Reflection, Reparation, Repentation, Rejuvination, and Recreation

Reflection, Reparation, Repentation, Rejuvination, and Recreation
Having fun on the Midnight Beast

Monday, December 18, 2006

probably my last day of fall this year at Wompatuck



While riding yesterday on a piney section of trail I noticed a small partridge-like bird just walking around. I stopped to let it pass, and it came right up to me and chirped softly at me, as if it were hungry for food or affection(just like my cat). I had some trail mix in my pack, and it seemed really hungry, as it wasnt going away in a hurry.....It didnt seem to like the soy nuts as it cracked them open with it's beak and dropped them like hot potatoes....so I picked out a dried cranberry and it practically ate it out of my hand!!
This was a very beautiful bird and a special moment for me, as I sat down in the middle of the trail wishing I had a camera......I felt I could have picked it up and held it(just like my cat).....
It had exactly the same colors as the forest floor, reddish, light and dark browns, black, white...I looked it up and I'm pretty sure it was a Spruce Grouse female.....the pic I have in the Audobon field guide is a male, and it doesnt look anything like that....wasnt a pheasant, as it had a short tail....My Peterson's Bird book had a sketch that looked alot like it.......most references I could find italicized very tame in describing the Spruce Grouse.
The pic above is from Wikipedia.

Monday, December 11, 2006

My first Blog post ever

This is my first blog post ever! If you know me you know I've posted plenty to the mountain bike community forums all over but especially in New England. I really don't know what the difference is between posting to a forum or my own blog, except that more people that share my passion for all things bikeable are likely to see it in the forums. And I like to stay local, in touch with my physical community around me. Not to say that I can't relate with others in differing geographical situations, I just thrive on what's happening here, now, right outside my door. That's where I am most of the time. Of course I would appreciate the opportunity to explore new landscapes and make new friends and try new trails and sample other cuisines in their element but the reality is that I'm not going anywhere far from home anytime soon. Home in New England right now is all I can afford, timewise, and of course financially. Luckily I do love New England, or atleast, the parts of New England that arent as heavily populated as where I call home, and, if I had my druthers(is that really a word?) or if I could get motivated maybe I would move me and my family to a place that we could call home that was in one of those less-populated incorporations. If I had a job that would transport us to a more perfect place on the side of a hill up a dirt road next to a nicely babbling brook.....that's just one of the many excuses that anchors us here in Quincy. Actually that last visual isnt very different from where we live, except that our downtown is far from the quaint little valley town that is 'just down the road' from that more perfect place........There are thousands of cars streaming through our downtown which really is a small city but still a city nonetheless......These cars are mostly going anywhere but here, since the main road that bisects Quincy, Hancock Street, is also the main non-highway alternative to getting closer to Boston. Even with public transportation (the 'T') making it easy to get into Boston, it seems that more and more people would rather drive solo into Boston in their SUV's than rub shoulders with their fellow drones on the elecric train. I'll save that subject for later.