Absolutely Exercise

Long ago and faraway, whenever road-building contractors put up 'HEAVY PLANT CROSSING' signs, some wag would always write in the inevitable grime that accumulated, 'BEWARE TRIFFIDS!' I remember reading the book and then being disappointed in the ' with-one-bound-they-were-free ' ending of the  movie that was a very loose adaptation of the original story. I confess that I was hoping the triffids would win by exterminating humanity. It was a a heavy-plant-crossing kind of day up at the Sand Hollow North cattle guard: huge low-loader trucks were arriving with earthmoving equipment that was presumably assembling to start work on the SR7 extension road through to SR9 just west of Hurricane. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

Few cars have ever made me go PHWOAR!  as Jeremy Clarkson says. This is a Ford Mustang , celebrated in the song ' Mustang Sally ' written by Bonny Rice. The car and the song both have interesting histories. I thought the vee-hicle looked tidy enough to be featured here, although I enjoyed even more my visit with the kunekune pigs (natives of New Zealand—I passed on a hongi ) and petting the miniature Highland cows (natives of Scotland—I risked a  hoots mon ). My thanks to their carer for taking the time to talk to me and tell me about them. The collage for today was more an experiment in deliberate failure than an attempt to produce worthwhile images. I thought the lighting was too subtle for the camera to capture. You probably agree with me. I did some experiments with digitally manipulating the photos, but mostly what you see is about the best that could be achieved without venturing into the realms of the overwrought. The  bottom row middle photo shows the issue:

Strava, my ride-tracking app, misfired today. That's unusual on the ground. Unusual in the sky was a UFO that had a strange fuselage shape and seemed to be powered by a giant hand-dryer. Following a search on the Internet, tentative identification is for a Republic RC-3 Seabee sports aircraft built in 1946 and registered to a company in Wilmington, Delaware. I thought it was a jet, but there is a propeller behind the cabin. An amphibious aircraft operating in the arid lands of the southwest is an unusual sight. The putative Seabee, seen in the bottom-right frame of the collage and in the feature photo, made its approach to the Gen. Dick Stout Field across the horse pens at the north end of the runway, which made an ironic contrast. The other plane, seen in the top-right frame of the collage is a much more conventional aircraft that I have seen and photographed a few times over the past couple of years.  View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click be

Our visual environment is very rich, but we frequently allow the mere details go over our heads as we attend to the really important elements such as advertising billboards. I often pass the wheel and skull and only look at them occasionally: a glance does not count as looking. I attended a seminar a long time ago in which the presenter asked those wearing analog wristwatches to cover the dial with their other hand. Then he asked us to tell him whether the face had Arabic numerals, Roman numerals, bar markings, or a mixture of numerals and bar markings. The failure rate was embarrassingly high. I researched online to find a manufacturer of wagon wheels. They are available with 8, 10, 12, 14, or 16 spokes, depending on diameter and usage. The wheel in the featured photo has eleven extant spokes and seems to be missing two. I was surprised by that number. Even closer investigation is needed. The regimental insignia of the United States Army Quartermaster Corps features a w

The first-phase of the new residential development at the Copper Rock golf course was deserted this afternoon. There was not a contractor or realtor in sight, nor any sightseers either now that the Parade of Homes event is over. There were about fifty cars in the players parking lot and plenty of associated activity. The venture seems to be off to a good start. Bicycling around that multi-million dollar neighborhood I realized how lucky I am and how little I yearn , which is not to say that I have no aspirations. I suppose that if somebody offered to pay me to do what I do then that might make some of my aspirations more easily achievable, but there are always strings attached. It's better to wait and avoid being snarled in the strings. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

After two days indoors, it was good to get out on the road again. It was a beautiful, crisp morning with lots of sunshine. I thought the excitement for today was seeing a truck that was spreading its load across one of the fields. When I was back in my own 'hood I saw three police vehicles parked outside a house, including one crime-scene vehicle. I made it safely home. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

The cloud inversion  on the Pine Valley Mountains lasted all day. It was not a static display, but something that writhed like a living thing as it grew and shrank and contorted itself into strange shapes. The sight was spectacular enough that several cars pulled over to be able to properly appreciate the view: normally the traffic just seems to whizz past as I stand gawping. I think the pilots of the few aircraft that were operating in the area today must have had an awe-inspiring view of this meteorological event that is unusual, but not rare.. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access):

The rainstorm passed in less than twenty-four hours and the weather was back to what has been so enjoyable in the early weeks of this year. On the horizon, the Pine Valley Mountains were wreathed in a cloud inversion  while the firmament was clear blue. If you are grappling with the familiarity of the headline, but are unable to locate the precise source, it is the title of a song by Johnny Nash (covered by many other artists), ' I Can See Clearly Now ' with the first line: " I can see clearly now the rain is gone " sung with a slight reggae influence. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

The forecast was rain in the afternoon continuing overnight and so it came to pass. I made my plans accordingly: a walk well before the anticipated arrival time of the rain and the indoor static cycle in the afternoon. It felt almost balmy outdoors and the birds were singing in the trees under blues skies, white clouds, and sunshine. The long roll of cloud over the Pine Valley Mountains confirmed the warning that the weather app had already made, but never the less it was a lovely day to be out walking. I made for for the head of the upper bench. As my walk progressed the cloud cover increased and became more ominous. The birds became quieter and flocked in the trees. I was amused to see that the minihenge has a new resident. Fine droplets of mist were in the air by the time I arrived back at base. After lunch the rain began to fall and we hunted down the umbrellas to be prepared for the arrival of our visitors. View a STRAVA entry for this pos

I have often wondered why sailors need nautical miles  rather than ordinary miles. They were keeping it simple: one nautical mile is one minute of latitude (one sixtieth of a degree). It is now defined internationally as 1852 metres (approx. 6076 feet or 1.15 statute miles). Having to travel an extra 796 feet to complete every mile is about 15% of additional distance. There are several other kinds of mile. It seems that everybody wanted their own mile in the past. Today I joined those people by discovering the weary mile: it is the only mile that is exponential. The more weary miles the traveler becomes then the longer the weary miles become in direct correlation with the suffering being experienced. I distracted myself by riding slowly in low gars and enjoying the warm sunshine and interesting surroundings. I had hauled the DSLR with me to take a picture of the wall decoration I saw yesterday. It turned out to be more of a flaming sun than a star. Astronomers will protes

Yesterday, I walked the oblong around the lower east bench in a widdershins direction. Today, OCD and completist tendencies mandated that I must walk the same route in a deasil direction. There is much pruning and land maintenance going on in the valley. The featured photo shows a tree shaker at the property where it was used to harvest pecans yesterday. The tree owner spreads tarpaulins under the trees; the shaker makes the nuts fall off the branches; the crop is then harvested with a brooms and shovels. Simples! View a STRAVA entry for the post (login required; click below for limited access:

Today was a rerun of yesterday, but with much more manageable winds. On the outbound leg, in shirt and shorts, I was overheating, so I pulled over to increase my ventilation, no bull. The actual bull watched me with concentrated disinterest. On the homeward leg, I stopped again at the same place as yesterday. The tree that had the hawk in it yesterday was today populated with small birds that were tweeting more sweetly than some people do.  I reshot the same view as yestereday when the wind caused camera-shake to blur the image. This time the camera strap obstructed the lens, although I managed to salvage most of the frame. Anyone would think I was new to this game. Earlier, I had seen a magnificent wall-decoration in the form of a star. I was unable to get close enough for a usable photo, but will revisit when I am carrying the DSLR, which has long focal length zoom lens. As I ended my ride, I noticed that the star on a nearby gable was now in direct sunlight at that parti

Before starting to walk the oblong around the lower east bench a decision has to be made: to walk clockwise or anti-clockwise. How did people identify those two directions before the invention of clocks around 1300CE? Today I chose the widdershins option. The direction of travel creates two walks that are slightly different in character and both are equally enjoyable. From the top of the lower east bench the view north encompasses (left to right) Big Point (the northern end of the Pine Valley Mountains), the Anderson Benchmark, Kolob, Hurricane Mesa, and the cliffs of the Hurricane Fault. To the west, seen in the bottom right photo of the collage, is Signal Peak and the southern end of the Pine Valley Mountains. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

I remember a story, told by the redoubtable Scottish walker Hamish Brown, about being pinned down in the lee of an overhanging boulder for most of the day when a deluge prevented him from being out in the open. He had a tiny radio with him, on which the BBC weather forecast advised that there were to be '…showers of a persistent nature'. My route consists of three legs: out to Sand Hollow Top; across to Sky Ramch; home via the Hurricane Fields. The winds on the first two legs were mostly steady and mostly cross-tail or cross-head. That made for pleasant riding and it was not cold, nor was the wind chill a factor. As I departed my second turnaround to head for home the wind picked up and shifted into full head-wind. The weather report from the Klimat app (" Your activity's weather at-a-glance in your Strava feed, on your device. Automatically. ") recorded 13mph (20.9kph) winds with 21mph (33.8kph) gusts, but I think may have been gusts of a persistent

A pillar in the heritage park in Hurricane, UT, commemorates the bicentenary of the Domínguez–Escalante expedition , which was one of the very early incursions of European invaders into this area seeking new lands and opportunities for evangelical growth. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

After performing a stress test on my knees in the morning, by the afternoon I was hesitant about bicycle riding. I set off with the intention of awarding myself a DNF (did not finish) if there was any pain. My low-impact pedaling in even lower gears was comfortable and I went the full distance around my usual route. Sometimes it takes a couple of days for any soreness to develop fully, so tomorrow or the next day will probably be when the outcome becomes clear. Other than my tremulous self-obsession with my physical condition, it was a fine ride. The Parade of Homes event continues and there were quite a few out-of-state license plates to be seen. The most common of these were vehicles from Wyoming , the state that nibbled away the top corner of Utah like a rectilinear mouse with a piece of cheese. First prize for furthest distance traveled went to a vehicle from Florida. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

I headed for the hills—literally! Walking does seem to have strengthened my knees, although it has not cured the underlying problem. The short hill at the west end of W650S is deceptive. It rises in three short lifts of which the middle one is the steepest. It was there that I had to slow to a grimacing plod and lean on my stick to take the weight off my right knee. It seems that regaining full use of my knees is going to be a long process and one that I have to accept might ultimately require medical intervention. Meanwhile, I shall continue to work on exercise therapy. For my next hill test I will use my  Nordic walking poles. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login required); click below for limited access:

I took yesterday off from exercising, which was intended to be therapeutic renewal and refreshment. It was a good plan with a mediocre outcome. Mostly I think that a day off is a wasted day if the weather is fine. On Saturday evening we had a spectacular sunset and on Sunday I fretted in the house when I could have been riding. Today, Monday, was warm and sunny with some real refreshment in the form of an exhilarating breeze from the northwest. The big skies continued to drift overhead. The sky panorama in the first collage photo has a little fish-eye effect, but I think that is mostly an optical illusion because of the virtual extreme wide-angle view (it is made up of eight portrait-format images) and the arrangement of the clouds. The featured photo is a straightforward single shot with a wide-angle lens. I try not to dwell on such issues although I would like to experiment more thoroughly and in a less haphazard way. View a STRAVA entry for this post (login req