Hitchcock Woods

Almost Autumnal

The past few days have felt a lot like fall around here, especially in the mornings. Average high/low for this date is 84/62 and it was 81/55, 82/50, 86/57 on Thursday, Friday & today. But next week we are supposed be back to the low 90s/mid 60s.

We took advantage of today’s cool morning to take a walk in Hitchcock Woods for the first time since February. Yesterday and today is the Foundations “Festival of the Woods” where they have guest speakers and organized educational walking tours. We have gone a couple times in the past, but today we were intentionally about two hours early and just walked in to the Horse Show Ring (where the event is centered) and turned around and came back.

We didn’t bring the GPSr with us, so I quick like downloaded an app for the phone called Sportactive that can GPS track a loop. It is good for running, cycling and anything that includes motion that you would like to time. According to this we went 3.549 miles in an hour and a half (you can pause the timer when you stop, but I never did.)

To Witch Hazel Ride

We kind of feel like we are living in the northwest around here, seems like nearly everyday it has been rainy or misty or both. I managed to sneak in a walk on Monday morning, but the last two days it has just been too wet to try. Today looked like it was going to be a repeat. By mid morning it had stopped raining, even the mist disappeared, but the sun stayed hidden behind the clouds. Donna was going to go swimming, but after she found out the Golds Gym pool water temperature was a very chilly 74°, she decided to skip it and walk with me. I suggested Hitchcock Woods. We walked for about an hour doing a nice and muddy 2-1/2 mile loop.

Pete Bostwick Trail

The bottom sign “To South Boundary” has always been here, the Pete Bostwick Trail part is kind of new.

 

Work on that New Years Resolution is going smoothly, we have now walked in Hitchcock woods more in the month of January 2019, than we have done in the last two years.

We entered at the South Boundary Entrance for the first time in a long time and made our way through Memorial Gate to the Horse Show Ring before heading back. With a little side trip following an unmarked (and as it turned out, dead end) trail we probably covered about 2-1/2 miles. Maybe next time we’ll remember to bring the GPSr so we can get an accurate mileage figure.

A Walk in the Woods

For the first time in over a year, we went for a walk in Hitchcock Woods today. We started at Fulmer’s Stables and headed basically uphill to Mystery Field and then worked our way back downhill to the start for a nice little sweat inducing 3.1 mile walk. There was one couple in a truck with a horse trailer and one Miata with us in it in the parking area when we started. There were about a dozen trucks with horse trailers and one Miata in the parking area when we got back. The natives were up.

We have taken to listening to podcasts of the BBC4 interview show Desert Island Discs while having breakfast or lunch on the screened porch. The premise is simple, a host interviews a famous (or if they are British, somewhat famous to us) person and at the end will cast them away on a desert island. During the interview we get the list of the 8 songs they will be allowed to take with them and why they are picking them. The guests are then asked to pick just one to save in the event a wave is going to wash their collection out sea. They also get to pick one book and one luxury item to be stranded with them.

The show has been running for the last 76 years! They have almost 2,000 shows, some from as far back as 1946, available to listen to online. Right now we are cherry picking from people we know and want to hear, but sometimes I will just scroll real fast in the podcast app and stop on a random show and they too have been very entertaining. A couple days ago I happened on the author Bill Bryson that way and he talked about his book called A Walk in the Woods about hiking the Appalachian Trail. Both Donna and I thought we had read it before, but couldn’t be sure, so I found the kindle version. We both finished reading it and now we are still not so sure, but we both did enjoy the book, be it our first or second reading.

WWJD


From the song “Trial Before Pilate” on the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar:
-Pontius Pilate-
Don’t let me stop your great self-destruction.
Die if you want to, you misguided martyr.
I wash my hands of your demolition.
Die if you want to you innocent puppet!

Friday I watched Jesus Christ Superstar on the TV in the living room. Donna poked in a couple of times as she like the music, but doesn’t really care for the movie. Last year I watched the movie on the laptop and the video quality was not that great, but my rip of the 720p resolution DVD which in of itself was made from the 1973 movie film really looks fuzzy only 9 feet away from a 52″ TV. I’ve read there is a blu ray version of the flick available, but I have also read it wasn’t remastered in any way so I’m not to keen on buying it. There is probably a torrent out there of it. What Would Jesus Do? Would he download the torrent to see if it worth maybe buying it?

Today we watched the totally forgettable movie The Intern. From the title I thought it was that stupid Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson thing, but the trailer had Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway and it seemed kind of fun. And it was, but at 2 hours it was about 15-20 minutes too long. We didn’t need the interns Ocean’s Eleven side trip, Ben at the kid’s birthday party and we didn’t really need the whole infidelity sub plot.

In between we had breakfast out with a small contingent of the MMC, lunch out with a friend, a three mile walk in Hitchcock Woods and plenty of screened porch time. The 3-day holiday weekend is winding down and tomorrow it will be back to work for me and back to the grind of retirement for Donna.

Somewhere Along Randy’s Route

Went for a little walk in Hitchcock Woods early this morning. It was quite peaceful, the only sounds, besides saying hello to a couple of dog walkers, was the random dripping of moisture off the trees because of the fog.

I finally popped off the door card of the passenger side to see about the slow window movement. Turns out the guide bushing was fine. It was just the original, 14-year old grease, in the tracks had gunked up in places. So I cleaned the track and the bushing and sprayed some silicone on both items and put it all back together. But the silicone stuff I used was too liquid, I’m really supposed to have semi solid grease-like stuff. I think I’ll save the driver’s door and a re-greasing of the passenger side until the MMC’s Tech Day this spring.

Maybe I can sell the bushings for enough to pay for the right lubricant…

Happy Memorial Day

Camo Miata

3M makes a vinyl wrap in a digital military camouflage too.

We had a nice holiday off, hope you did too. Started with a nice 4 mile walk in Hitchcock Woods this morning, followed by lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. The afternoon was spent in the traditional holiday manner, shopping. Donna and I both snagged a new pair of sneakers and both bathrooms got new mats/rugs. Oh, and I watched the Red Sox beat the Orioles 7-2 on MLB.tv. Tonight, who knows, maybe a drive in the non-camoed Miata with the top down…