Sep 13 2008
Autumn mornings in the northern foothills of the Adirondacks often mean fog, and this morning I didn’t have to go further than the pine outside the window to find this dew-laden spider web. It’s too pretty not to show to others.
Some of the best photographic opportunities come when the light is low and the land is wet. It’s worth tumbling from bed before dawn to capture such moments.
Sep 09 2008
I’m no Energizer Bunny®, I admit, but I’m not a quitter, either. That’s why I take it personally when my body lets me down—as it did not long ago, when I found myself struggling to keep going during the final hours of a trip. The combination of hard work and hot sun took its toll, and though I’d been drinking and snacking all day, my batteries had definitely suffered a voltage drop. Then the Old Woman got in my face in a big way, slowing my progress to a crawl. So I did what I had to do. I stopped to have a little something to eat and drink. Then I took a short break till I got my second wind. It meant that I’d be running behind schedule, but I really had no choice in the matter. The alternative was the bonk.
Also known as “hitting the wall,” this is shorthand for complete physical collapse. (A word of warning is in order here. Bonking often means something quite different on the other side of the Pond. Context is everything.) The signs are unmistakable. Your muscles go slack—in the unforgettable words of legendary sports commentator Phil Liggett, you feel like “the elastic has snapped.” Worse yet, your mind wanders repeatedly from the task at hand, leaving you with an eerie and not altogether unpleasant sense of detachment. This can be dangerous, particularly when your life’s hanging in the balance.”I don’t care what happens next” is not a mantra for survivors. The bottom line? Bonking can ruin your day, and—it hurts to say this—if my experience is anything to go by, the danger increases as you get older. In short, the elastic gets a little less resilient with every passing year. OK. Life’s unfair. But what’s the alternative? A long snooze in the La-Z-Boy®? That’s not for me, thanks. So after my elastic snapped a couple of times, I figured I’d better get to know the enemy. Two urgent questions headed my list: Why do we bonk? And what can we do about it? Read more…
Sep 08 2008
At last, I’ve got the new site activated. After several days of coding, moaning, groaning, and troubleshooting, all the posts and pages from my previous site are slotted into this new website. I’ll leave the previous site online for the moment, but will not be updating it. Again, whatever was there is now here.
Thanks for bearing with me as I made this move. If you’ve bookmarked my previous site, or have included a link to “Outside Up North” on your webpage, please update the address to reflect my new web presence at:
If you find bad links or problems navigating “Outside Up North,” please drop me a line. Now, I need a bike ride!
