Adventure blog with a real job
For some time I’ve been meaning to commit to video the definitive version of the parlor trapeze routine I developed with my teacher during quarantine. Here it is. You may need to turn the volume up all the way to hear the music well. Yes, I’m a monster for taking video in portrait orientation.
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The federal holiday for US Independence Day was this Friday, and since long weekends in the summer are a precious commodity, we took to the trails for a few days of backpacking in Pemigewasset Wilderness.
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The weather for this weekend didn’t look particularly promising— there were showers and thunderstorms predicted starting on Saturday morning, but with contradictory forecasts and a promising radar map (and with rain gear) we set out under cloudy skies to take our chances with a hike over Blueberry Mountain.
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Crouched among the ferns
Humbler than its lofty host
No less beautiful
The scientific literature is pretty clear that spending time outside is good for health and wellbeing, and I’m happy to provide a testimonial in support! Work is intense this week, and most days my meetings extend well into the evening. When I was unexpectedly freed from my laptop at 5PM yesterday, what I thought I wanted to do was collapse, but what I did instead was go for a hike (and to paraphrase a local poet, that made all the difference).
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I’ve lost track of the weeks since the Covid-19 pandemic swooped in and changed my life. I could tally up the trips I’d expected to take, mark the weekends I’d planned to volunteer with an outdoor program, but that seems like an unhealthy direction to dwell. I could count the loaves of raisin bread I’ve baked and eaten, or look up the number of times I’ve used my yoga app, or the video selfies I’ve taken of my quarantine trapeze. I could add up all the hours I’ve spent on video conference, add in the number of people I’ve interviewed and hired without ever meeting face to face, and think back fondly to the time at the beginning of all this when connecting with friends by zoom still felt like a connection, and virtual happy hour still felt happy. Are you depressed yet? Me too.
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This spring, nothing has gone as expected. The new normal is no longer new, and not yet normal. I am privileged and fortunate in many ways— I am safe and healthy, I am still employed and have meaningful work to do. I am grateful to have easy access to beautiful outdoor places where I can watch the grip of Winter relax as Spring eases into the forests and mountains.
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Today marks the start of my seventh week working remotely and observing physical distancing to minimize the spread of novel Corona virus and the Covid-19 disease that it causes. Today is also Patriot’s Day, which commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord at the start of the American Revolutionary War. If this Spring had gone according to plan, I’d be spending this long weekend hiking and climbing in Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas, but for the past seven weeks nothing has gone according to plan.
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Shinrin-yoku translates as forest bathing. I interpret it as spending time outside experiencing the world around me without an objective, without a mileage target, and simply for my own joy.
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I don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions, but this year I made two. The first one was to do something awesome on February 29, which conveniently fell on a Saturday, and the second one is none of your business.
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