An Orgy of Bridges

Ahhh another lovely weekend outside on the books. Look at us go! Walking miles through nature! And no one is forcing us at gunpoint! Astonishing! 

I will say now though that this story ends with margaritas and chimichangas. Life is about balance after all.

Saturday was forecasted to be unseasonably warm and sunny so we felt that it was out of our hands, we had to get out there. We decided to make a day of it and head to southern New Hampshire to revisit an area filled with trails we had hiked before, Beaver Brook in Hollis. There's a whole network of trails so I left the map reading to M, as I have gotten lost in a parking garages. 

These particular trails are some of my favorites. They're labeled as moderate, not excessively strenuous but definitely a workout, and lots of interesting things to see. Some hikes are a boring slog through trees but this one had enough variation in terrain and views to be interesting.

For instance, there's a lot of bridges. As I've discussed before, bodies of water never fail to draw us in but you know what's even more exciting? Bridges. No idea why, but if I stumble across a narrow set of planks built up over some murky water in the middle of the woods, the trail suddenly becomes ten times more interesting to me and I spend a significant amount of time standing on them taking pictures and staring into to water looking for creatures.

Look! Another one! But with railings!

Also exciting was finding the most poorly hidden geocache ever. I've joined some people on searching for these before and they're a real search. Like, they don't make it easy. We stumbled across another poorly hidden stash but I failed to record that one. Someone dropped the ball here but I didn't have the heart to mess with it.

An orgy of bridges!!

What really got me was how truly beautiful the day was. I did such a photo dump here because I couldn't stop taking pictures of the lovely ways the bright sunlight caught the surroundings and reflected off the water.

We even made a new friend, this turtle. Yes, that is a turtle I promise, we saw him move and everything. It was a pretty big guy who looked like he's been through some serious battles but came out the other side ready to snap off any curious fingers. ...We left him alone.

We also spotted some wild chairs in their not-so-natural habitat. We did not stop and now I'm regretting it- I'm anxious as ever!

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In total, M estimates that we dragged ourselves through about 7 miles of forest. I was sore for a couple days after but I was feeling pretty proud of myself for lasting that long without complaining, a real feat for me.

And yes, to refuel from the day of actual real-live physical activity, we went to get some chimichangas and a couple blood orange margaritas (mojitos for M). Totally worth it- they tasted even better after all that fresh air.

Saturday hikes

Usually about this time of year, as the weather starts turning nice, M and I start to complain at length at how unhealthy we are, how sluggish we feel, and how much we need to start moving again. Bikes are dragged up from the basement and random nice Saturdays are devoted to getting confused about trail markers and maps.

I'm not one for your sterile, gym-based exercise (though I'm not dissing it, good on you for working out if that's your thing!) because I am apparently a child that insists any physical activity is fun (any innuendo is unintended, I promise). That's why winters are so brutal, when we can't take hikes or go kayaking, or generally enjoy the outdoors- what's there to do?!

I still often need convincing though but luckily, even though M is also really enthusiastic about his indoor seat-based hobbies, he's much better at adulting and forcing the much needed exercise on me/us (in a very nice, encouraging way of course). 

This past Saturday, the forecast was for a high of 60 and clear skies- perfect for a hike. Sunday was a rainy day so we saved all our sitting for then and took not one but TWO hikes. Yeah you read that correctly. TWO.

We hiked Mount Misery in Lincoln, MA which was short and not nearly as bad as it sounds (though as I was hunting for the link to that, I discovered we only hiked a small fraction of it somehow). It was a pleasant enough hike but it left us wanting a little more (that sounds insane to me now that I write it out but really, it didn't take us long) so we made our way to the Gardner Hill Conservation Area in Stow. 

The Conservation area was a really nice loop of a hike, not incredibly strenuous and with lovely views. We agreed that we'd probably pass on Mount Misery but Gardner Hill will definitely be a repeat visit.

There are a lot of random small bodies of water along the hike which is definitely what you want to see, though I'm not sure why. I think there's some primal instinct or something still buried in us that gets awoken when we're out and about in extra naturey nature, and that is constantly seeking a water source.

See? W A T E R

Here is also another example of satisfying our inner caveman. Someone walked by this rock and a little something inside them said "yes. Yes, here we make S H E L T E R."

 Speaking of "a little something," here is a little snake friend that I almost stepped on. I will admit to a very undignified squawk when that happened which M will not let me forget about but who wouldn't make a little noise when the ground suddenly moves very quickly right under their feet? Luckily, he stopped to pose for a picture before slithering fulling into the underbrush. 

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So that's our hike! It was a good one overall and hopefully is starting a new trend of movement. We went on a bike ride yesterday so things are looking up! Happy moving everyone!

Get a Move On: Angry Walk

A lot has happened since last we met. I went on a much needed vacation where I visited my family. The day before I ventured on my 8 hour drive to Maryland however, I had a job interview.

A very successful job interview.

So successful that I, well, got the job. They called me before I was even out of the parking lot. 

Oh don't get too excited though. I'm not finished. 

Upon my return and as I wait in quarantine for my covid-19 test to come back, I had a Zoom meeting with HR where I discovered they apparently did not value my experience as much as I was lead to believe and the point at which they put me on their pay scale was shockingly, disappointingly low and quite at odds with what I was told from the get-go. 

I feel under appreciated- a feeling I'm too familiar with in my current job to accept it going into a new one-  and frustrated at the apparent lack of communication between the people I interviewed with who spoke excitedly about how well my experience would benefit the position, versus HR who, well, clearly doesn't see it that way. I had someone describe my current job as "just watching kids, making sure they don't run off," an insultingly gross underestimation of what I actually do, as a way to justify paying me less, turning what started out as disappointment into anger. 

Now, I know these things happen, job hunting takes persistence, yada yada yada, and I do have a couple emails to write before I'm completely out of the running here (I was excited about the job itself so I gotta try all I can to get that good ol' livable wage) but now, now was time for an Angry Walk.

Luckily it's Fall which, in my opinion, is the perfect time for an Angry Walk because the point of an Angry Walk is to come home with a lot less anger than you started out with and how can you not cool down both literally and metaphorically when you're walking through this?

[Quick interlude: look at my sneakers. Look at them. If you are in the market for athletic-ish type shoes (especially if your athletics mostly include putzing around outside and/or getting forced into sporting activities with kids), may I recommend these Merrell Alpines. They are the ideal blend of extreme comfort, style, and delightful color combos.]

I walked, I Angry Texted a friend, I took pictures. Lots of pictures.

I initially started out walking around town but quickly realized fall was in full force so it would be a shame to not find some more trees to walk through. This is the start of the rail trail I walked on, which is where many of these pictures come from.

This guy appears to be on fire. He's showing off more than his surrounding friends. You go small dude.

I do love some good bridge shots. What makes foliage shots even better? Water!

In high-emotion situations, I find I shut down, completed unable to express myself adequately, and often the only way to snap out of it is a good Angry Walk. This time was no exception. I feel far better, ready to move on to my next steps, whatever those may be. 

And at the very least, I know what I'm worth. 

I hope you enjoyed my Angry Walk through some delightful New England foliage as much as I did (though I hope you didn't start out as angry). Now, I'm going to self-medicate with a mini-binge of The Great British Bake Off and dyeing my hair blue. 

Yup.

I love that dirty water

I was supposed to get married yesterday but that didn't happen.

No, don't worry, this isn't going to be some melodramatic broken heart story, we just decided to push our wedding to next August because, you know, Covid. It was most definitely the right decision for sure- not everyone would have been able to come and the people are the most important part of the wedding!- but it still felt strange to think throughout the day what our day could have been. 

M and I already live together so I'm not sure how different our everyday lives will be once we get married but it's the principle of the thing. We were set up and ready to take our next big life step but were quickly snapped back and it's another year of procrastinating wedding planning, much to the pure anguish of my mother. We were planning on buying a house once we got married too, and that's also pushed back a year or so.

But ah well, what are you gonna do? Life's like that sometimes but we're both still here and healthy and that's all that matters in the end. To celebrate this fact, and our would-be wedding day, we decided to take the day off and have a fun day out.

About a year ago M proposed to me on a sunset jazz cruise around Boston harbor in a surprising feat of spontaneity and romance on M's part- M said he'd been carrying the ring in his pocket for days looking for "the right moment" and we started the day with our only plans being to walk the Freedom Trail. We picked up random activities throughout the day which included an arcade trip and a visit to Nightshift Brewery at Lovejoy Warf  (highly recommended) which is where, after a suspiciously long trip to the bathroom, M asked me if I'd like to take a cruise. Next thing I know, my mom's nagging me to plan my wedding. 

Anywho, for our wedding day take 1, what better than to return to where we decided to give it a go in the first place? This time though, we decided to take a smaller boat...

Yup, yesterday we took some kayaks out on the Charles River! It was a beautiful not-too-hot-not-too-cold day, perfect for kayaking (or getting married). I already knew I loved kayaking but it was amazing to be able to paddle around with the sailboats and duck boats, checking out the Boston sights from a new, amazing perspective. 

Paddling to Fenway! See the CITGO sign to the left?

We found a super-calm area of the river called the Storrow Lagoon where we could check out the Charles River Esplanade, an oddly idyllic park in the middle of Boston, while getting mildly harassed by geese.

That's the Longfellow bridge which connects Boston to Cambridge.

Check out the Museum of Science! I didn't realize it was directly on the water like that- were were able to get right up to it. Now I really want to visit the Museum again (the inside that is), it's an excellent one if you're into that sort of thing.

The rental was for 3 hours and we easily used all our time without getting bored or overtired whatsoever. I admit, I was nervous about kayaking around various boats and more open-feeling water but though we did ride some wakes at times, as long as you stick to the sides mostly, it's not scary or dangerous feeling and something I'd even recommend to someone who's never kayaked. 

We capped our day off with dinner and beer by taking a short walk to Cambridge Brewing Company which we've been to before and have yet to be disappointed. Guess which beer I got...

If I couldn't get married, I'd say this was an ideal alternative. Cheers to more adventures, someday actually getting married, and many years of totally rad togetherness. 

Enjoy a little Charles River tribute before you go!