MDT 2022
“Winter hung in there, like an invalid refusing to die. Day after grey day the ice stayed hard; the world remained unfriendly and cold.”
P1
Spring was trying to arrive this week, and made valiant attempts at warm weather and kite-flying winds, but ultimately retreated back to bed, like any of us who fall asleep after the morning alarm. Spring went back to its cozy bed, and winter soared back into the sky, sending breaths of rain to augur its advance. Under these auspicious conditions did our fearless adventurers traverse the roadblocks and traffic cones to a nearly-empty parking lot, to greet the Bobolink trail.
The cottonwood grove alongside the trail was barren and splintered, with logs and branches strewn along the trail. A single blue heron soared northward from the dry and lifeless winter creek bed. Some joggers sauntered to and fro, but no dog walkers. Cows grazed in the fields.
S and D traversed to S. Boulder Road, as usual, and back again, 3.1 miles round trip.
P2
D headed out to the grocery store for some burger ingredients, while S made a rare stop at the local Chipotle for some tacos. A good time was had by all.
Question of the Night
What will happen to BNO if/when Congress extends Daylight Savings Time to… forever?
This upcoming vote — the so-called “Sunshine Preservation Act” — is a traumatic, life-changing event in the annals of the Big Night Out. Our intrepid explorers had always hiked during Daylight Savings Time, and foraged the rest of the year. If Daylight Savings is forever, will we hike every week of the year? When will we forage?
We pondered several alternate time constraints, without consensus:
Equinoctial Schedule: Hike between the equinoxes.
Lunar Excursion Calendar: Begin on the first Wednesday after the first full moon in March (the Worm Moon) and continue until the last Wednesday before the first full moon in October (the Hunter Moon).
Literary Time: World Poetry Day (3/21) until Dictionary Day (10/16).
Nerd Zone: Pi Day - Back to the Future Day (10/21).
❦