Daily Bread #125

Dewey Point

I am so glad I got some good hiking in the last few days during our second Yosemite trip of the summer. The sky here in the Bay Area is filled with smoke and even going outside is dangerous because of the horrible air quality. There was some smoke in the valley, but we went to higher elevations for our hikes and avoided both the smoke and most other people. On one trail, the only other mammal we saw was a bear. After staring at us for a minute or so, the bear went up the hillside away from us. Black bears are fairly timid unless you do something stupid like try and feed them. Some of the people we saw on other trails were much scarier, taking selfies next to sheer drop offs and then wandering around other people without masks. We decided we’d only talk to people that were wearing masks. Most of the others were clearly psychopaths. Much better to step off the trail and face away from them when they approached. Maybe I should write a pandemic wilderness guide?

We also did much better with food this trip. We not only brought breakfast and lunch food from home, but we also brought our camp stove and cooked our dinners on the patio outside the room. Flap steak and zucchini, precooked chicken and bok choy, ham and butternut squash were easy one pot meals and yummier and healthier than the take-out we got last time. I did spurge on a ice cream bar one afternoon though.

It is so important these days to appreciate all the joy you can find. Fires and pandemics, racism, corruption and unmitigated greed abound. I did feel hopeful for a quick minute listening to the Democratic convention, but a mountain lake, miles from the road. is much better medicine for my soul. I will, however, work like the devil to get out the vote (and get that devil out of office). I like Harris and am warming to Biden, but I would even vote for Nixon if he were the only other choice. As bad as he was, he did do some positive things, something I can’t say about the current guy.

L’Chaim!  Week 18 of “maintenance”: My average weight this week is the same as last week’s average for a total loss of 181.2