Kayaking 5.5 miles east of downtown Nashville, TN

I realized today that after I came back from Florida 2 months ago I haven’t done even one thing by any body of water (except one bath last week, if that counts??). I can’t blame it completely on COVID-19, to be honest. But the time came to break this bad trend in my life. Water fun came in the form of kayaking on Percy Priest Lake. Check out the path of the paddling below… in total it was around 8,800 meters (roughly 5.5 miles).

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Being on the water was so fun, especially knowing there were no alligators or sharks. We did see a snake in the water, though. Other “more safe” creatures we saw were birds, turtles, minnows, frogs, lizards, and caterpillars.

I was craving something like this trip and it turned out to be exactly what I needed! We also did a bit of hiking on Bear Island (the island seen in the middle picture above), which deserves its own post. This year has been pretty weird, right? But I’m hoping I can kayak (and hike) with some regularity! This kayak adventure was a good start to a better trend 🙂

-Out of the Wilderness

That little booger! A story about allergies.

Have any of y’all ever heard of someone who gets away with something as a “booger”? In my mind it’s usually a grandchild who does something slightly outside the rules and a grandparent says, “You little booger!”

That’s the way I hear it in my head, at least.

Well, today… the saying means something totally different. A LOT more literal. The backstory is that I’ve been feeling symptoms of allergies for weeks and weeks. Itchy eyes, sneezing, eyes watering, and yes, a runny nose. Constant sniffling but today feels like a breakthrough. Could it be that the seasonal allergies are drawing to an end?

All the evidence I have to go on so far is that 1. I feel good today and 2. I had a real booger earlier. Yes, my nose isn’t as runny as usual! A genuine booger formed in my nose and when I picked it, you would’ve thought I struck gold.

If that’s TMI, please accept my apology but I do really hope you’re celebrating right alongside me and my solid nose substances…

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Snail, soap, and NOT social distancing

Before I went out for a jog I noticed this tiny snail and wanted to take a picture of it. It was tiny in two ways… 1. snails are generally small but also 2. it was a young one. Here is a set of close-up photos (sorry, I was not socially distancing myself from this creature) featuring the little fella plus one pic from when I washed the dishes… totally unrelated to the snail but I thought the cloud of soapy bubbles looked interesting. For more close-up photos I took recently, click here. Thanks for stopping by!

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-Out of the Wilderness

The Stallion vs. Pollen the Punisher

This match features The Stallion (me) vs. Pollen the Punisher (yes, pollen is a worthy enemy). It’s a no holds barred event in middle Tennessee that happens twice a year and so far, Pollen the Punisher is…

Kicking.

My.

Butt.

Pollen the Punisher is kind of predictable, showing up to the ring at the same time every year (I’ve even written about this enemy before) but of course 2020 had to be different: A surprise attack a couple of weeks before our scheduled fight which totally caught me off guard. I’ve been a step behind ever since! Then halfway through the fight our guest referee, Cory the Virus, said I must wear a mask in certain public situations, like that’s going to help me… I already have an itchy nose because of Pollen and now I have to wear a mask that lightly brushes against my nose and makes me feel like sneezing at any moment?! Just great.

To be continued…..

-Out of the Wilderness

That graduation TV commercial you have been seeing on TV and Hulu

I saw this advertisement yesterday for the 100th time and finally found out more about it. The background of it is documented well here but in a nutshell, the artist is Bebe Rexha and the title of the song is “Here’s to 2020″… a 30-second tribute to this year’s graduating class…

At first I thought it was Ann-Marie, an artist who has a track about 2002, among other hit songs. However, my knowledge of blonde pop singers is admittedly lacking.

Walgreens tags the ad with “add some pomp to your circumstance” which is a clever play on the title of the 1901 orchestra song we all know from graduations, “Pomp and Circumstance” by Edward Elgar.

I like this modernization of the song from Bebe Rexha. It’s clearly for the TikTok crowd as it accompanies #GradJump on the social/music app.

For another fun ad, check out this really cute ad from Dixie Cups.

To conclude, I’m also a fan of the graduation song included below from way back when I was a recent grad… this one is by Vitamin C and it’s called “Graduation (Friends Forever).” This song is based on Pachelbel’s Canon in D, another of my favorites. OK, I could go on and on about music but for now I’ll just say… ummmmm cool.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness