Hiking Etiquette

I think it might be time to start wearing a face mask all the time even when I'm hiking outdoors.  I went to a nearby state park for a walk over lunchtime - and it was a lot busier than normal.  I don't tend to put a mask on unless I see a family approaching me - but when I don't, typically there are 2 extreme reactions of people when I encounter them on a trail.  They either grapple for their own mask and scramble into the undergrowth to get as far away as they can from me.  Alternatively, they don't change their path - not even going to the side of the trail - and brush past me.  The first is ridiculous, the second is just plain infuriating.  So I've just got some breathable masks for exercising, which I'm going to start using - and I don't want the hassle of taking the mask on and off all the time, especially considering the number of people I encountered today, so I might just keep it on no matter how stupid I look.  Not sure why it was as busy as it was - perhaps because I hiked a bit later than normal, perhaps because we have a lot more rain in the forecast.  I also wonder whether it was some kind of day out for a local loony bin - I encountered a lot of strange people: someone who was inexplicably carrying a lot of fern that they'd hacked from the forest floor, some guy who was in way too short shorts and some crazy lady who was wondering about way off the trail chattering to herself.  Very odd.  What was also frustrating was that I was walking the trails in the "correct" direction - i.e. following the signage.  So almost all the people I encountered were walking the "wrong" way - I guess there is no way of enforcing this (though I know of at least one popular trail where they are doing this), but it's tempting just to make the trails 1-way to avoid this kind of contact.  It's sad when even the most simple form of exercise - a walk - is so compromised nowadays.       

Christmas Cards

I need to step up my Christmas card game.  The cards I'm sending out this year are decidedly mediocre and decidedly cheap (I got them in the post-Christmas sales a while ago) - and that's not acceptable when I'm shelling out so much money just to post these things to the UK ($1.20 is the current going rate for an international stamp).  When the stamp is far more expensive than the card, then you know that something is fundamentally wrong.  So my apologies for anyone reading this who receives a card from me - I know I can and should do better.  Contrarily, the whole exercise of sending out Christmas cards seems quite unnecessary and dated in today's age - wouldn't just a simple e-mail suffice?  I don't know, it's nice to get something personal via slow mail nowadays and I like getting a Christmas card where clearly someone has made a bit of an effort.  However, rest assured I won't send you a card in the future with my ugly mug on it.    

The Islands

My landlord has gone away to Hawaii for 2 weeks, and I was kind of thrown by that.  I thought Hawaii had a 14 day quarantine period for any visitors, even those traveling from the mainland - so I looked it up.  And apparently, to visit most of the islands (not all of them) you can avoid the quarantine period with a negative COVID test.  Which is interesting to know.  I'm not sure I'm prepared to face the joys of an internal flight just yet, but Hawaii is somewhere I would like to go and definitely an option if winter here starts to become too much of a downer.  However, it is kind of depressing to read about a couple who recently took a flight there with their young child despite knowing that they had positive COVID tests - they deserved to get arrested, and I hope they get locked up for a long time.  Imagine you were on that flight and found that out...

Beach Hikes

We've had some unseasonably pleasant weather here for the last week - for the most part beautiful sunny clear skies.  So with a light workload, I took the opportunity to take a few days off work to make the most of the weather.  And I did a couple of exposed hikes to get some natural Vitamin D - one hike on Whidbey Island (Deception Pass State Park), and the other on Camano Island (Cama Beach State Park).  I've been to both parks before, but not necessarily the specific hikes I did this time.  In both cases, wanted to do quite a lot of hiking by the water - because nothing beats having an entire beach almost to yourself with the sun shining down on you.  Very therapeutic - it makes me so want to live by the water when I retire.  And walking on a rocky beach is definitely better exercise than just normal walking - my legs were plenty sore afterwards.  I'm sure I've posted some variants of the same views in previous blogs, but here are some more photos:

His Dark Materials

Having just watched the most recent episode of His Dark Materials today, I have reached a sad conclusion about this show - it isn't particularly good.  I want to like the show, I really do, but I have to accept the simple fact that I don't.  Maybe that's too harsh - I mean it's fine, but it's not like really good and I wouldn't miss it if it was canceled.  Kind of reminds me of one of those early Sunday evening dramas on BBC1 - maybe because it has children as the leads, maybe because it still feels kind of cheap despite the huge production costs.  Personally, I think it would have been much better with less kids and more adults - don't take away the importance of the kids, but only have them as secondary or peripheral characters.  Either way, I've heard so much about how good the source material is that I've recently ordered the trilogy of books from Amazon.  I need to start reading again more regularly, so what better choice than some (young adult?) fantasy novels with some big themes.       

Scam Phone Calls

The frequency of scam phone calls I've been getting recently seems to have significantly increased.  And I'm so fed up with it.  To the extent that unless it's someone I know, I don't even bother answering my phone anymore and instead let it go to voicemail.  That seems to do the trick most of the time.  That changed this morning, when I received a phone call before 7 am (!) from a number I didn't recognize that originated from Jesup, Georgia (?!) that actually did leave a voicemail.  The computer voice (what, not an actual real person?!? The shock.) told me that they were calling from my "legal attorney's general office" to "put aside my work immediately" and to call the number back so they can "discuss resolution of my legal case" otherwise "an arrest warrant will be issued against my name".  What a load of horseshit.  I think in the past they've told me that my social security number has been suspended due to criminal activity, or some other such nonsense involving my social security number that needs my immediate attention.  Jeez, can't these phone companies who are raking in these huge profits do something about this.  Kind of ridiculous.  Having seen someone close fall victim to a scam, these people really are scum of the earth.    

Song of the Week #34

Back to the well with something from the late 90's/early 00's.  And, fun fact, they are yet another band from the Pacific NW, but Portland rather than Seattle.