I was up early and in my painting outfit downing my breakfast when Holly asked if I’d like to go for a hike in the park before going to paint. Well…I’d love to hike or ride the bike for a couple of hours since it was a perfect morning…but when I’m in ‘paint mode’, I have trouble switching gears. Once I get started, I find it difficult to stop…even to eat…and have been known to go for 14 hours before succumbing to exhaustion. Still, I’d been ignoring Holly and really wanted to spend some time walking and talking so I said yes.
We went to the North Chagrin Reservation and parked at the bottom of Ox Lane, picking up the bridle trail there and heading up towards the ridge. We’d walked a short distance when I smelled smoke and noticed unusual patterns of leaf colors across the forest floor.
“There’s been a fire here,” I said to Holly.
She looked at me…and the woods…and replied, “what are you talking about?”
The leaves are normally down and brown at this time of year, but there were brownish black leaves spreading like waves on both sides of the trail, reaching a hundred feet into the woods before finally ending where leaves were the normal color. I moved into the woods in the direction from which it seemed to be coming and found charred trees and logs laying on the ground. I touched one of the logs and smelled the burnt wood.
“See? Smell this if you think I’m nuts,” I said, indicating the blackened tree trunk. She conceded that I might be right. It appeared a limited fire…probably a lightning strike during the storm Thursday night…and likely burned itself out without anyone ever noticing. The ground is still saturated and the storm had dumped another couple of inches of rain…neither condition conducive to forest fires.
We managed a good 70-minute hike after which I painted for another nine hours. My activity level is high and I doubt I’m gaining any fat, but I miss the intensity of the hard, aerobic exercise. I came back from painting and decided I’d make dinner…kind of. I bought one of those rotisserie chickens from Heinens, sautéed some green beans, onions and mushrooms, and made a fresh garden salad. Very Paleo…and actually pretty good. I know I’m not backsliding and once the house is painted, I’ll redouble my workout efforts. It’s just one of those times when something has to be done…and done now.
Hike duration: 70 minutes. Painting duration: 9 hours
Training Heart Rate: 75 bpm.Calories burned during workout: 350 hiking and 2,000 painting.
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