A Hawk and Some Cheap Soliloquizing

 



It was gray and rainy here all day. This post was supposed to be "Kitchenhenge," since it's the first day of fall. I'll have to hope that tomorrow's dawn isn't completely obscured.

Instead I'll entice you to come back another day to see more of the hawk that loves to circle above my field. The new camera takes great pics against a clear sky (taken several days ago).

Warning: here comes the soliloquy...
I have to leave Friday morning for southern Ohio. That can't be fudged. I have two programs to give at the Trail Junction Festival in Milford, and hope to sell some books. Then I'm headed slightly east to do another 104 miles of the North Country Trail. On top of that, Loretta will be here all day Thursday, so I won't have much of that day to do anything. That leaves me tomorrow.

So, this is where the difficulty lies in taking on the goal to finish the trail by the end of July 2010. I'm just on experience overload. I haven't had time to mentally process any of the other hikes from the summer, and now I'm headed off to do another one.

This lack of processing leads me to a lack of preparation. A hike of 104 miles used to be a really big deal, setting off waves of map printing, food preparation, and anticipation. I love anticipation. But I've managed to kill that part of the hiking, and although I knew this would happen, and chose to do it, that still doesn't make me like it.

Now, don't start worrying about me going on this hike. It's almost all road miles, and I'll be basecamped on a piece of private property. I don't have to have any dehydrated food. A basic idea of some menus would be good. I've picked out a few recipes that I want to try, and there are a couple of towns with grocery stores. I'll take the cooler and some camp cookware.

My income these days comes from a variety of scattered odd jobs. The primary sources are writing, web site design and maintenance, and I recently started a job for a client to build a data base. That variety is generally what keeps me mentally and emotionally engaged, but right now I'm feeling more like on the edge of fractured. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be selling books too.

So... this should make for an interesting hike. I'll just run through my master list tomorrow which will ensure that I have all the gear I need. Then I'll try to pack some kitchen staples that I'd hate to have to buy on the road... a couple of onions, salt & pepper and other spices, etc. The program stuff stays packed and ready to go all the time. Oh yeah, I need the bike and all its accouterments for this hike too. I think my leg is healed and ready to go, but I'll be taking the ibuprofen just in case.

Hopefully a string of quiet evenings alone will give me some time to sort the memories without making me too anxious over money I'm not making while I'm hiking.

I hope to schedule some posts for while I'm gone, but it may not happen. I have no idea if I'll be able to get on line from the rural area where I'm headed.

Well, tomorrow it will be either Kitchenhenge or more of the hawk. And it will definitely be packing day for me!

See It's For You! for Loretta's previous visit.