I will be on my way to the Adirondacks. I have a rough plan of where I am going to go though nothing is set in stone. It seems like such a downscale from my biannual trips I made to West Virginia but my truck is old and I’ve been wanting to get back up to Horseshoe Lake, the St. Regis Canoe Area and Adirondack Rail Trail for some time now. Still at one level it seems so ordinary, but then again so would be a trip down to Tucker County, WV as I’ve done for ten years nows or even the Allegheny National Forest. My mind screams boring!
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Today’s cool and clear weather after yesterday’s rain and the increasingly low sun angle each day, even mid-day makes me realize that autumn is not a distant dream but it’s upon us. I know that as a fact at one level, but after such a long expanse of dry and warm weather, I found it hard to believe winter is coming soon. But it just feels cold today, such a change after the rain. It’s not that rain and cool is a bad thing, it greatly reduces the fire risk. River levels will still be low for paddling at times though I suspect.
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I was in denial about my autumn trip. I didn’t think it would happen. This time I didn’t try to blame it on my truck which seems to be running well for a 14-year old truck but I do need to check the oil and coolant before leaving in the morning.It will probably make it and be a good trip. But instead, this time I had other mental obstacles – first it was recovery from the LASIK, then it was the dry conditions and the burn ban. But now I’m feeling good, with excellent vision and hardly any signs of dry eye issues, and it rained a bunch. True, the burn ban isn’t over and we are still in a drought but week ahead promises to be somewhat rainy and things aren’t as dry as they once were. I’ll keep my fires small when I have them, though I may really need them if it’s a cold and damp as they’re predicting.
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I disabled phone notifications from Zillow on my phone before my summer vacation. I really got tired of the endless stream of notifications for suburbanite houses covered with vinyl siding and asphalt roofs, with wall-to-wall carpeting, high speed internet and television in every room, along with weekly garbage pickup, natural gas heat and 200-amp electric services – and no room for a hog pen or chickens much less a burning barrel or ATV trail in the back 40. It’s not to say such properties don’t pop up occasionally but most are much too far away from work. And I like riding my mountain bike to work, though I still don’t know what I am going to do once the time changes in November. Maybe ride downtown and take the local, but that sucks as the local doesn’t leave downtown until 5:40 PM. I’m still saving, but I don’t like any of the options immediately in front of me.
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I got that book out of the library on Hoopla a while back on dating. I actually set up for Facebook dating but I’ve never reached out to anyone, though it would be good to meet some new people. Just have to ask, its a great time of the year to meet a girl for some hot cider and doughnuts. But I’ve been busy, traveling, with work, and fighting to Save the Pine Bush. It would be fun to meet some other people, get out of my comfort zone. Yet, I also don’t want to be tied down or boxed in.
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So yeah, I’m heading north for a week. WIth no real plan besides hike, ride, paddle, and smoke a little dope and have fires and burn shit. It’s not that I’m saving or have no future plans but the options in front of me immediately aren’t great except to plan for better days ahead and hunker down for a long cold winter in that very drafty and dilapidated apartment that rents for the same rate the county offers to the homeless. Continue to save and invest every penny I can within reason. And continue to travel, sitting behind the lens of camera, observing the wildflowers, the woods, the rural landscape.
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Don’t be so scared of changing And rearranging yourself It’s time for jumping down from the shelf A little bit