{"id":14218,"date":"2024-11-25T16:24:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T23:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/?p=14218"},"modified":"2024-11-25T16:40:55","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T23:40:55","slug":"day-ridges-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/2024\/11\/day-ridges-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"Day Ridges trail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What if my main purpose in life is to hike? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I was lucky enough to grow up in places and times where I could roam. First in a development in the Chicago suburbs, then in more spacious (and wild) areas of Connecticut. I loved roaming all over the place, seeing what there was to see, spending hours exploring. Some jobs I had required walking in a nearby park or neighborhood at lunchtime to clear my head. It always worked. It&#8217;s been important to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This hike was in a new location, a short drive east on Route 1. There was a brisk cold wind blowing. And occasional light rainfall as dark clouds passed over. I had to work on turning off my mind by chanting mantras, because I was so busy chattering away to myself. After awhile, I found I could let go of chattering and chanting and be more engaged with my surroundings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9311-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9311-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9311-1-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Which direction?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This practice of walking does seem kind of useless as far as making any difference in this messed-up world. Then again, there are a lot of trails around here and without people to enjoy them, would there be less support for conservation? And if I didn&#8217;t walk regularly, would I be an even more uptight, less relaxed person than I am now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sam&#8217;s been walking quite a bit with me. His steps are up from last year&#8217;s average, according to his Apple watch. He&#8217;s always been active, but mostly sporadically in shorter bursts. I think the consistent elevation of heart rate and breathing from frequent long walks is good for him as a heart patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9309-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9309-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9309-1-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lots of bog bridges; this was the highest and ricketiest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I find beauty in these drowned forests. So bleak and austere, any time of year, but maybe especially in November. This is evidence of beaver activity. Creating a dam that creates a lake and kills a forest. These are a common sight on some of our walks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9310-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9310-1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9310-1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Beaver activity<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This trail passed by some boulders as big as small houses &#8211; glacial erratics. I didn&#8217;t take any photos of them. I wish I knew more about the landscape. But maybe it&#8217;s enough just to experience it. To love it in my limited way. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What if my main purpose in life is to hike? I was lucky enough to grow up in places and times where I could roam. First in a development in the Chicago suburbs, then&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-walking"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_9311-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14218"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14231,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14218\/revisions\/14231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gemtactics.net\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}