Diminishing Options

 

Sam and I keep a list of fifteen possible locations for going on our evening walks. But now, due to the fact that we're well into fall, coupled with the recent time change, the now-rapidly diminishing afternoon sunshine has reduced our options considerably.

I typically work until about 3:30 or so, and the sun is currently setting around 4:30. This means that, even though we've shifted our after-dinner walks to before dinner, if we're going to go for a walk, it a) has to be nearby and b) we better get going. 

Since it has to be close by, this eliminates five, possibly six options on our list. Each of these are a drive of at least fifteen minutes away. This would eat up way too much precious daylight. 

Also out of the question are walks in the woods. At least the woods we go to. These places are difficult enough for us to navigate in the daylight. Navigating them at or near dusk, is inviting trouble - possibly getting lost-in-the-woods-type trouble, possibly resulting in an airlift rescue accompanied by the embarrassment of being in the local paper.  

Plus, neither Sam nor I wants to get mugged by any non-hibernating bears that might be wandering around the forests at this time of the barely-still day (not that we've ever seen any bears, hibernating or otherwise, but still). This eliminates another two or three options.

Two more options are affected by COVID so those are off our list - daylight or not - at least for now.

There are another three locations that close at dusk (or claim to). These places are, at best, borderline options for us. One place in particular might be fine when we first start out, but by the time we reach about our halfway point, the already rapidly fading light fades even more quickly with the sun dipping behind the not-so-distant hills. 

The photo above was taken last night at this one location. When this was taken, we were on the return leg of a two and three quarter mile loop. Five minutes later, when we reached the car, darkness had settled in. This time of year, when night falls, it falls with a thud.

This leaves us three options - all of which begin at our front door. There's nothing wrong with these three options but since we walk every day (or nearly night) and often go for walks twice on Saturdays and on Sundays, it quickly becomes a little repetitious. Options are good, even if we don't take them.

All of this is to say that, thanks to the shortened daylight, our walking possibilities are quickly being whittled down. And this doesn't even factor in the weather. 

So far, we've been lucky. With a few exceptions, the weather has been unseasonably, almost disconcertingly, mild. But before long, we'll have ice and snow to contend with. I'm not sure what we'll do at that point. 

I guess we'll just take it one day (or evening) at a time - as if we have any other choice. 

The beginning of winter is a month and a half away and I find I'm already looking forward to spring.