The return to Arastradero (and one more bit of normalcy)
Posted on January 21, 2007
Filed Under All, Photos, My Brain |
This was a bit of a momentous morning: weeks of morning walks have given me enough walking strength that this morning we headed out to one of our favorite walking and jogging parks, Palo Alto’s Arastradero Preserve.
It was a beautiful morming: a bright blue sky, temperatures in the mid 40s and Linda, Cassie and I were excited about our return to this favorite park.
I brought the Lumix, though I’ve often carried the Leica here, where there are some favorite scenes I revisit in different light and times of day. The Lumix’ Leica Vario-Elmarit lens’ surprising 420mm maximum focal length offers some possibilities that the Leica’s 90mm didn’t, and I was hoping I might get a glimpse of one of the park’s many wild critters via the Lumix’ unusually long reach. Many wildlife photogs use lenses in the 300 to 800mmm range, so the Lumix 420mm, in a remarkably light and short package, offered promise.
The hiking was great: I made the shortest loop, 3.5 miles with a good uphill pull in good style. Even though we were hiking mid-morning (dawn offering the best critter-viewing possibilities), I was even lucky enought to come across Mr. or Ms. Coyote, watching Cassie and me from a hillside where we’ve often spotted Coyotes (we suspect a nearby den), with San Francisco Bay and the East Bay mountains as a backdrop.
So the return was a big success, IMHO: I was feeling more muscles today than I have since the surgery - which is great news. If you can feel ‘em, it means the nerve paths are working and driving them, meaning they will strengthen with use. The massive atrophy on my left side since October (it is amazing how a lifetime of muscle tone can evaporate in a few months) is now being rehabbed, with daily Cassie walks, strolls to the Marguerite shuttle, and walks between Adobe and the the San Jose Diridon Caltrain station. The best part was that it was Linda, Cassie and I, all back on the trail together… a much-loved part of our life returns…
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[…] This morning we drove to the parking lot at the foot of Windy Hill and did a 3.5 mile loop, steeper even than last week’s Arastradero hike that saw me huffing and puffing (but making my way) even as my very fit spouse climbed nonchallantly ahead of me. The good news is that this work, if i keep it up, will steadily build me back up to some kind of physical shape. […]
[…] Seen above is a shot that shows 2 coyotes in Arastradero park, snapped by Linda while on a walk Christmas day. Note the size of the animals (in the white circles). Then, see below, an enlargement of one of the coyotes, shot from the same distance using full (3.6x) optical and digital zoom. I find the quality amazing - compare to this shot made with a 420mm lens on a DSLR. Amazing… technology marches on… […]
[…] Arastradero is particularly delightful in the spring, and I was very happy to be walking its trails again. Linda jogged her 5+ mile loop (and waved to me) while I hobbled perhaps a mile or so - a good distance for me as I slowly make my way back to mobility. […]