Making It Up As I Go Along #606

Vacations Vacations Everywhere

The positive of having built up vacation time and a shift workers schedule.  In what amounts to be close to a month of time, I’ll have been at work for four days. 

Today I end my winter stay-cation.  I did this last winter too… took some time off work with no plans whatsoever.  It was so good that I decided to do it again this year.

Tomorrow I’m back to work, bright and early.  Actually, so early that it won’t be bright.  I went to bed last night wondering if I’ll remember all the passwords I need to log in to programs and devices.  We’ll have to see.  I have to reset passwords so often that I barely remember what one I’m on.  All of life has become a jumble of passwords.  Bank cards, credit cards, access to devices, access to work programs, access to music libraries, paying bills, some must be at least eight digits, some must be ten, some need numbers in them, some aren’t allowed to have characters like (@#$*&)… ironic how those characters are often substituted for curse words.

But this has been a really good twelve days away.  I’ve gone snowshoeing six times.  If I go again this afternoon, it’ll be seven trips out in the twelve days.  So it’s the most continuous exercise I’ve gotten in quite a while. 

The other great thing about such times off is the sleep.  The shift work I do doesn’t lend itself to good sleep.  During dayshift, I probably average between four and five hours of sleep each night.  During my nights, I get around four hours of sleep once I get home in the morning, and another two hours during an afternoon nap.  And the whole process messes enough with the system that, even on my days off, I don’t get much beyond six hours of sleep per night. 

Taking the extended time away, things become more regular.  I’ve probably averaged between seven and eight hours of sleep each night now.  It refreshes the system.

Of course, just the knowledge that I’m going back to work tomorrow affected my sleep last night.  I woke after five hours, and decided to get up.  The thought is I’ll get myself good and tired for an early night tonight. 

After the coming block of work, I’m off once again.  It’ll be a very different time away this time.  I’ll first have two days to get packed and ready to go, then it’s a flight down south to visit the parents, and uncle and aunt, in Florida. 

So it’ll be going from twelve days of near constant snowshoeing while, when in the house, turning on the fireplace and wearing sweaters to keep the chill out.  And curling up in the fleece sheets each night.  To nine days of summer temperatures.  Of shorts and t-shirts and thoughts of sunscreen. 

In total, when it’s all said and done, I’ll have been off a total of twenty-five out of twenty-nine days.  Spending eight of those days in the sunny south. 

I hope, when I come back from Florida, that Spring will be here.  I expect I’ll still see snow on the ground, but maybe by the middle of March, tufts of grass will begin to appear? And perhaps a fleece will be all that’s needed to venture outside? 

Fingers crossed.

FRIDAY…

--- Too cold to snowshoe. I stay in today. End up cleaning the house. Vacuuming, two bathrooms, laundry, the kitchen. At it a few hours. The benefits of stay at home vacations.

SATURDAY…

--- Snowy day, I watch some tv and also go snowshoeing for almost an hour and a half. This makes three of five days out snowshoeing for more than an hour each time.

SUNDAY…

--- Another snowshoe day.  I see the coyote today.  Get a few distant pictures with my iPhone and then a decent video as he crosses the pond and runs up the other slope.  We then meet up again as I climb back up from the ponds and he’s backtracking.  We get to within 75 feet or so then and he runs away.

MONDAY…

--- Too cold today.  I stay put in the house and take it pretty easy.

TUESDAY…

--- Snowshoe with Harley today.  Take him out for about an hour and a half.  No animals to be seen on this trip but still fun.

--- Out with Jennifer (Karl’s wife).  First time at Montana’s in years.  A nice evening.  I went to Chapters for some browsing before meeting up… also hadn’t done that for quite a while.

WEDNESDAY…

--- Go for some groceries.  Also order a couple of books on Amazon.  One for the upcoming baseball season… the other giving details of all the Star Wars vehicles.  So… not really any evidence of me being a scholar… but good to have anyway.

--- Survivor and Amazing Race have returned.  Survivor is pretty fun, even though I’m not a big fan of the whole “white collar”,  “blue collar”, “no collar” tribes.  Amazing Race, on the other hand, is horrible.  In the past you’d see a wide range of pairs in the game.  Maybe a married couple, perhaps a father and son, two siblings, lifelong friends… all sorts.  Now it’s only dating couples.  Half being people who have already been couples, the other half being teamed as blind dates.  And we have “selfie cams” and lots of hashtags on the screen.  Just brutal stuff.  I may not be able to watch this season.

THURSDAY…

--- Back snowshoeing.  Alone again.  This marks five trips out, all between 70 and 90 minutes long, over a nine day period.  I see lots of coyote tracks, but no coyote… and the wild turkeys are around again.  Weather wise, this is my best day of snowshoeing.  No wind, lots of sun, around -10 temperature.

--- I’m ready to make this winter time off an annual thing.  Just home for twelve days… really catching up on sleep (getting 7 to 8 hours a night… I get 5 to 6 hours a night when working, even during my days off).  Also good to be able to snowshoe so much 

Making It Up As I Go Along #605

I’m Going to Make It

I’m going to make it.  Each winter seems worse than the one before.  I know it can’t all be blamed on climate change.  I know it’s partially my aging.  The older I get, the more I dislike winter.  I’d gladly take an eternal Fall, where jeans and a fleece top would comfortably get you through the day. 

But I can feel the turn for this winter.  I see the days slowly lengthening.  An extension of sunshine is like a bottle of water to a desert trekker.  In fact, lack of sun is probably the worst part of winter.  It’s compounded by being a shift worker.   I’m getting up in the dark… working for several hours before the day breaks… and still working when sunset occurs.  I can literally go weeks with no need of sunglasses.  My walk across the complex to the cafeteria being my only point in the work day where I’m out in daylight.

I’m still going to and from work in the dark, but it’s getting closer.  Sunset now occurs near the end of my work day, rather than several hours before.  That extra light brings hope.

And now I know I’m through the worst of it.  Currently on my hibernation holiday (what I’ve taken to calling my February block off work), I can wake to the light outside and go out snowshoeing or walking whenever I see fit.  And a week after I return to work, I’ll be off again.  Heading for the sunny south to visit the parents in Florida.  My first trip there in more than thirty years. 

When Florida ends, I know Spring will be in the air.  Major League Baseball will be in the sports headlines.  Days will be longer still.  Temperatures will be regularly above zero.  And the snow will be melting a bit more each day. 

So, in a way, my winter will only last another week.  Yes, there’ll be snowy days in March.  But it will come with the knowledge that it’s temporary.  Soon to melt away. 

And between Florida and the coming Spring, I’m left to think of the return of those things I’ve missed. 

An odd one to say, but I miss moisture.  Winter dries the world up.  My skin gets itchy and my nose is in a constant state of congestion. 

I miss grass.  The green carpet across the land.  A miniature jungle that hides the crickets and frogs from view, bringing them out of hiding when I walk through my lawns, shuffling along so as not to squash them.

I miss the water.  Ponds and creeks draw all in.  Frogs, fish, the beaver, kingfishers, and even neighbours Labrador Retrievers are all swimming about or diving into the water.  The ripples of dancing insects and reflections of shore side trees bring an aesthetic that’s completely missing during the winter months.

I miss the leaves.  There’s a beauty to the stark winter forest, but I miss the walls of vegetation that summer growth offers.  Birds dart in and out, disappearing from view but yet still heard singing and chirping behind the green veil. 

I miss those birds.  Winter still gives us woodpeckers and chickadees, but I miss the robins bouncing across the lawns, looking for lunch.  I miss the yellowthroats and finches coming and going and chirping all over.

I miss my backyard.  In winter, the yard is viewed only from my window, a snowy barren landscape.  In summer it becomes another room, a place to sit, BBQ, relax in the hammock or, as was the case last year… a place to surrender to robin parents, looking to bring up a family. 

So it’s coming.  I’m going to survive the winter and make it to the return of the sun.  But until that day I’ll return to my hibernation, only willing to venture out when the conditions are right and I can continue my search for video or photographic evidence of the elusive coyote.

THURSDAY…

--- Dayshift but I’m off sick.  I think it’s something I ate Wednesday.  Went to bed needing a tums… woke only a couple hours later wanting more… woke twice more, the last time at 3:30 in the morning.  Up for good at that point but not fit for work.

--- By supper time I’m feeling more normal again.

FRIDAY…

--- Still not feeling perfect in the morning.  Stomach is touchy.  Lunch seems to help though and after that I feel back to normal.

SATURDAY…

--- Nightshift alone.  Fairly quiet night.  Not a lot of work comes through.

SUNDAY…

--- Another quiet night.  More so than the previous one.  The nice thing about work on the weekend.

MONDAY…

--- First day of a hibernation time for me.  I’ve gotten into the habit, the last few winters, of taking some time off work with absolutely no plans whatsoever.  So I have the next twelve days to do with as I see fit.  Today, I do pretty much nothing.  The weather is touchy and I’m a bit run down from work so it’s pretty much a recoup day.

TUESDAY…

--- Snowshoeing.  Out for a little more than an hour.  I don’t bring my GoPro camera and, it turns out, this was a mistake.  I come across what I see as fairly fresh coyote tracks.  I assume he had been out and about on this trail in the morning while I’m out there in the late afternoon.  Along the way I see some blood in the snow where it looks like the coyote would have pinned and killed a small animal, picking it up and moving it some before laying it down again.  As I’m going I see the occasional blood spot in the snow, as if dripping from something in the coyotes mouth.  All the time I’m figuring this happened five or six hours earlier… until I look up and see the coyote dart around a corner some hundred feet ahead of me.  When I get to that same corner, I look up ahead in the direction he went… and again see the coyote a few hundred feet ahead this time.  I go slow, keeping an eye about me, in case he worked his way around me, and I see a final sign where he bounded off the trail, into the snow and through the woods. 

--- I get to a field and, from there, see a half dozen wild turkeys a hundred yards across the way.  They’re actually up in trees and fly a short distance when they see me there. 

--- On the way back I see three mourning doves just sitting in a tree about six feet away.  I stop, but they just sit there.  I don’t bother to take out my phone for a picture… assuming the movement would spook them and figuring the background would cause them to blend in too much for a good shot anyway.  But regardless, between it all, I wish I had the GoPro with me today.

WEDNESDAY…

--- An early afternoon shopping spree.  To Bearbrook meat farm for some stuff for the freezer… Sobeys for the day to day groceries… then Canadian Tire for some driveway salt, a driveway ice scraper, and a new ice scraper for the car. 

--- Back out snowshoeing in the afternoon.  Again for little beyond an hour.  This time with the GoPro.  No animals whatsoever.  Not even any fresh coyote tracks.  Always the way.

--- I decide to snowshoe back across the ponds rather than through the trails.  I see there have been skidoos on them so figure the ice would be thick enough for me.  Especially considering how cold the last few weeks have been.  All the same, a third the way along the second pond, the ice gives way under one of my feet.  I stayed close to shore anyway and no the water there would be shallow, and catch myself before getting wet at all and veer in the ten feet to the shoreline to finish the job.  Just shows you never know with ice. 

Making It Up As I Go Along #604

GoProing

I’ve joined the GoPro world.

Where snowboarders strap cameras to heads, 

showing the world 

as pines fly by 

during a cliff drop into clean powder.

Where daredevils leap from skyscrapers, 

giving a peek into the suicidal Manhattan drop 

before parachutes rescue them 

and we get first hand perspective as they gather up ‘chute and run into the night.

Where Russian drivers

 capture brilliant blasts of space rock, 

dancing across the sky 

before the sonic boom rattles glass.

Where Taiwanese drivers 

narrowly miss obliteration 

from passenger planes 

as they fall out of the sky.

Yes I’ve joined that club.  

And so far, 

what have I captured?

A tour of my townhouse.  

Pausing long enough to see 

pictures hung upon walls, 

and ending where bottled soups sit quietly upon storage room ledges.

And a snowshoe escapade.  

Thirty seconds of which I shared upon Facebook.  

Showing the world as I gently spring back against a twig, 

losing the battle… and flopping softly into the snow with a chuckle. 

There is more to do.  

More to find. 

I narrowly missed a coyote.  

Walking along with camera off as it darted into the woods.  

One day I’ll capture him.  

Making him less Bigfoot myth and more reality.

I’ll bother nesting birds.  

The Springtime will bring out my extension pole, 

GoProing trees 

while both my feet are safely on the ground.

I’ll give my camera the plunge.  

Capturing tadpole worlds 

from a whole new perspective, 

and freaking out frogs on a daily basis.

And I await my comet.  

Lighting up the pre-dawn sky 

during my drive home 

from work. 

The universes wonders shall be unlocked.  

Mysterious creatures shall be discovered.  

All stemming from that first, 

most gentle snowshoe fall.

WEDNESDAY…

--- Dayshift.  Busy day of shoes and tires.

THURSDAY…

--- Less busy than yesterday.  Also run across for lunch with Shannon.  A nice break from things for a bite to eat.

FRIDAY…

--- Pretty normal night.

--- Pizza picked up on the way in for Mona, Frankie and me.  Good way to start work.

SATURDAY…

--- Quiet night.  Forced quiet really as much of the computer systems are down for maintenance. 

SUNDAY…

--- Pretty quiet day in the house.  Feeling a bit run down so no walk or anything today.

MONDAY…

--- Shovel the driveway for about twenty minutes and then do a half hour walk in the woods.  Catch up on some TV through the day as well.

TUESDAY…

--- Doctor’s appointment in the morning gets me up pretty early.  Go for a snowshoe after I get home.  Bring the GoPro camera and record close to 50 minutes of the 70 minute trek.  See a coyote run across my path when I’m a few hundred feet away.  The camera isn’t on at this point though.

Making It Up As I Go Along #603

Winter Pathing

Pathing the landscape is a fun time

That’s what it is to snowshoe

Creating paths across pure snow

First steps

Modern day exploring.

Out my window and across the street

There snakes my path

More substantial than trudging feet

The snowshoe walk

An instant walkway builder.

In some places I follow wildlife clues

The depression of snowed in rabbit tracks

A hint of their passing days before

My steps trace

Boldly showing the way they hopped.

Other times it’s a break in the brush

Paths hidden by summer’s growth

Visible now between the twigs and sprouts

These the hard walks

As even snowshoed, I sink to near knee depths

I’m left to pause

Leaning back against a held ski pole

Panting breath visibly into the cold

Standing in the quiet woods

Where no one stood before.

Soon I’m forced to move on

The clock ticks on snowshoe breaks

Knowing this sweat will kill me if cooled

Bringing danger into this pleasant day

As I carry on past skeletons of trees.

TUESDAY…

--- Days.  Mexican for lunch at the caf.  Work is kind of steady.

WEDNESDAY…

--- Day two of Mexican food at the caf wasn’t a good idea.  The stomach isn’t too thrilled with me for the rest of the day.

THURSDAY…

--- Normal night shift.  Thai food is tasty and it’s kind of snowy outside today… meaning people in Ottawa go insane.  Slow getting to work due to nut ball drivers and the food is an hour late arriving as well.

FRIDAY…

--- Alone on nights.  At it pretty steady until midnight or so.  Settles then.

SATURDAY…

--- UFC night with Phil.  Wings and some beer while watching the fights make for a fine evening.

SUNDAY…

--- First junior game in a few years.  Go with about a dozen from work and friends and family of those co-workers.  See Connor McDavid play.  He’s really good.

--- About a fifteen minute walk to go from my car to the rink and the same after the game.  It’s cold but a nice walk.

--- I ignore the Super Bowl.  And feel good about it.

MONDAY…

--- Hour long snowshoe trip.  It’s a nice time.  Don’t really need the snowshoes for a hike… plenty of hard packed trails.  But I go off trail several times and that’s a workout.