Weekly Bread #168

Traveling through a storm can be dangerous. When there is a storm, especially a windy one, we either stay home or go someplace without a lot of trees for our hikes. Even a day after a storm can be tricky. The weather was calm and bright on Friday, but a large Bay tree had fallen across the trail. We managed to get around it and by the time we returned, several hours later, a trail crew was there with their chainsaws. This was an actual tree, but sometimes there are other hazards or barriers in our path. Can we get around them? Will someone else come along and clear the way, or maybe show us another trail? When there is a tree (real or metaphorical) across a trail, there are decisions to make. Push your way through? Go a longer way around? Call for help? Turn back? Stop and take a picture while you think about what to do? Stopping and thinking is usually a good idea whenever I’m not sure how to meet some challenge or other. And taking pictures? Maybe that’s good too; they do help me remember.

Back when I was a manager working for the Social Security Administration, another manager liked to say when it came to making decisions there are only “the quick and the dead.” He was a vet I think and that approach of his sounds exactly right for combat or other situations where quick decisions are critical. He was really quick about almost everything though. He’d tackle a new workload within days of receiving it. I appreciated his style, but I also found that by waiting just a little while longer before jumping in, my team often did better than his did. The procedures were often clearer and sometimes the programming improved and automated more of the work. We could also learn from others mistakes and successes, rolling along on the wheels that others had perfected. So I say, maybe there are the “quick and the dead,” but there are also “the slower and wiser.” It depends on the situation. A time for every season I guess. I check for poison oak before I go off trail to get around a fallen tree. I hit the breaks pretty fast if a deer appears in front of the car. A rattler on the trail requires a little of both. Decide quickly to move way far away from that snake -even right through poison oak – but do so in VERY slow motion. Damn! Everything really is complicated. Isn’t it fun?

L’Chaim!

My average weight this week is down 2.5 pounds for a total loss of 161.3

Weekly Bread #167

It rained Friday night. We needed it. And the sun came out on Saturday morning and welcomed me with a rainbow. A fitting image for both Passover and Easter I think. Liberation doesn’t come easy nor does resurrection. But the awe a rainbow inspires can bring us hope of both. I believe liberation is possible but that resurrection is purely metaphorical. Maybe liberation is only metaphorical as well. Or partial rather than total.

We do what we can and we dream of a better next year. Maybe we will find that metaphorical Jerusalem that we are all yearn to enter.

We did a 15 mile hike this week. 1900 elevation. It almost completely wore me out and we barely got back to the car before dark. But we were able to stand before this amazing waterfall.

Alamere Falls

We had to check the tides before we went as there is a mile long walk along the beach to finally reach the waterfall. At high tide, the waves sometimes reach right up to the cliffs and hikers who don’t check the tides risk getting trapped. Amazing sight though. The rush of the waterfall was louder than the waves crashing on the shoreline behind us.

15 miles! I remember all too well when walking a couple of blocks would wear me out and I would have to stop and rest. Being exhausted only after 15 miles feels like a miracle. ‘Tis the season for miracles I guess. We need all the miracles we can get, metaphorical or otherwise.

What I didn’t need this week was “Miracle -Gro.” Did that all on my own, maybe with the help of some hot cross buns and two dinners out. No chocolate rabbits for me, I promise.

L’Chaim!

My average weight this week is up 2.3 pounds for a total loss of 158.8.

Weekly Bread #166

Some people think that long trails with significant elevation changes are harder than shorter, flatter trails. It isn’t true. We did an 8 + miler this week with almost 1100 feet of elevation. But it was really pretty easy. The trail was well built and maintained with long gentle switchbacks. There were very few roots of even rocks to watch out for. The slope was gentle, not flat as it was all up and then all down on the way back, but nothing particularly steep at all. I have been on other trails that had very little elevation change and have gotten really tired climbing up and down and over rocks and tree roots, needing to watch my step constantly. Even a few miles on a trail like that is tough. The scenery is of course important, but since there are so many beautiful trails around here (yes, I know I am lucky!) I prefer the ones that I can walk at a decent pace without the fear of tripping and falling slowing me down.

There is a moral in there somewhere. When I was still losing weight, it was a steady easy trail for me to follow. It is harder when the path isn’t quite so clear. Losing a little weight is harder for me than losing a lot it seems. The ups and downs are more challenging without a clear goal, without a map. There are steep sections, rocky and slippery slopes, and sometimes you don’t really know if the trail is going up or down. This week was the trail trended down.

L’Chaim!

My average weight this week is down 1 pound for a total loss of 161.1.

Weekly Bread #165

Maybe it’s a northern California thing, but every so often we run across an altar on a trail. It could be set a hollow in a tree, or in a rock crevice. People leave small objects there, things that have some significance for them. It is a form of prayer I think. In any case, it is sweet to find them and realise that I am not alone in sensing the presence of the sacred when I walk in nature.

Maybe I should leave some of my lunch in one of these spots, although that would likely attract bugs or critters, ruining the altar for other purposes. Wilderness rules say to leave no trace, not even an orange peel because they can take a long time to actually decompose and this can disturb the ecological balance of an area. I think the altars are more than OK, however. Much better than the plastic bags of dog poop that are way too common on trails where dogs are allowed. I probably should just pack a smaller lunch to stop my weight from its slow, but scarily steady, upward creep.

My average weight this week is up 1 pound for a total loss of 160.1.