Mt. Pisgah, Eugene

I was going to write about how Bill Sikes is a kind of latter-day Jehovah or Allah figure, given his personal anthem “(Nobody Mentions) My Name,” and how he is mighty and fearsome but lacking in mercy or goodness, and that might be as close to musing on Spiritual Matters as I’d get on this holyday, but then as the snow started to fall we saw four deer high-stepping through the brush on the slope above, and they stopped to regard us while Jones kept quiet for once and just stood alertly, returning the gaze.

Cat poop consumed: no

 

Mt. Pisgah Arboretum, Eugene

Unlike the last time we all walked here on New Year’s Day 2008 when we slogged through ruts running with water and deep with mud, today was dry and clean, except for a quantity of horse poop both fresh and otherwise. L. was a good sport this go-around too, his idea of a hike being “walking 20 city blocks in bad shoes.” I chided him for his tendency to cut the switchbacks. Just because there’s a faint trail there doesn’t mean it’s good to do. It leads to erosion. If everyone was jumping off a bridge would you do that too? I asked with Sierra Club self-righteousness. I would if it was a shortcut to the Snack Shack, he said and proceeded to roll another cigarette.

Cat poop consumed: no; horse poop yes