And then on Wednesday I went on a hike after work; I guess that would have been November 16. Pretty much the best part of my job is that I only have to do it 30 hours a week. As a result I get a free afternoon each week and I get Fridays off. So last Wednesday I went after work to the Bear Valley trailhead, Point Reyes National Seashore.
Here's the hike: Bear Valley trail to Meadow trail, .8 miles. Up the Meadow trail, steep in parts, to the Wittenberg trail. Take that up to Mount Wittenberg, 2.9 miles, 1407 feet. The top of Mt Wittenberg is overgrown with young pines... it's actually better, view-wise, lower down the trail. You can see the ocean, of course, and the spit of land that the Point Reyes Lighthouse is on. Then you take the Z Ranch trail to the Horse trail, back down past the Miwok Village (always makes me think of Return of the Jedi) to the trailhead again. 6.1 miles total.
I was thinking about a couple of things on the hike. I saw a fallow deer, a buck, with a huge palmate rack. It was fearless. These are the white deer (though some are black or mottled) that are locally famous round Point Reyes. Controversy surrounds the fallow deer... they are introduced from Europe, where they were the king's deer that Robin Hood poached from Sherwood Forest, and apparently are munching on endangered plants in the region. People write heated letters to the local papers, espousing these three main viewpoints:
"The fallow deer don't belong here and are threatening native plants and animals. They should be eradicated"
"The fallow deer are part of the heritage of this region and are innocent animals that don't deserve to be destroyed."
"The white deer cries in my dream//Dance, o spirit brother!!//I dance with my brother deer."
Compelling arguments, all. Since I've not even been here a year, I feel no call to get involved with this debate.
I also got a really good look at a varied thrush, common in that type of habitat but not always really visible.
I thought about Thanksgiving dinner too. Me and Victor and Arty. Here's the menu, straight out of the November issue of Bon Appetit: Cheddar puffs and champagne cocktails for starters, turkey, gravy, cornbread, ham, and chestnut stuffing, mashed potatoes with leeks and mascarpone, maple syrup glazed sweet potatoes, squash casserole with cheesy bread crumb crust, green beans and mushrooms. Dessert is pumpkin cheese cake with bourbon pecan sauce.
And then I thought about how all male biology grad students are the same. Fleece wearing, mountain biking, microbrew swilling goddamn liberals. I still like you, but you're all the same. Same, same, same.
-Kelly
Here's the hike: Bear Valley trail to Meadow trail, .8 miles. Up the Meadow trail, steep in parts, to the Wittenberg trail. Take that up to Mount Wittenberg, 2.9 miles, 1407 feet. The top of Mt Wittenberg is overgrown with young pines... it's actually better, view-wise, lower down the trail. You can see the ocean, of course, and the spit of land that the Point Reyes Lighthouse is on. Then you take the Z Ranch trail to the Horse trail, back down past the Miwok Village (always makes me think of Return of the Jedi) to the trailhead again. 6.1 miles total.
I was thinking about a couple of things on the hike. I saw a fallow deer, a buck, with a huge palmate rack. It was fearless. These are the white deer (though some are black or mottled) that are locally famous round Point Reyes. Controversy surrounds the fallow deer... they are introduced from Europe, where they were the king's deer that Robin Hood poached from Sherwood Forest, and apparently are munching on endangered plants in the region. People write heated letters to the local papers, espousing these three main viewpoints:
"The fallow deer don't belong here and are threatening native plants and animals. They should be eradicated"
"The fallow deer are part of the heritage of this region and are innocent animals that don't deserve to be destroyed."
"The white deer cries in my dream//Dance, o spirit brother!!//I dance with my brother deer."
Compelling arguments, all. Since I've not even been here a year, I feel no call to get involved with this debate.
I also got a really good look at a varied thrush, common in that type of habitat but not always really visible.
I thought about Thanksgiving dinner too. Me and Victor and Arty. Here's the menu, straight out of the November issue of Bon Appetit: Cheddar puffs and champagne cocktails for starters, turkey, gravy, cornbread, ham, and chestnut stuffing, mashed potatoes with leeks and mascarpone, maple syrup glazed sweet potatoes, squash casserole with cheesy bread crumb crust, green beans and mushrooms. Dessert is pumpkin cheese cake with bourbon pecan sauce.
And then I thought about how all male biology grad students are the same. Fleece wearing, mountain biking, microbrew swilling goddamn liberals. I still like you, but you're all the same. Same, same, same.
-Kelly
posted by Kelly | 9:11 PM
1 Comments:
Stop trying to insert reason into my blog! They're all the same, dammit! Or at least, enough of them are the same for a disturbing trend to be apparent. How can they not be straining at the bonds of their sameness?
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