Not the Tree(s) I Wanted

No, I'm not unhappy with the Christmas tree. Not at all. It now has lights.

I am unhappy that I forgot to put the SD card in the camera when I went out snowshoeing. I took several pictures to share of trees that would at least be updates on previous posts, but I can't guarantee how interesting they would be.

So, the good news is that I went out snowshoeing again. For sure I did a half mile today. I'll add the mile from the two days to my walking total. I may want to snowshoe a slightly more significant distance on Saturday, so I think I need to get out a little bit before then!

Worked some on the usual issues, and had a Zoom meeting.

Miles hiked in 2025: 460.9

See Putting the Tree Up

First Snowshoe Winter 2025-26

It always looks about the same, but I usually blog about my first day to use the snowshoes each winter.

We got more snow overnight here, and there are maybe 10 inches on the ground. You can see flakes in the air in this picture.

I did about a half mile, which was plenty for the first outing. And the wind was pretty cold. It was all overcast, so there are no shadows to help you see the tracks. But if you can tell, yes, I was using the wood snowshoes. The bindings are shot. Cheapest new ones I can find are $50! I'm pondering options and temporarily still using duct tape for repairs, but it's iffy. I do like the wood ones better than the small foam ones although those have their purposes.

The sky looks pretty much the same as the ground without the line of tracks!

I did a little bit of work today, but it was really a non-starting day for me. I played my game more than I should have and didn't do much.

I think maybe I didn't snowshoe at all last winter. We didn't get much accumulation. At any rate, I didn't blog about it.

See First Snowshoe 2023

Peace Lutheran Windows

Today I was at a vendor event that was almost next door. It WAS next door before a medical office was built between us!

The event was at Our Savior Lutheran Church. Admittedly, I don't go inside the building too often, but there were several stained glass windows hung in the front entry and in two lighted frames on the walls. I didn't think I'd seen them before.

One of the men who was helping move things explained that the Peace Lutheran Church of Ludington merged with their church about a year ago. The former Peace chuch building had these five windows, which were brought to the Scottville building to display.

The one above is the only Christmas theme. They show various symbols and scenes of the Christian faith.

I'm always very happy to see such architectural elements preserved. And it must make the Peace congregation feel more at home with Our Savior.

I was hoping there might be some serious Christmas decorations up. It's a little early. They did have one, and it might get lumped with some others to show you this season.

Actually, I'll be back there in just a week. The bell choir is doing a concert at that church next Saturday!

And how did I do? Given that the weather was bad and the traffic was low, I have no complaints. The drive was very short (haha- about 0.1 mile). I definitely made enough to be worth my time and chatted with a number of people I knew or who knew me.

Not much else happened today.

See Methodist Windows moved

Off and Running Toward the Next Adventure

OK, I'm 77. It's just a number right? Well, pretty much, but I can't get my body to do some of the crazy endurance tests I subjected it to when I was younger.

Nevertheless, life is just not right if I'm not planning another adventure. I've had the resources for this idea for a couple of months, but this holiday I got busy about starting a plan. I've already been talking to several of the usual suspects, and a couple of new ones, about possible participation in all or part.

Yes, I'm looking at the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Kentucky and Tennessee. I first discovered this trail in 2019, and purposely hiked a short section of it January 2024 on my trip south. But I want to do the whole thing. And I think I still can if I stay in shape. Other things that are never under my control could derail plans, but that is true of any hike.

Computer spreadsheet itinerary (will change, but you have to start somewhere), FarOut map guide, paper guidebook, first paper map.

Looking at September/October of 2026. 335 miles. Lots of hills. Almost certainly some backpacking and some slackpacking.

I finished Dale Painter's book about his "hiking life" today. Toward the end, he made himself more vulnerable by sharing things that changed, and how he had to adapt. He told honestly about how he experienced an event on a remote trail out west that shook his confidence to the core.

It made me remember some of my feelings leading up to my NCT hike, 2021-2023, and I thought I'd share those here as well. This kind of stuff did not go on the blog entries for the hike. I learned early on that sounding anything but positive and upbeat there led to lots of reactions like "You need to get off the trail," "What do you think you are doing?" "You need to be more careful," etc. I wasn't going to field all those comments, so I quit sharing most of that sort of thing. But it led to giving the impression that I was so tough there were very few "issues."

So here are a couple of events that happened prior to the big hike that made me wonder if I was being a little too crazy to think I could do it.

You may remeber that in 2018 I set out to follow and map the very poorly marked Midland to Mackinac Trail. My plan was to backpack what I thought was a reasonable 12 miles a day. After countless frustrating hours (in that pack) trying to figure out where the heck the trail was supposed to be, and the final blow, a somewhat dangerous following of the blue blazes into the middle of a thigh-deep marsh only to reach a river I could not cross, and then I had to wade back out again to where I last had been on high ground, I switched to day-hiking and usually 10-mile days. (I found out later they changed the trail because of that marsh, but didn't take out the old blazes!!!!) So, I finished the hike, but much slower than planned and not in the way I had desired.

Then in 2020, I planned a 100-mile hike in southern (hilly) Indiana. Because of Covid, even state land was closed for most of the early season. I was finally able to go in June, but jumped directly from local near-freezing temps to days being in the 90s. My body does not like this at all. A couple of days I only made 6 miles. The defining moment was lying flat in the damp gravel beside a nearly dry stream for an hour trying to cool my core enough to hike on even to a campsite. My plan had been to do 15-mile days to see if I thought I could do a sustained 15/day on the NCT- I had decided by then that I was going to try the NCT hike. I ended up only doing 45 miles of the Indiana plan.

In both cases, I had to request change-of-plan help from the people who were spotting me, etc. I don't like doing this. Backpacking requires flexibility almost above all, but I still don't like imposing on folks.

Anyway... I had now just had what I considered to be two complete failures at planning hikes I would be able to complete. I had quite a lot of angst about the NCT plan. About 60% of me didn't even want to tell people I was doing it. The other 40% reminded me that one of my goals was to educate people as to how every piece of the NCT has something special, and if I were going to do that I couldn't keep it secret. Conflicting goals!

Although it's one of the best media interviews with me, ever, I sort of hated that I was interviewed as I went through Yankee Springs. I'd only been on the NCT hike for 13 days and 185 miles- barely a start- I had no idea if I'd be able to sustain that level of hiking for a year.

And yet, I was allowed to complete that entire hike, (just that disappointing break in the winter- but the western UP is unforgiving, and snow came early- I could not stay ahead of it. But I did complete the hike with a slightly altered plan.

I tell Marie that I'm doing denial about ageing. And I pretty much am! But I'm determined to keep hiking at some level for as long as I can walk. However, those of you who call me amazing should realize that I'm no more amazing than you are. I have an Amazing God who lets me take on some big adventures, and lets me complete most of them.

Did some regular work, and worked on this plan in the afternoon. Plus some MORE kitchen cleanup.

See the short hike at the southern terminus of the Sheltowee

Second Verse, Same as the First

We had a nice calm Thanksgiving.

How many people do you see in this picture? How many people do you think are involved in taking the picture? Total is two, right? Joshua did not show up again.

He called later from someone's house because he won't put minutes on his phone to say that he had fallen asleep. (as he did last year, also without a working phone).

Well, Om and I had a lovely meal. The turkey turned out great! I gave thanks for two things that made this meal possible. Mom's wonderful turkey recipe with sausage stuffing, and Dad's sharp knives and the gift of teaching me how to keep them sharp.

We kept the menu simple. Omer and I are both trying not to gain weight. We had mashed potatoes and roasted butternut squash.

And that dessert? Here's the plating. It was almost worth all the work, it's so good. Low carb and moderately low calories for what it is.

And the turkey? Since I don't do this every holiday any more, yes, it's worth it occasionally. Because of the bacon, to keep that moist, it has to be serviced evvery 15 minutes for the entire cooking time.

I did not do anything but cook and clean the kitchen after every mess until about 3 pm, and play my game a little in the short empty spaces. I think I'm going to chill for the rest of the day too.

But. frankly, this is why, if I'm going to cook, I'd rather it be for 10-plus people. Pretty much the same amount of mess and more people can enjoy it.

See Pre-Thanksgiving Madness