I’ve written about making and using running paths in my front yard in the past, but there’s a sea of yellow flowers, so I’ve put a moratorium on front yard running to preserve the lovely scene. The rabbitbrush blossoms attract tons of bees, and despite little threat of being stung because of their docility, I want to be considerate of their pollen gathering.

Speaking of bees, a couple times I’ve been walking and suddenly heard, but couldn’t see, a swarm. It alarmed me until I realized it wasn’t a swarm – someone nearby was flying a drone.

Toward the end of summer, I interrupted my running routine by doing a couple backpacking trips of five days each in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon. A friend, Erik Smith, joined me for a couple days.

In the below photo, I’m atop Aneroid Mountain, the 9th highest peak in Oregon at 9,702 ft (2,957 m).

On my second trip I made a base camp at Chimney Lake, pictured below, and did day hikes.

I came across an old mining adit near John Henry Lake. I hadn’t planned on spelunking, but I had a headlamp in my backpack.

It’s well known that monsters hang out in dark places, like closets and caves, so I paused at the entrance. I heard growls and snarls deep inside. I really wanted to go in, but I wasn’t packing monster spray. You’d think bear spray would work, but it doesn’t—monsters like spiciness. I also didn’t want to be featured in the news story, “Hiker Roughed up by Monsters at Bottom of Cave.” I passed on the spelunking opportunity.

A couple months ago, I added to my writing workload by starting a Threads account, Meta’s equivalent of Twitter/X. The intent is the same as I Must Run Everywhere—to express my sense of humor.

The posts are short—one to three sentences, occasionally longer, and I only do a post when I’ve come up with something I consider sufficiently amusing, which so far is about twice a week. Here are a couple I’ve done recently:

It’s not just people who have ulterior motives. Drove to Mt. Spokane to pick huckleberries. I slowed down for a deer at the roadside, then watched in the rearview mirror as the car behind me stopped and waited and waited in vain for it to cross. Kudos to me not falling for that deer’s mind games.

On this day from the Family Conflict Archive: Told 10yo she committed a big mess and sent to Mom. 10yo’s adept at small word changes that make a big difference. Wife blew up at me for asking 10yo to make a big mess commitment.

If you’re interested in a possible chuckle with minimal time investment, you’ll find this site at threads.net/@boxman.in.Spokane.