reduce the amount of news I have consumed but the past two years have changed things.  You can no longer ignore the news.  The past two years have emphasized just how important it is to follow what is happening around us.

The state of our union ... and my mental state while reading the news.

I am very likely consuming more news per day than anytime in my past.  Tell-All books, FBI investigations, Incoherent Tweets, #MeToo, #TimesUp, Brexit, F-ing UFOs - mental overload.  This has not been a good thing for my mental health as my anxiety levels have been elevated for awhile now.  However, I cannot turn away from the slow motion (and often not so slow motion) train wreck our country is going through.

Hopefully things will turn around.  I only want one thing.  One very simple thing.  I want a return to an Ordinary World.

"Ordinary World"

Duran Duran

P.S.  Happy Birthday, G_v.

A Little Spark Of Positivity

I went for a short walk yesterday (13.28 miles - 21.37 km) and I saw something unexpected that brought a smile to my face.

On a corner, in a residential neighborhood of the Florence area of north Omaha, a woman stood on a corner holding up a sign.  The sign said "have a great day".

The street she stood on wasn't very busy and I doubt few saw the woman and her sign but I'm sure everyone who drove or walked by smiled.

For a few minutes my day was a little more positive.

Hey Look At That ...5,000 Miles!

I just noticed that my walk yesterday pushed my total hiking distance over five thousand miles.  It just took me ten and a half years.

Those five thousand miles took me along some awesome trails and beautiful sights.  Kind of bummed I wasn't able to add the two thousand plus miles of the Appalachian Trail onto that total.

I wonder where the next five thousand miles will take me.

The Dodge Street Subway And Other Things

Today's weather just screamed "GO FOR A WALK" so I did.  I went on an urban hike starting in the Old Market area of Omaha and heading west along Farnum and Dodge streets before looping north through the Dundee area and back east.

The Dodge Street Subway.

Along the way I searched for something I'd heard about: a pedestrian tunnel under Dodge Street.  Dodge is the main drag of the city.  The tunnel allows children to get to their school without crossing the busy street.  They have recently decorated the tunnel - known as the Dodge Street Subway - with murals.  It's kind of cool.  A few photos of the subway and murals can be found in my 2017-09-06 Dodge Street Subway Google Photos album.

One of the murals in the subway.  The 'famous' Dundee clock tower.

A butterfly on a flower beside a white picket fence.

The rest of my walk took me by flowers and butterflies and other signs of late summer.  In Dundee, where a late June hail storm did damage, the sound of roofers hammering came from all directions.

Pink with a dash of yellow.

I felt good during this walk.  It was not as strenuous as my hike at Hitchcock but it was nearly three times longer.  The cooler than average temperatures made it that much more enjoyable.  Not sure the spark was there yet but I might have spied a glow out of the corner of my eye.

Total Distance: 9.18 Miles (14.77 km) Total Time: 3 hours 2 minutes Total Elevation Up: 556.0 ft (169.46 m) Total Elevation Down: 548.9 ft (167.30 m)

My walking path for the day.

Another Year

Today is my birthday.  Another year has passed.  What an odd year it has been.  It has been an ongoing, low level, funk filled year of loss and disappointment that culminated in my walking off the Appalachian Trail (AT) after only a week.  Since then I've been a little lost.

Since I left the AT I have been a sedentary pile of lumpitude.  I haven't hiked since I left Blue Mountain Shelter and the idea of walking is unappealing to me now.  I've spent a lot of the past three months trying to figure out what was stopping me.  I thought it was the general crappiness of the past year that was bringing me down but this didn't ring true.  Then I figured it out.

I have been walking in earnest for the past ten years.  I started hiking in 2007 with the goal of hitting the best trails in the Ventura county area (The link in the original post probably doesn't work ... the fluidity of the internet).  2007 also happens to be the year when I first heard about the Camino de Santiago.  Since then I have hiked towards goals of one fashion or other.

First I hiked to complete the list of Ventura county hikes.  Then I hiked to prepare for my first Camino.  This transitioned to training for my second Camino, completing RAGBRAI, and hiking Rocky Mountain National Park.  All of this hiking combined together to prepare me for the AT (prepare me physically but not mentally).  For ten years I'd been working towards distant goals and now, with me walking off the AT, all my goals were finished - not meeting my last goal ended it all with a sour note.  When I got home I no longer had any hiking goals and without goals the motivation to hike withered.

So it's time to set new goals.  The first will be a simple one.  Trek Up the Tower.  I've done it before and it will give me a reasoned to get off my butt.  After that ... who knows.  I have a couple ideas of long hikes that are easier than the AT and closer to home.

I have already started training for Trek Up the Tower.  I'm riding my trainer nearly everyday.  I will start walking again some day.  Unfortunately it's been just too hot and humid to walk lately.

I am now fifty-four years old.  Let's see if I can make this a new start.

Out In The Fresh Air At The Omaha Summer Arts Festival

This afternoon I spent some time out in the fresh air.  I have to admit, since I got home from the Appalachian Trail (AT), I've been holed up in the house venturing out only rarely.  I haven't gone for a walk/hike since I left Blue Mountain shelter, hiked to Unicoi Gap, and left the AT.  That may change soon.

My excuse to walk out in the sun was the Omaha Summer Arts Festival.  I've gone to the festival a couple time in the last nine years.  Three blocks of downtown are shut down and art vendors from all over the country set up shop along Farnam street.  Along with art there is food and music.  There was even a man riding a twelve foot tall unicycle.

I spent most of the time perusing the expensive art -  glass, metal, paint, photography, jewelry, sculpture, leather, clothes, and more.  Every booth had something different with several making me stop to take a closer look.   I was impressed by the variety of art and food available.  Omaha puts on a good event.  I didn't buy anything but food and dippin' dots.  I don't think I could afford anything else.

Geese floating in the Gene Leahy Mall pool.

After perusing the vendor booths twice, eating lunch, watching the unicycle performer, and listening to some live Jazz, I walked along the water in the Gene Leahy Mall.  I sat down briefly to photograph a family of geese.   The heat started rising so I headed back home.

Feeling the sun on my face and just walking along the water has rekindled my desire to go walking/hiking again.  I may just have to get my walking on again.  When I do, you will be the first to know.

How About Another Update?

Since I stopped doing the post a day back in January my posting frequency has dropped off a lot.  It doesn't mean that I haven't been doing things though.  Let's see what have I been doing for the past week.

I finished buying all the food I'll need for Appalachian Trail (AT) resupply.  I repackaged a bunch of stuff, namely the homemade trail mix and the jerky, into smaller daily rations.  I am about two thirds the way through the repackaging.  Once I had seven days worth of food in a pile I realized that the bear proof food bag I had would not hold it all so I ordered a second food bag.  I suspect that, once full, both food bags will not fit in my backpack so one of the bags will be hanging off the back of my pack.  I will probably put 'day' food in the outside bag and night food in the packed bag.  Naturally, as I hike, the food bags will empty out by about two pounds of foods per day.

Also AT related, I registered my through-hike at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy site.  The registration is voluntary and is meant to help spread out the through hikers and prevent large clumps of hikers leaving from the same place on the same day.  As of March 6th, 1,169 through hikers had registered.  Including my own, there appears to be around ten hikers starting on the same day as I am.  This number is low, of course, since not everyone registers.  Based on the graphs, I will be following a very large bubble of hikers who have/are starting in March.

One last AT thing, I updated the Appalachian Trail tab to include state borders at the request of the Wife and Mother-in-Law.

I had my annual blood work done.  Most of my numbers were in the OK range but several of my numbers had creeped up since last time.   This is a sure sign that I haven't been preparing for the AT enough.  I imagine hiking for six months will work wonders for my numbers though I suspect some of the good will be countered by the high salt, high fat, and high sugar diet that I will be consuming on most of the AT.  It will be hard to maintain good eating habits on the trail.

On Wednesday I went out to lunch with my Mom.  It had been a while (shame on me) and we had fun catching up and talking politics.

On Friday I went for my only walk of the week.  It was a gloomy day but I still enjoyed walking around the Carter Lake and Florence areas.  I'm looking forward to getting out of the city and out into the wilderness in a few weeks.

On Saturday I went with the Wife to Lincoln, NE to the Poetry Out Loud state competition.  Her student, two time state champion. came in third this year.  We still don't understand the scoring of the competition - first and second places came out of left field.  This means the Wife will not be going to Washington D.C. this year.

Those are the highlights.  This coming week is quiet.   I will finish my repackaging.  I will try to get a couple walks in there as well.  Oh ... and lot of purely natural anxiety, I'm sure.

I Went For A Walk Today

Thinking that I'd recovered enough from my minor surgery, I decided to test this theory out with a short walk in the Benson and Keystone districts of north Omaha.

I'd hoped for some sunshine but the clouds that were supposed to come in after noon came in early and the entire way was a bit overcast.  It wasn't winter dreary because the cloud layer was thin and there was still quite a bit of light making it through.  I just wished for some blue.

The walk went well.  I did a relatively short 5.69 miles (9.16 km) and I held up well.  It seems my body feels better when I'm moving.  I'll have to keep that in mind.  I think my recovery may be complete in three to seven days - right on schedule.

One highlight of the walk were some new pieces of public art in the Benson area.  Here is an example of a three dimensional sculpture hanging on a block wall.  The art is tucked into a small alley and easy to miss if you weren't looking.

"Angles on Red"

My name for it, by the way, no official name that I know of.

(By @BarrettRyker)

Shouldn't It Get Easier?

I went for a walk today in Council Bluffs.  I meant to park in the downtown area but I couldn't find a parking spot that either was time limited or threatened to tow my car at my expense.  I drove around my intended route and discovered that where I was going to cross under the interstate was a construction zone and I couldn't go that way.  I ended up parking in a parking lot south of Lake Manawa.

"Manawa Trail"

by Bruce H.

I always have a planned route in my head but, since part of the planned route was impassable I had to shuffle the route around to fix the problems while hoping I didn't accidentally add too much extra distance to the walk.

The final route kind of sucked.  The scenery was not that inspiring and I took few pictures.  I did manage to keep the length of the walk to a workable distance of 16.7 miles (26.8 km).  Despite having walked this distance for several weeks now, my legs were screaming by the time I got to the car.  You would think it would be getting easier.

To spice up this post a bit, I will add a haiku - something I haven't done for a while.  Enjoy.

The soft crunch of waning snow under tread, Through grey skies the sunlight illuminates an unlived new year, A lone walker seeks the beauty that is hidden.

Photograph: "Return To Sender (Address Unknown)"

I went for a walk that took me through the Benson area of Omaha.  I saw this sad sight.  A happy looking mailbox in front of a burned out house.

"Return to sender (address unknown)"

by Bruce H.

After taking this picture a young, well dressed, lady started talking to me.  Took me a few minutes to realize she wasn't making any coherent sense.  I smiled, nodded at a few appropriate times, and said "yeah" a couple times.  This seemed to appease her as she complained about the "stuck up world" and how bad her sister treated her.  We parted ways a block later.

Tickle The Ivories

Last August on one of my training walks through South Omaha I came upon this:

Public Piano Art in South Omaha.

I thought it might be a local art project.  It was an interesting idea.  There wasn't anyone playing it at the time and I didn't know how to play so I just took a picture.  I wish I'd seen someone playing it.  It turns out it is not just a local project.

Last week I came across an article talking about the pianos.  They've been put on streets in over forty-three cities in several countries.  The article was written by someone I met on my first Camino (Niamh).  You can read her article, "Play Me, I'm Yours — Street Pianos Pull People Together" on www.OZY.com.

Cool idea.

"Only A Blister" By Sara Zaleski

After I posted Sara's last poem, GeekHiker suggested in a comment that she write one that mentions the walker's nemesis: the blister.  She went to work and this week she provided a poem that includes mention of a blister.  This was very appropriate since on Friday, after a 13.83 mile (22.26 km) hike, I returned home with a new blister on the ball of my right foot, a result of not wearing the cushions I mentioned a few posts ago.

So, without further ado, I present to you "Only a Blister":

Only a Blister

by Sara Zaleski

My heart thrives on the crisp morning breeze,

The starless sky that stretches 

Between the setting moon and awakening sun.

With each step I am further entranced

As my feet crackle over the ground

Hidden under miles of botanical life.

Yet, my stride lengthens as my mind tries to forget

The pain that has left me stricken,

Sent a shockwave through my veins.

Every moment of shifting weight,

This unmerciful dagger shoots further in

Just as a pin seems to thrust from within me.

It is as if the world herself is plotting my destruction.

I can no longer contain my vengeance

I am prepared to take down this raging nemesis,

This enemy that seems to seek my demise.

But when I gather my breath to fight,

To bring upon the earth peril unlike any other,

I look down and realize

That it is only a blister.