Activity

jakelafort posted an update 7 years ago

Ode to walking…Thoreau has a cool essay on walking…it is not same for me in city or suburb…i don’t want to see humans…in my select trails i see the progression of plants and flowers through the year…still trying to duplicate the scent from a conifer that lasted for several years in a glass in my room..it occurred at summit of a mountain and the scent was priceless…it made the evergreens seem like an enchanted forest…don’t leave out winter to walk or snowshoe..those pesky humans will be in shorter supply…have on number of occasions gone into a trance in the winter while snowshoeing…used to bring feed for deer and it was always gone next day…i feel great when i come inside after a winter walk…when it is bitterly cold and windy don’t stop because the sweat cools so fast that you may be at risk of hypothermia…i recommend Vietnamese soup after cold winter exertion…so dope..ya burn more calories in the frigid conditions too…and for me going up a mountain as fast as i can is painful but the aftermath is a high so high…throw in coffee and i can stay happy and focused for many hours blissfully unaware of the external world but keenly aware of the intricacies of handicapping horse races.
- Reg the Fronkey Farmer replied 7 years ago
  When I run in the cold and I am the only sound I hear, I am unable to dwell on acts of Civil Disobedience.
  - jakelafort replied 7 years ago
    Here is another incidence of coincidence. I got lost in the woods behind Walden pond. Was on cross country team and veered off from team during practice until i did not know where the hell to go. Coach found me several hours later.
- Jody Lee replied 7 years ago
  I love walking in the woods in the fall when the leaves are twirling to the ground and everything is dry and crunchy. And in the winter when snow on the ground silences everything. Thoreau says it’s more about presence than productivity.
  - jakelafort replied 7 years ago
    A fun activity while walking during the fall is to catch leaves as they are twirling. Sudden gust and a burst of leaves dislodged sends ya scrambling. If you have a walking companion it becomes a lot of fun to see who can catch more leaves. You can have a straight count or have a point system for reds, oranges and yellows.
    I like the winter crunch of snow underfoot. A few years ago while walking in woods during the winter i noticed tiny black dots on the snow. Bent down to look closely and they were alive. Turns out they are snow fleas. Who knew? So if you were not already aware of snow fleas i bet you will see em this winter. They don’t bother with us either. They feed on detritus.
    - Reg the Fronkey Farmer replied 7 years ago
      
      Reluctance (Robert Frost).
      
      Out through the fields and the woods
      And over the walls I have wended;
      I have climbed the hills of view
      And looked at the world, and descended;
      I have come by the highway home,
      And lo, it is ended.
      
      The leaves are all dead on the ground,
      Save those that the oak is keeping
      To ravel them one by one
      And let them go scraping and creeping
      Out over the crusted snow,
      When others are sleeping.
      
      And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
      No longer blown hither and thither;
      The last lone aster is gone;
      The flowers of the witch hazel wither;
      The heart is still aching to seek,
      But the feet question ‘Whither?’
      
      Ah, when to the heart of man
      Was it ever less than a treason
      To go with the drift of things,
      To yield with a grace to reason,
      And bow and accept the end
      Of a love or a season?