Adventure 576: White Tank Regional Park/Post C

Wolf. Hiss.

We hiked 8 miles today along the Mule Deer Trail, the South Trail, the Goat Camp Trail, and the Bajada Trail. To date, we've been on the road for 28 days. We've had three travel days, three weather days, five days of staying with friends, which means we've been active in the trailer twenty days. Our routine is to walk one day, ride the other, so in 20 days we've ridden ten days at an average of 12 miles per day for a total of 120 miles. We've hiked ten days at an average of 6 miles per day for 60 miles. It's been good. And we're happy for the most part, and grateful that we're able to enjoy our time together. But I have angst, (Wouldn't you know it?) I woke up this morning, and looked over my news feed (an unhealthy addition, it seems). A story at the front of the feed fact checked President's Trump's quite successful emotional bell ringing during his State of the Union spectacle. One of his tugs pulled at our  hearts when he recognized a child who he said was attending a "failed government  school" in Philly. He awarded the girl a scholarship so she could attend the school of her "choice". All good, except it turns out she was already attending one of the elite choice schools in Philadelphia. Her mother, when contacted by the Trump minions, said she was surprised because she already felt that her daughter was among the privileged. By the time I'm writing this blog, 117 stories have appeared on my feed, effectively burying this story. That's not my concern. My concern is that Trump's misinformation, much like the Super Bowl ad he ran, has already elicited its emotional affect. We should be wary. We should be worried. We should pull the wool fro our eyes.  Just a few days ago, a African American minister was interviewed on Fox news. He said, roughly, "Things are so good now that I doubt they've ever been better since Jesus walked the earth, echoing a frightening refrain that Tump himself has uttered. Remember where you heard, folks. A narrative that will soon be spewing forth is not just four more years, but  four more forever years because only the chosen one can keep America great. Meanwhile, fat and happy white guys like me care not because I, along with my content "Onward Christian Brethren" my our faith in the chosen one, just not the one in Washington. We're content to believe that "things will work out with faith." I hope we're right. In the meantime, this little blubber body is happy to report that life is good, especially today.

 Falcon says, "Don't worry PopPops, youth will prevail.

 True, my son, but I fear a rocky road ahead.

 Saguaro of the day. Why worry. You humans come and go like water in the washes.

 And when I grow up, I'm sure to have seen the same old thing.

 Selfie of the day. Fat, but catching the skinnies as we speak.

Are these California poppies psychedelic?