Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Catface Trail
Technically, this picture was taken at 8:45. Due to what I believe is the Ideal Gas Law1, I had to clean up protein shake from the counter, floor, sink, and probably should have checked the ceiling before I left to go hiking. It is is pretty cold here today, so I thought I would heat up the almond milk for my protein shake a little. Keep in mind, I am not stupid, I know you can't put hot liquid in a closed container and shake it due to expansion, but I had only microwaved the milk briefly to take the chill off, it was by no means hot, but I guess the milk was hot enough to explode the shaker. So anyway, I got a late start.
I thought it would be a nice day to wander out and get a picture of the St. Sebastian River for which the preserve is named. There is a canoe launch that I went to years ago and have not been back to since that I thought would make a nice 8 a.m. picture. I drove out to the Mullet Camp parking lot, and headed off down the trail. A smarter person would have looked at a map or called someone who worked there for over a decade, but I was sure I remembered where the launch was and headed out. After a mile or so, I came to an intersection of paths. One led to what I thought was the river. There was a fairly deep dip that appeared to be a creek bed, that had what looked like some mud at the bottom. It didn't look too bad, and I thought I could cross it. I was quite wrong about that. With a cartoonish "fwoompf!" sound, I instantly sunk. Unfortunately, I was only able to get my left foot unstuck, my right foot was firmly entrenched. I panicked for a minute, then tried to raise just my toes, which broke the suction, and I was able to get my foot up a little. My sneaker came off about half way up though, and I had to grab it with my hand and trudge back though the mud in just one shoe.
I decided to give up at that point, and since I still hadn't found the canoe launch, I took this picture to use as my photo of the day. I thought that it would be easier to walk with both shoes on, so I put the muddy soaking shoe on over my muddy soaked sock and walked back the mile I had come. I never did find the canoe launch. Did I mention it was 40 degrees with a wind chill factor of 33?
The best part is that, once I was in my closed car, I remembered that there is a cattle lease on the preserve. I don't think the "mud" was entirely "mud", at least not judging by the scent wafting up into my delicate nostrils on the way home. In general though, although not all 8 a.m.'s are created equal, at least I was out there in the world at 8 a.m.
Sources: (1) I generally don't like to use "some guy on the internet" as a source, but this Reddit post seemed to explain the principle the most simply.Technically, this picture was taken at 8:45. Due to what I believe is the Ideal Gas Law1, I had to clean up protein shake from the counter, floor, sink, and probably should have checked the ceiling before I left to go hiking. It is is pretty cold here today, so I thought I would heat up the almond milk for my protein shake a little. Keep in mind, I am not stupid, I know you can't put hot liquid in a closed container and shake it due to expansion, but I had only microwaved the milk briefly to take the chill off, it was by no means hot, but I guess the milk was hot enough to explode the shaker. So anyway, I got a late start.
I thought it would be a nice day to wander out and get a picture of the St. Sebastian River for which the preserve is named. There is a canoe launch that I went to years ago and have not been back to since that I thought would make a nice 8 a.m. picture. I drove out to the Mullet Camp parking lot, and headed off down the trail. A smarter person would have looked at a map or called someone who worked there for over a decade, but I was sure I remembered where the launch was and headed out. After a mile or so, I came to an intersection of paths. One led to what I thought was the river. There was a fairly deep dip that appeared to be a creek bed, that had what looked like some mud at the bottom. It didn't look too bad, and I thought I could cross it. I was quite wrong about that. With a cartoonish "fwoompf!" sound, I instantly sunk. Unfortunately, I was only able to get my left foot unstuck, my right foot was firmly entrenched. I panicked for a minute, then tried to raise just my toes, which broke the suction, and I was able to get my foot up a little. My sneaker came off about half way up though, and I had to grab it with my hand and trudge back though the mud in just one shoe.
I decided to give up at that point, and since I still hadn't found the canoe launch, I took this picture to use as my photo of the day. I thought that it would be easier to walk with both shoes on, so I put the muddy soaking shoe on over my muddy soaked sock and walked back the mile I had come. I never did find the canoe launch. Did I mention it was 40 degrees with a wind chill factor of 33?
The best part is that, once I was in my closed car, I remembered that there is a cattle lease on the preserve. I don't think the "mud" was entirely "mud", at least not judging by the scent wafting up into my delicate nostrils on the way home. In general though, although not all 8 a.m.'s are created equal, at least I was out there in the world at 8 a.m.
Photo and text © 2017 Dee Fairbanks Simpson
No comments:
Post a Comment