It seems that I'm more inclined to write after having gone out on a hike. Definitely a pattern to it. Even though I've been hiking quite a bit and not writing, I feel like writing after a good hike. Walking in the woods tends to settle the brain and make coherent thoughts more likely to come about.
Today's hike was led by a longtime local, and the pace was quite brisk for an all-uphill trail in icy/slushy snow. I lagged behind, partly due to being out of shape, partly due to fighting a cold, partly due to still getting adjusted to the altitude, but mostly because I insist on looking around as I go while also watching my step. When almost to the destination (but at the steepest part of the trail), I decided to turn around and let the others continue, letting them know I'd meet them back at the cars. That's when the hike started to be really fun.
I started to sing the old New Hampshire song I learned as a kid in 4-H, "I want to wake up/in the morning/where the purple lilacs grow/where the sun comes a-peeping/into where I'm a-sleeping/and the songbirds say "hello"... since lilacs grow naturally around here, I changed the words a bit to suit the locale. Then I saw a black squirrel and while watching it, a big clump of wet snow landed between my front pack and my shirt, a very wet cold spot! Shook it off and kept going... went alongside a steep slope, and was inspired, by having seen pacific northwest snow donuts, to make my own. Rolled a sticky snowball down the slope, and it gathered more snow as it went, becoming a tall rolling donut as it went. Another one got very large, hit a shrub, broke apart and kept rolling, becoming a dozen or so more donuts! Lots of fun! Then I saw a family further down the trail doing the same thing! Some went all the way down, 100' or so, to a little creek at the bottom.
I thought about how I've been meeting new people here, and wishing to meet someone who'd like to go hiking regularly without having to go with a large group... and thought I'd better narrow down that wish. I want someone who likes to hike but also likes to go slow enough to enjoy the scenery, have a little fun, notice new things, critters, odors, sounds, birds... while also being prepared for the weather and destination. And someone who doesn't dislike meeting dogs on the trail since they seem to be everywhere, and who doesn't grouse about politics along the way... There, that's my wish!
I later learned that where I turned around on the trail was not far from the goal, a waterfall. But it was reportedly a very disappointing falls, almost all covered in snow, barely a trickle. So I didn't miss much!
