Saturday, May 24, 2008

The Ballad of Zoooma The Hiker

HIKING BOOTSOne Friday Zoooma had off from work.
He decided, Hey Man, Chop Some Wood;
You Ran Low This Winter, For Next Winter Get Prepared.

So on a day off from work, Zoooma worked.


What's up with that... man?


During a brief pause to rest his weary arms,
all that splittin, and ax swingin, you know,
it makes a person kinda tired,
Zoooma's sittin down on a log,
and after grabbin' his
bottle of water,
over walks Cassidy the K9 to say
Hi Man,
Pet Me a Bit While You Ain't Busy.

So after some pettin and some drinkin of that water
and some rest that was oh so surely needed,
Zoooma said to himself,
he said Self, You Done In The
Past Hour
More Than You Thought You'd Do Before September!

Way To Go -- Now Go On, Go Do Something Fun.

So Zoooma said back to himself,
he said Hey Man, You're
Right,
Damn Straight, Biotche, I'm Outta Here!


So the day, or actually just an hour,
of gettin a head start on next winter's
wood supply,
with a smile that came to an end.
Productive it was but now twas time

to lace up them hiking boots and head on out
for some of that real
wilderness enjoyment.

This is, after all,
A-freakin'-laska, right?


So a hikin Zoooma went
and a hikin' Zoooma he did enjoy.


And that there be The Ballad of Zoooma The Hiker.

Or in other words... words that aren't coming from the folk singer in me... man, what a great day! Well, at least a great evening.

I don't know what possessed me to chop wood when normally I wouldn't start that job until the last minute almost, September 1st at the earliest. But I chopped. One tree on the property was down from last Fall so I started there. Some chainsaw work later, I was ready to split logs. Swinging that ax over and over and over is just not fun. Hey, but the more I do now, the less work when the weather turns cold again in a few weeks... no, no, no, we've got at least three months of spring & summer left before that happens.

At some point, though, I had decided I'd had enough; I was going hiking.

Easily I could have taken off on local trails and paths along the river here in town. I kinda wanted more so I headed east, about 60 miles down the Chena Hot Springs Road to Chena River Recreation Area. There's a great trailhead there. A person can so easily wander off into the wilderness... and never be heard from again... or enjoy a nice hike. Either/or. I chose the latter... obviously or I guess I wouldn't be typing this.

ANGEL ROCKSIn the parking lot I hopped out from behind the wheel at just before 8 p.m.

Angel Rocks was my main destination, a relatively short hike away (about an hour.) Through the evergreens and over the rocky ground, with the Chena River rushing nearby, I made my way up through the lower hills to this cool spot where giant slabs of granite rise from the ground like kings.

There's another trail here, saved for another day, that heads off to a spot (The Tors) where the rocks are just like this but even bigger, like buses, no... like... what's bigger than a bus? Like a ferry so we're talkin massive here.

Anyway, this time it was just the Angel Rocks for me. Since that would have been a tiny hike for a long round-trip drive, I wanted to walk on some more and stay out there on the trail awhile.

ANGEL ROCKS VIEWA couple hours further is the Chena Hot Springs Resort so in that direction I headed. Turned around before I got that far but along the ridge and through the trees, what a great trail it is to be hiking on.

Unfortunately no music. Locally around Fairbanks I feel more confident that I can hike with music while not listening for bear activity. Out here I probably could have because while I'm up on a mountain ridge, bears are down near the river... usually... but there's no guarantee of that. A bear attack is so unlikely but it could happen. While I'm at peace with dying... my dog would wonder what happened to me so that would suck. So no music sometimes. That's okay. On a trail that not so spectacular and I'm just there for exercise and to enjoy being outside and moving, music helps make that time better. But when I've got a great hike like this, no music is perfect!

Anyway, that was just sweet. To get there and back it was nearly 3 hours of driving for only a couple hours of hiking, but absolutely worth every cent in gas money. Interestingly I could have stayed all night with there being daylight at midnight and 2 am and 4 am... but with work tomorrow which is now today, essentially, for more people it's now Saturday, I could not stay... not that I brought enough gear with me anyhow. So back I am, pulled into my driveway around 11:30, showered and now pondering some sleep.

An hour of chopping wood is a LOT of work and I now know -- never do that before hiking! That combined with the hike has got me now feeling like perhaps I should've stayed the night at the hot springs to soak my bones in the soothing waters. Ahhh well, Say Goodbye To Chena Hot Springs, say hello, Mr. Advil.

PHONOGRAPH

Driving tunes

& my album of the day...


Billy Joel - Songs In The Attic [1980/1981]
Billy Joel

Songs In
The Attic

recorded in 1980,
released in 81

Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)
Summer, Highland Falls
Streetlife Serenader
Los Angelenos
She's Got A Way
Everybody Loves You Now
Say Goodbye To Hollywood
Captain Jack
You're My Home
The Ballad Of Billy The Kid
I've Loved These Days

Been a freakin' long time since I've listened to Billy Joel. Freakin' long. I originally thought this was a studio album that I'd use for running but nope, a live album culled from performances in 1980. Apparently Mr. Billy wanted to re-introduce his newfound fans to some of his older material (but performed by his current band) and that's the basis for this collection.

I've never heard many of these tunes so that was a new experience. Others I dig like Say Goodbye To Hollywood and Miami 2017... although Miami 2017 is sort of a sad one now, even though it's got such a great (musical) feel to it; Billy played that after 9/11...

"Seen the lights go out on Broadway
I saw the Empire State laid low
And life went on beyond the Palisades"

"I seen the lights go out on Broadway
I saw the ruins at my feet"

Some lines that have gained a new emotion meaning to Billy Joel and to so many.

Pretty good album, though. Soft rock's not my thing but it's not all soft rock... this is New York rockin', in a way, okay, not like The Ramones NY rockin... but still, this is classic rock that the best classic rock radio stations in the country loved playing... and hopefully still do if they've got any soul.

320 kbps mp3 download MUSIC NOTE find a dload @ Gustavoeo 320 kbps mp3 download MUSIC NOTE

How about a Video?!
Billy Joel & Marlee Matlin (with Oscar The Grouch)
from 1988 -- "Just The Way You Are"

2 comments:

Sugarmag said...

Hiya Chris! I like your ballad! I like your tone and style, it's fun to read, man. Your hike sounds really nice, I am jealous. I hope you get some rest :-)

Sugarmag said...

Hi Again Chris, My kids are gone so I finally got to watch this video, it was so cute and funny and kinda touching. Awww. I have never been a Billy Joel fan, either, but that was good. He looked so young! I always think of him as an old guy. Gotta love Oscar the Grouch.

one says one number and the other another
but they were set at the same time. Hmmm...

i love you amy uzarski.  always!
 
Calvin and Hobbes in the snow -- animated