Image for January 8, 2012 - The Dismal Swamp

It was a beautiful day in the fifties and the sun was shining. I got out for a fine nine mile hike with my friend David Simpson. He had always wanted to hike in the Dismal Swamp, but until today, had never been out there. We hit the Washington Ditch Trail at noon and made Lake Drummond before two o'clock. The trail is a dirt road that follows a canal straight into the swamp. It's flat and straight, so not very exciting terrain. The best you can hope for is a chance wildlife encounter and today we hit the jackpot with an all too brief glimpse (gone before I could get the camera out) of a pair of young black bears climbing down a tree and disappearing into the brush.

I was glad to point out the bears to David before they were gone. It's the second time I've seen black bear in the Dismal Swamp. Considering the healthy traffic on the trail today, we were especially luckily for our sighting.

Dave's not a regular hiker (not yet!), but he was  gung-ho for going the four and a half miles out to Lake Drummond, for a nine mile roundtrip. We stopped there for a lunch break and to enjoy the afternoon winter light playing across the glassy water. It was a good day.

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Image for January 3, 2012 - Here Comes the Sun!

Sharp Arctic winds ripped through the area today finally bringing the full bite of winter for the first time this season. I don't mind it, actually prefer to bundle up and have the heavy leather jacket on; hat and gloves deployed. For those that don't care for the cold, here's one of my "vintage" Kan-Ken Studios post cards from way back in April of 1993. This card was mailed off to my pal Gary Garbett (evidence of just how long we've known each other) and was returned because of an unknown address. Dig that Bambi stamp and only nineteen cents to mail a post card. This Sun sculpture was a limited edition, I think I cast fifty copies (maybe one hundred?) and painted them all differently. It was a popular piece costing only about $50. If any one reading this bought one and still has it, I'd love to see a picture of where you have it hanging. Sometimes I miss those days of the outdoor art shows, but mostly I'm glad for having moved on. I stepped off when the fun had drained out of it for me. Doesn't mean I won't ever step back on that crazy ride, but for now, I am happy.

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Image for January 2, 2012 - Farewell Christmas, Hello 2012!

...and so, the Holiday season has once more come to an end, unless you're one of those "twelve days of Christmas" people, then you're only halfway there. Our un-decorating event is as sad and joyless as the decorating part was festive and fun. I got the ladder out and took down the few strings of outside lights while Janet cleaned up the inside. After all the ornaments were removed from the tree, it was time to bring it to it's finally resting place. Lucky for us, we live right across from the beach, so it's an easy enough job to carry it down and find a dune. Note, the photo is staged, that's not where I actually left the tree. It wound up with three other trees grouped in a cavity carved out by Hurricane Irene and so the cycle continues. Better that the trees lives on helping to grow the dune, then grow some landfill.  Weirdly enough, I felt most of my Xmas spirit after the 25th this time. The holiday season came up way too fast for me.

Nothing says, "Happy New Year" to me then a living room empty of the tree. I am still thinking on my goals for 2012. I find it more helpful to make concrete goals, rather then "resolutions", which may be splitting hairs, but whatever works right? One goal I have committed too is increasing my hiking goal from 700 miles as I did in 2011 (actually finished with 717 miles) to add another fifty miles on for 750 miles. That's sixty-two and a half miles a month. No moss will be gathering on this stone. It's day two in 2012 and I already have fourteen miles, just 736 to go...

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Image for December 28, 2011 - AKAN!!!!

I'm trying to finish off a little sketchbook that I've been carrying around for way too long. It's filled with mini-portraits of surrealist artists and African masks. Recently while catching up on the ever-growing pile of New Yorker magazines on the bed stand, I read a wonderfully enthusiastic review by Peter Schjeldahl of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of African masks. One of the mask images accompanying the article caught my eye and I had to add him to my sketchbook. This drawing is rough three inches high. I included an extra enlarged image because I love looking at the texture of the pen marks.

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Image for December 26, 2011 - 700 Miles and Counting...

This photo is actually from yesterday, but no matter, I'll be hiking again today too. I took this just at the moment when I completed my seven hundredth mile for 2011 thus accomplishing my hiking goal. I pulled a seven mile walk yesterday that left my total at seven hundred and three miles and will add a bit more to it before this year is done. I am pondering now whether to increase my goal from seven hundred to say, seven fifty, but we will see.

This has been a good year of hiking. I had the opportunity to hike in several different states including Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Wisconsin and Florida, not to mention one overseas excursion to Scotland. I've had the chance to walk with a lot of my friends, some of whom aren't regular hikers, but I'm always trying to convert folks to the walking life so I'll always have companions for the trail. No point taking a journey if you don't have a friend or two to share it with.

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Happy Christmas 2011

Our Christmas card for 2011. Merry Christmas to all! I wish you health and peace and love.

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