I hike. I hike quite a bit and I love every moment of it. Being outdoors is akin to spirituality to me. My parents took us all camping, hiking, snorkeling, 4-wheeling, kayaking, and various other outdoor activities since we were all very young. In fact, this weekend, my whole family and their significant others are going to the lake, finding an island, and camping out for four glorious days. We enjoy the outdoors together often.

Each weekend, my brother, his wife, their daughter (my niece), and I go hiking. We have hiked around the mountains, into cinder cones, through the redrocks of Sedona, and along trails that aren’t known by those who aren’t local. Sometimes we are joined by my boyfriend or my sister-in-law’s sister and son. Most of the time, though, it’s just the four of us.

We really look forward to getting out, soaking up the clean air, and working our bodies. We enjoy the rush of completing a good trail.

As of tomorrow, though, that has to come to an end for a while. Unless we want to drive hours to a good hike, we will not be able to hike for the forseeable future. Our local forests are being closed down. There is no walking, no hiking, no biking, and certainly no camping allowed.

This winter has been a rough one on the forests. In the Sunday newspaper (on the front page) there was a picture of a bear who had climbed into an ancient tank to look for water and couldn’t get out. He had died in that tank, clawing at the walls to find a way out. Other animals are not surviving any better. There is no runoff this year. The regular creeks are not running. The lakes are all many, many feet lower than normal. In fact, the lake we are going to this weekend is 60 feet…60 feet … lower than normal.

I understand that the forests need to be closed. Fires happen when people are in the forests and this year we just can’t have that. With daily winds gusting up to 50 mph (which is highly abnormal here during this time of year – we usually get light breezes…if we’re lucky), the fire dangers rise exponentially.

I mourn the closing, though. I will miss my weekly excursions out with my family. They’ve come to mean a great deal to me.

I’m definitely looking forward to monsoon season when the rains will once again feed our forests and their inhabitants.

And we will all be able to enjoy the breathtaking beauty once again.

~~

Google Doodles are the term given to the fun and wacky Google dress-ups given to the Google logo during the holidays. Google is also going all out for those of us in the geek realm and giving us Dilbert & the Google Doodle. If you’re a Dilbert fan, you’ll enjoy this one.

Do you want topics for your next blog? How about your next research paper? How about your doctoral thesis? Research Paper.com has lots of ideas, handy hints, and chat to help those who are still having trouble. This is not a place to buy a research paper…so don’t even think about that!

Are you a gamer? The Dork Tower may be for you. This is a really great online cartoon that is all about gamers…and the characteristics that make them up.

~~

That’s it for today. Until next time…