February Sweeps - Day 393

So, the month has ended.  I even got one fewer day than last year.

Last night, it was just me and my sister's dog at the house, so I really should have recorded hours and hours of audio.  But instead, I watched television ("Saturday Night Live" was among its least-inspired) and ate (way too much) instead of doing anything productive.  And when my life is over, and that particular use of my time is reshown to me, I will most assuredly throw up.

Sit-ups Today: 111
Sit-ups In February: 2951

Since it was the last day of the month, I had to get my hike in, even though it was in the low thirties outside.  I intended to do the climb I normally do here in town, since it's closer than others, but then got the idea to hike up to the falls three towns up, where I went once last spring and watched people rappelling down.

A couple of light snowflakes were falling as I drove to the mouth of a canyon, and before I could even get out of my car, I saw other hikers--all of them young, most of them couples--there to do the exact same thing.

I noticed the first pair had something metal they were putting on their shoes, but they were speaking German (might have been Dutch), so I didn't dare bother them about it.  But a moment later, a dude got out of his truck, and he had them also.  They were like the chains you put on your tires when you live in the Rocky Mountains or Alaska.  I had no such accoutrements, so I asked him if I was going to be alright.

He said, "You'll do fine.  Unless there's way more snow than the last time I was here."

So, I set off, taking off my coat so that I wouldn't get all sweaty.  I turned on a podcast (a Tim Pratt story I hadn't heard before), and started climbing.  It was cold, and I wished I had thought to put on some gloves, but I remembered what my dad would say when I'd be cold shoveling the walk.  He'd say, "Work harder, and you'll stay warm."

Up the hill I went, as the German couple ahead of me left me far behind.  I couldn't keep up with them, and soon, the gray gravel on the trail began to disappear under white snow.

So, here's the bottom of the trail:

And here's a little while up the trail:

Soon, there was snow, and lots of it.  I began to look around me for a branch I could grab to use as a walking stick, but everything already dead was buried under snow.  My feet started to slip, and I went up another block or so, starting to worry about how well I would do coming back down.  I encountered a young couple coming down with their dog (the dog showed me more attention than any of the people did) and asked them how hard it was.  "Uh, pretty hard, we had to slide down a couple spots on our butts."

So, I stopped.  I had been unprepared for a challenge like this, mostly because I had left things to the last minute.

Not exactly a smile there.

I turned around, and sure enough, I was already slipping and sliding like a cartoon character, and chose to walk up at the base of the mountain where it was rockier and more overgrown instead of the trail, because it was steep enough that, were I to fall . . . I would simply slide down the hill, or to my right, into the mostly-frozen river.  Heh.

I encountered another, different couple, also out walking their dog, but going up, and they asked how the falls had looked.  I admitted that I hadn't made it to the falls, and the husband/boyfriend said to his companion, "Thank God I have you, honey."  "Yeah," she said, "I'd hate to be like that guy."

Ah well.  I managed to get back down to the gravel without killing myself, and then wandered around the various walking trails by the parking lot, before getting in my car and heading back home.

Later that night, I did go on my usual run (normally, on a hike day, I'd forgo the jogging, since I'd have gotten plenty of exercise climbing up and and down a mountain), and finished the podcast.  I am still going to count this as a hike, though I hope I can do better next month.

Push-ups Today: 141
Push-ups In February: 2701 (so close to my sit-up numbers.  I predict March will be the month where I do more push-ups than sit ups.  And burp more than I fart)

On Saturday, I looked at my original notes (from 2018) for my Ben Parks story "A Sidekick's Errand," and found a pretty wonderful joke there that made me laugh enough that I thought I should sit down and work it into the story before I put it out there.  I wrote up the joke, and also a scene that set it up, and then recorded both bits and took the time to edit them into the audio file, and by then, the day was done.  Sunday nights tend to be when I list a great deal of items for sale, and since it was the last Sunday of the month, I only had a few paid-for listings left, and was able to quit after reaching that quantity (it was sixty-five this time).

I could have written more, I realize that, and I did take a few minutes to jot down an idea for another "Dead & Breakfast" story right before I went to sleep.  And I was tired enough that, I have pretty much no memory of that story or how it was supposed to turn out.  Maybe I'll write it, maybe I won't, but it's good to have more projects to tackle if I stay ambitious.

Somehow, the month is over, and I haven't done my Patreon address (where I set out my goals for the next month).  Can I press pause on life for an hour or two?

Words Today: 501
Words in February: 20,141