Rumination: The Longest Dark Season

As we lapse into February, we find ourselves at the conclusion of another Dark Season, easily the longest one we've experienced sine walking became our primary pastime, having effectively been sat down for 16 weeks since Covid knocked me off the trail in October 2022, having achieved 1,000km in the season but falling short of a mileage total that should have been the best that I could do, feeling that this bad quarter of the year has taken much longer than usual, and that my familiar slump in mood and energy levels has been so much worse, for hopefully obvious reasons. The usual down turn that comes through November and December has not been aided by the turn that the weather took, settling in with periods of persistent low temperature and gloom that have not inspired any sort of need for displays of energetic activity, almost ensuring that sitting tight as the brutal cold set in outside, which every one of us had more awareness of than before thanks to the surge in bulk energy prices that are sure to afflict our energy bills for some time to come. So the slump of the year towards the festive season was filled with warmth maintenance and energy saving schemes, which in my case meant ensuring that new thick curtains were purchased and kept drawn throughout my flat to keep the heat in, and attempting to regulate the temperature indoors with only one storage heater on, which turned out to be entirely plausible to keep the space at a consistent and comfortable 20C, and experience drops that barely got below 18C, and only needing to power up the halogen heater (which has been barely used since I got it more than a decade ago) on the chillest of days. Otherwise we did well to feed the curiosity of what gets sold at Decathlon, having needed additional gloves to add to the box, and finding that this is an excellent store to find all your cheap fleece needs, where layers and cover-alls can be acquired for a modest sum, which will add to your warming yourself rather than your living space needs, if you are willing to overlook the synthetic fibre nightmare that you are engaging in, and if we add a more sociably presentable Regatta fleece from TK Maxx to the pile, we ought to be set fare to retain warmth for a good few seasons into the future.

New Gear for the 2023 Season!

New Boots for the 2023 Season!

The festive season came as a relief from the grimness of the decline of the year, being able to get together with My Mum and My Sister and her family for a Christmas that was uncluttered with worries about Covid, allowing to feast together and enjoy the real benefits of acquiring stuff, which was useful as I had need for new Craghopper trews and a Berghaus vest which would allow me to retire the likes of which that have done me service since 2005 and 2012 respectively, which My Sis did note as being the exact same thing I requested of them in 2021, though I ought not be needing any more any time soon, unless the bloat sets in again. My boots situation having reached critical meant that new pairs were also forthcoming thanks to My Mum, allowing me to look to the next season with the Mountain Warehouse Vibrams being introduced as me next heavy duty workers, and a new experiment with some Outdoors Skechers (and their wackily incomprehensible sizings) as my new intermediates, which will probably be my primary pair as we go onwards, and if you'r wondering we were also blessed with two pairs of light boots to use, not just the pair that I acquired at Junction 32 back in April, but also another set that I purchased online during the 2020 lockdown and filed away and forgotten about, only to be rediscovered when I started a clear-out of an excess of shoeboxes. There wasn't much to be seen by way of exercise, as the long Christmas weekend was mostly damp, and the New Year weekend with My Good Friends in Calderdale fell into its usual pattern, with the eating, drinking and consumption of seasonal sports taking precedence over the need for a stretch, which we did manage to fit in, up the hill from Mytholmroyd and down again as we talked the experience of the Pandemic years around, as we regard its passage at a remove, explaining our changing perspectives across its years and wondering just where it's all going to be leading us with a new endemic disease to add onto our pile of concerns. Most of my outings thus came for my newly discovered need for a bit of urban Astronomy, demanding that I loiter out of doors during the chillest parts of the year, which started with bang when I rose early, at like 5.30am to witness the Occultation of Mars at Opposition by the Full Cold Moon, which was clearly visible in the western sky from the yard of my apartment building and which only afterwards became apparent as what a rare even that was, to occur and be visible at these latitudes and for the sky to be completely clear when it happened, meaning it already stands as a once in a lifetime event to have witnessed.

The Occultation of Mars at Opposition
by the Full Cold Moon. 08/12/22

Saturn and Venus above Pole Moor. 20/01/22

Jupiter and the waxing crescent Moon. 25/01/22

Subsequent to that, we took our time for occasional travels to see the brief window when four planet rose in the winter sky, with the rising Venus arriving to join the declining Saturn and the elevated Jupiter and Mars, plainly visible in the skies above Morley on the evening of 19th January, to the point of having me wander into the fields above Howden Clough to get as good a view as could be managed as they declined to the west, before seeking an elevated vantage point to view the forthcoming meeting of Venus and Saturn above the Pennine Horizon, found beyond the St Andrew's Place development and the M62, on the following day. The view of the setting planets through the clouds on the horizon nabbed on the 20th turns out to be the best sight we'll get of that event as the days surrounding the conjunction get lost in seasonal cloud, and that looks like how it will be as we press through the winter, with the weather providing the challenges of obscuring the astronomical occurrences that we wish to view, or finding that clear skies result in deeply chilly climes that only keep you outside for an extra few minutes before you need to stomp life back into your feet and revivify yourself with much needed brew. It does turn out, however, that being out in the cold for prolonged periods is not doing me any favours, as these jaunts and a few other preliminary stretches have my chest feeling unusually compressed after breathing a lot of the cold air, and while my limbs have demonstrated that they endure well enough to press me through three months of work (albeit on reduced physical duties), they're not feeling like they have many hours of additional exercise in them, while my head is barely into the idea of walking for fun at all, as I've experienced nothing of the usual uptick in energy and enthusiasm that usually comes with the passing of the Dark Season. I'd usually have a slate of walks plotted by now, and be full of intent for where the year might lead, but I haven't even opened Google maps since last year closed out, and I'm not feeling ready for shooting at anything more than a couple of hours duration while it remains so chilly out and abouts, and thusly there will be not statement of intent for Season #12 today as it looks like post viral fatigue will be keeping me on local paths for a while, until at least two of the necessary verve, will, and warm weather return.

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 5922.2 miles
2023 Total: 0.0 miles
Up Country Total: 5,441.5 miles
Solo Total: 5586.6 miles
5,000 in my 40s Total: 4512 miles

Next Up: What's been going on in the locality, then?