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Geoscratching, Part 2
Aug. 29th, 2010 02:48 pmBack at the start of the year I had one of my "down" periods, where I find it difficult to put in a full day of work. I can have down periods at any time of the year, but the worst ones seem to happen during the winter months, which leads me to suspect that SAD might have a part to play.
Most of my down periods are brief but the one at the start of the year lasted for several months and by late April I'd accrued a whopping 207 hour deficit. Since then I've been putting in increasing amounts of overtime in an attempt to get my main project back on track. As a result the deficit is now down to just 38 hours, or about a week of work. If I keep up my current pace I'll have worked that off before the end of September.
Of course all work and no play is just the sort of regimen that can lead to a down period, so today I decided to take a break and do a bit more geocaching. I went back to the same general area as last weekend but this time the trail I was looking for was well-defined and no bushwacking was required. Wary from last week's injury, I nonetheless tried to be more careful this time, but I needn't have bothered. At one point I spotted a single stalk of bramble arching low across the path ahead of me. I carefully stepped over it with my right foot, then carefully lifted my left foot...and STILL my toe caught on the bramble. By this time I was already shifting my weight onto my right, leading foot, so I was helpless to do anything but watch, in that slow motion way in which all disasters seem to unfold, as my left foot dragged the bramble across the back of my right leg, again, lacerating it, again.
Oh well. At least the cuts are lower down this time so they didn't reopen last week's wounds.
Looking at the two sets of cuts on my right leg, I cannot help but be amazed. Not just at my own ineptitude, but also at the body's incredible ability to heal itself. The multitude of cuts from last week are down to just three pale pink lines, looking not dissimilar to the lines you get when you wake up with pillow face. The new cuts had clotted and stopped bleeding within five minutes of the injury. Twenty minutes later the pain had ceased so long as I didn't move my leg. An hour later even movement was pain-free and the cuts only hurt if I touched them. Another day or two and I'll have forgotten they're even there.
Here's a picture of the two sets of injuries, with Bear checking to see if there's anything edible:
( Click to see picture )
Two more caches found brings my total to 113. I need to find one more in the next two days to bring my total for August to a nice, round, 10 caches. That's not likely to happen tomorrow since I'm having dinner with friends, so either I head out again after dinner tonight or I find time for a quickie after work on Tuesday.
Most of my down periods are brief but the one at the start of the year lasted for several months and by late April I'd accrued a whopping 207 hour deficit. Since then I've been putting in increasing amounts of overtime in an attempt to get my main project back on track. As a result the deficit is now down to just 38 hours, or about a week of work. If I keep up my current pace I'll have worked that off before the end of September.
Of course all work and no play is just the sort of regimen that can lead to a down period, so today I decided to take a break and do a bit more geocaching. I went back to the same general area as last weekend but this time the trail I was looking for was well-defined and no bushwacking was required. Wary from last week's injury, I nonetheless tried to be more careful this time, but I needn't have bothered. At one point I spotted a single stalk of bramble arching low across the path ahead of me. I carefully stepped over it with my right foot, then carefully lifted my left foot...and STILL my toe caught on the bramble. By this time I was already shifting my weight onto my right, leading foot, so I was helpless to do anything but watch, in that slow motion way in which all disasters seem to unfold, as my left foot dragged the bramble across the back of my right leg, again, lacerating it, again.
Oh well. At least the cuts are lower down this time so they didn't reopen last week's wounds.
Looking at the two sets of cuts on my right leg, I cannot help but be amazed. Not just at my own ineptitude, but also at the body's incredible ability to heal itself. The multitude of cuts from last week are down to just three pale pink lines, looking not dissimilar to the lines you get when you wake up with pillow face. The new cuts had clotted and stopped bleeding within five minutes of the injury. Twenty minutes later the pain had ceased so long as I didn't move my leg. An hour later even movement was pain-free and the cuts only hurt if I touched them. Another day or two and I'll have forgotten they're even there.
Here's a picture of the two sets of injuries, with Bear checking to see if there's anything edible:
( Click to see picture )
Two more caches found brings my total to 113. I need to find one more in the next two days to bring my total for August to a nice, round, 10 caches. That's not likely to happen tomorrow since I'm having dinner with friends, so either I head out again after dinner tonight or I find time for a quickie after work on Tuesday.
